Transcript General Education Changes

General Education Changes
Dr. Cheryl Robinson
Student Affairs Professional Development Conference
February 28, 2013
What is the purpose of Gen Ed?
 Well rounded students…set of skills/aptitudes:
 Navigate culture
 Appreciate other cultures
 Reason clearly - make objective decisions
 Core of classes to be well rounded
 Preliminary to more specialized courses---exposure to
many areas
 Functional literacy
 Component of curriculum that is not vocational/career
focused
 Learn to think critically in other areas (other than major)
 Diversify cognitive abilities
 Broaden perspective of individual
Gen Ed Outcomes
Approved December 2007
 Cultural and Historical Understanding: Demonstrate
understanding of the diverse traditions of the world, and
an individual's place in it
 Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning: Use processes,
procedures, data, or evidence to solve problems and
make effective decisions
 Communication Skills: Engage in effective interpersonal,
oral, written communication
 Ethical Responsibility: Demonstrate awareness of
personal responsibility in one's civic, social, and academic
life
 Information Literacy: Locate, evaluate, and effectively use
information from diverse sources
 Critical Thinking: Effectively analyze, evaluate, synthesize,
and apply information and ideas from diverse sources and
disciplines
What are our Gen Ed Principles?
 Courses within the General Education Program will:
 1. be able to meet the A.A., A.S., and A.A.S. degree
requirements;
 2. significantly contribute to Valencia's general education
outcomes;
 3. not narrowly focus on those skills, techniques, and
procedures specific to a particular occupation or
profession;
 4. be transferrable for all programs
 5. contribute significantly to breadth of knowledge
How do we determine breadth?
 In order to ensure consistency with decisions regarding
the addition of courses to the General Education program,
the following questions will be addressed:
 1. Does the course contribute significantly to satisfying the
General Education Outcomes? (Yes)
 2. Does this course, when added to the General Education
program, satisfy the mission of Valencia College (Yes)
 3. Is this course specific to a particular faculty member?
(No)
 4. Does this course focus on a specific occupation? (No)
 5. Will this course, if added, be transferable to upper
division programs? (Yes)
 6. Does this course have prerequisites that are not General
Education courses? (No)
Who is responsible for Gen Ed?
 Procedures: In keeping with SACS Comprehensive Standard
3.4.10, the institution places primary responsibility for the
content, quality, and effectiveness of the curriculum with its
faculty, the Curriculum Committee will serve as the eligible
voters for changes to the General Education program. However,
effective collaboration and communication will be a part of all
General Education decisions made at the college.
 1. When deciding course additions to or deletions from the
General Education program, the discipline-specific voter
eligibility list will serve as a means of communication and
collaboration.
 2. In matters which relate to major changes across the five
General Education areas, there will be communication from the
faculty Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee to all tenured and
tenure-track faculty at the college. This communication will
include the proposed change, the timetable for decision-making,
access to resources for decision input, identification of
opportunities to provide input, and required date of response.
House Bill 7135
Passed 2012 Legislative Session
 To be implemented in the 2014-15 academic year
 Required for all SUS and FCS institutions
 Intent is to form a more consistent Gen Ed experience
for all public higher ed students
 Reduces Gen Ed from 36 hours to 30 hours
 15 hours will come form state core
 15 hours can be institutionally determined (as we do
now)
15 Hour Core Breakdown
 Still 5 discipline areas:
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Communications
Humanities
Math
Natural and Physical Sciences
Social Sciences
 A maximum of 5 courses per discipline must be established
at the state level (remember goal to create commonality)
 Students must take one class from the core in each of the
discipline areas
Process to Choose Proposed Core
Classes
 Work teams were established with both SUS and FCS
representatives in all disciplines
 Each work team developed discipline outcomes and
course recommendations
 Karen Borglum chaired Communications work team
for the state
 Kevin Mulholland served on the Humanities work
team
 John Niss served on the Math work team
 Valencia was well represented at the state meeting!
Communications
 Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate
effectively.
 Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze
communication critically.
 Course:
 ENC X101 English Composition I
Humanities
 Students will demonstrate interpretive ability and cultural
literacy.
 Students will demonstrate competence in reflecting critically
upon the human condition.
 Courses:
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ARH X000 Art Appreciation
HUM X020 Introduction to Humanities
LIT X100 Introduction to World Literature
MUL X010 Introduction to Music Literature/Music
Appreciation
 PHI X010 Introduction to Philosophy
Mathematics
 Students will determine appropriate mathematical and
computational models and methods in problem solving, and
demonstrate an understanding of mathematical concepts.
 Students will apply appropriate mathematical and
computational models and methods in problem solving.
 Courses:
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MAC X105
STA X023
MGF X106
MGF X107
College Algebra
Statistical Methods
Liberal Arts Mathematics I
Liberal Arts Mathematics II
Sciences
 Students will demonstrate the ability to critically examine
and evaluate scientific observation, hypothesis, or model
construction, and the use of scientific method to explain the
natural world.
 Students will successfully recognize and comprehend
fundamental concepts, principles, and processes about the
natural world.
 Courses:
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BSC X005 General Biology
CHM X020 Chemistry for Liberal Studies
PHY X020 Fundamentals of Physics
ESC X000 Introduction to Earth Science
EVR X001 Introduction to Environmental Science
Social Sciences
 Students will demonstrate the ability to examine behavioral,
social, and cultural issues from a variety of points of view.
 Students will demonstrate an understanding of basic social
and behavioral science concepts and principles used in the
analysis of behavioral, social, and cultural issues, past and
present, local and global.
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PSY X012 Introduction to Psychology
SYG X000 Principles of Sociology
WOH X040 20th Century World History
CPO X001 Comparative Politics
ANT X000 Introduction to Anthropology
What about the other 15 hours?
 We still get to choose what we want that to look like
 Agreement that each discipline will get 6 hours – 3 of
which has to come from the state core
 We are having discipline meetings college wide to
come up with recommendations for the institutional
hours
 It is an excellent time to review all the courses
currently in Gen Ed (we have one of the largest lists in
the state). We did this in 2007 when we first adopted
the principles but it is time to do it again
 You can get involved in these discussions!
Complicating factor:
The Gordon Rule
 House Bill 7135 does not address the Gordon Rule
 Students will still need 6 hours of
Communications/writing and 6 hours of
Math/quantitative factors
 Each institution gets to determine how to meet the
Gordon Rule requirement
 What will Gordon Rule look like at Valencia?
 This will be part of the discussion of our new Gen Ed
Concerns/Things to Consider
 Concern: Will we come up with “graduation
requirements”?
 Concern: How will this impact A.S. Degrees?
 We also need to make sure we address our Gen Ed
Outcomes
The Current Map of General Education based on
Assessment Plans developed from 2009 and 2010
Rationale – In order to continue our progress
The Current Map of Assessable Contributions to General Education based on Assessment Plans developed in
Communications
Social Science
Cultural and Historical Understanding
Quantitative and
Scientific
Reasoning
Quantitative Reasoning
Communication
Skills
Oral Communication
Science
Other S.S.
Mathematics
POS2041
Humanities
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Librarians
Student Affairs
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Scientific Reasoning
Written Communication
Other
Outcome
SPC1608
ENC1101
Discipline
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Interpersonal
Communication
Ethical Responsibility
Information Literacy
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Critical thinking
“” indicates the completion of assessment plans during Destination 2009 and Destination 2010
* Collegewide History Faculty Developed and implemented an Assessment Plan focused on Cultural and Historical Understanding
**A plan was developed in Destination 2010 by Sociology Faculty to assess Scientific Reasoning
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Next steps
 State will finalize their recommendations in July
 Discipline meetings for institutional hours will start
soon
 In order to meet catalog and SACS deadlines, we’ll
need the institutional list completed by February 2014
 2013 legislative session “glitch bill”
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Postpones implementation to 2015-16 academic year
Restores credit hours to 36
Notes that not all institutions have to offer every course
Adds and defines “or higher” language
Questions? Concerns?
Thanks for coming! 
Call me if you have any further
questions, think of an additional
comment or just want to say
“hi” (x6883)