GENERAL EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Minutes of the September 16, 2004 meeting
8 a.m. in the Meadow-Lark Rooms of the Memorial Union

Members present: Michael Christoffers, Bob Harold, RaNelle Ingalls, Marina Ioudina, Sudhir Mehta, Char Myhre, Larry Peterson, Orv Swenson, Cindy Urness, Robyne Williams, Kristi Wold-McCormick, Kate Haugen

The meeting was called to order at 8:05 a.m. by Larry Peterson. RaNelle Ingalls served as recorder for the meeting.

Dale Sullivan, Head of the English Department, joined the group to revisit the proposal from the English Department to modify the existing Written Communication requirement. Dale provided some history on the subject and an explanation of vertical writing. The handouts were reviewed which detailed this concept which suggests that students who take a foundational course early in their educational careers and follow up with a more in-depth writing intensive course later in their chosen major will benefit to a greater degree than relying on both courses coming right away in the beginning of their education.

A pilot program was offered this term to see how students perform with this concept. A total of 157 students were identified in the Colleges of Engineering and Architecture, Human Development and Education, and Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences who scored at least a minimum of 23 in Reading and 27 in English on their ACT indicating their skill sets in these areas were strong. These students could choose to begin in ENGL 120 rather then ENGL 110. Of the 157, 16 enrolled in Honors English, 33 enrolled in ENGL 110, 31 enrolled in ENGL 120, 60 did not enroll in any English course, and 17 did not register for any classes at NDSU.

Questions, concerns, and clarifications about the pilot program and the proposal to modify the written communication requirement were posed to Sullivan from the committee. Myhre noted that the Library should be represented on the proposed subcommittee. Sullivan noted the English Department wanted flexibility to find the optimal ACT range to exempt students from taking ENGL 110. More information from the pilot project will need to be gathered to determine the success of this approach.

The Committee was at least four issues connected with this proposal: 1) the desirability of adopting the goal of vertical integration in the written communication requirement for general education; 2) the question of how screening of students will work; 3) the need to promote course creation for advanced level writing intensive courses (solicitation and approval of additional courses to general education), and 4) the need for continuing certification of the courses and modification of the requirement.

A motion was made by Bob Harold/Robyne Williams to approve the “Description of Proposed Writing Requirements” submitted by the English Department as amended to delete all of the courses listed under “Plus One of the following” except for Engl 110: College Composition I (3) (including 111 and 112).    
Go to Proposal     The motion was approved.

Student F requested that BIOL 124L (not an approved Gen Ed at this time) be accepted to complete the co-req lab requirement for category #3 Science and Technology. Motion was made by Bob Harold/Kate Haugen to accept student petition and any other presented within this term for BIOL 124L. Motion was approved.

Student G had two requests. The first was to accept 3 credits toward Category #5 Social and Behavioral Sciences from a list of courses that were taken in the early 90's when the Humanities/Social Science category were combined. A motion was made by Bob Harold/Kate Haugen to accept 3 credits toward category #5. Motion was approved. The second request was to accept 2 credits toward Category #6 Wellness from a list of courses that were taken in the early 90's. A motion was made by Bob Harold/Sudhir Mehta to accept HPER 140 for the 2 credits. Motion was approved.

The remaining agenda items are to be presented at the next General Education meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 9:50 a.m.

English Department Proposal to alter Gen. Ed. Writing Requirement

Description of Proposed Writing Requirements. The English department would like to begin the process of creating a vertical writing curriculum here at NDSU. The present proposal suggests that students we believe do not need English 110 will be exempted from it; instead, they will be asked to take English 120 and one other writing course to fulfill their General Education writing requirement. If this proposal is accepted, we will excuse students with ACT scores of 27 in English and at least 23 in Reading from that class.