Bryon Clark (Chair), Gleny Beach, Betty Clay, Jim Cunningham, Jane Elder, Steven Emge, Dick Hackett, Gene Hetzel, Nancy Hill, Linda Kallam, Brad Ludrick, Shannon McCraw, Steve McKim, Sharon Morrison, John Topuz, Chip Weiner (ex-officio), Vicki Hudson (proxy for Cherry Wilmoth)
John Mischo, Patty Pool
The meeting was called to order at 2:45 by the Chair. The minutes of the previous meeting were presented. Jim Cunningham moved to accept the minutes as written. Linda Kallam seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously by voice vote.
The first item for consideration of change was Learning Outcome #2 from Computer Literacy. Betty Clay asked that the phrase “….make an oral presentation.” be changed to “…prepare an oral presentation.” The rationale for the change was that those taking the class online cannot actually make an oral presentation. Dick Hackett moved to accept the modification. Gene Hetzel seconded. The motion was approved.
A question was raised regarding what would happen if a specific instructor refused to follow the General Education Guidelines while teaching a gen ed course. In such a case, the Associate Dean of the School of Graduate and University Studies would recommend that such person no longer teach that class. If the entire department refuses to follow the Guidelines, the AD will recommend that the course be dropped from the gen ed program.
Dr. Weiner added that if a single professor refuses to follow the Guidelines and he/she is the only person qualified to teach that class, his employment will be terminated under the insubordination guideline and he/she will be replaced.
Next consideration was given to Science Reasoning Learning Outcome #2. The Biology Department suggested changing “Use the basic language of science” to “Understand the basic language of science.” Debate ensued regarding how to measure “understand.” Dr. Weiner felt it would be very difficult to accurately measure. The Council decided to leave the wording as it was due to lack of strong support for change.
The Chair next raised the possibility of eliminating the General Education Outcomes Goal of Interrelatedness of Disciplines. Discussion ensued with some Council members feeling that this should be left in even though we might not be able to adequately address it at the moment to show that we intended to have a framework or paradigm for future planning. Others felt it might be viewed as a shortcoming or failure by those assessing the monitoring report. There was strong support for pursuing this in the future and several models for doing so were discussed. Dr. Weiner felt that the monitoring should be our first priority at this point and we should closely adhere to what is required for that report. To include extra additions might only serve to muddy the water. The Council agreed to follow that directive.
The Chair also pointed out that Learner Outcomes #2 and #3 from Ethics and Values are still unclaimed by any department. He asked if they should be removed or if these were things that were already being done in some department? Gleny Beach pointed out that taking on too many objectives places a heavy burden on faculty for assessment. The Chair asked that Council members take this back to their respective departments and see if anyone is willing to include these in their assessment process.
The Chair asked for expedience in preparing the final working draft of the General Education Outcomes document as it must be presented to Academic Council for approval before it can be implemented.
Vicki Hudson raised the question of how gen ed courses will be delivered online. General discussion ensued, but Dr. Weiner cautioned that online education was mainly the purview of the Distance Learning Council and that we should maintain a focus on the general education aspects.
Vicki Hudson also brought up the topic of capstone courses and the possibility of upper division general education courses. These too were seen as future endeavors for the Council.
Betty Clay reported on the work of the Computer Proficiency sub-council. The test will be powered by Blackboard and the questions will be randomly selected from a test bank. There will be a maximum of 125 questions consisting of 30 questions from Word, 30 from Excel, 10 from PowerPoint and 5 questions concerning Ethics (Ethics questions will be generated in-house). From the online Library program there will be 30 questions concerning searching and retrieving and includes an internet search (The URL will be sent by the student so that we know he/she has found the site). The student will also have to successfully generate an e-mail. The test will be divided into three parts, all of which will be taken at one sitting. There will be allotted 2 hours for a student to complete the test, which he/she can take only once per semester unless given special permission by Dr. Bryon Clark. If the student passes the test, he/she will receive 3 hours of credit. If the student does not pass the test he/she will be required to take either BIM or CIS. In order to pass the student must achieve an overall score of 70% with no less than 50% on any one part. Any student already enrolled at SOSU prior to the implementation of this test will be grandfathered in and allowed to test out of the previous proficiency test. Implementation should occur no later than the Fall 2006 semester. Betty Clay moved to accept the sub-council’s recommendations. Dick Hackett seconded. The motion passed unanimously.
The next meeting of the Council will be Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2005 at 2:30 in a location to be determined.