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GENERAL EDUCATION SUBCOMMITTEE MINUTES

To: General Education Subcommittee
From: Jeanette Clausen
Subj:: Minutes of October 27 meeting

Present: Brennan, Clausen, Kimble, Skekloff, Tierney, Unsell, Wright-Bower

Next meeting: November 17, 10:00am-12:00pm.

1. Minutes from the meetings of September 15 and September 29 were approved.

2. Discussion of course proposals:

Area II: BIOL 327 Biology of Aging. Motion to approve, pending receipt of course change request dropping the prereuisite (per Bulletin, BIOL 109 or 199) and clarification of how course will be taught at an introductory level.

GEOG G107 Physical Systems of the Environment: approve.

GEOL G104 Earth Science: Evolution of the Earth: approve, pending receipt of course change request changing G100 prerequisite to "recommended."

Area IV: CLAS C205 Classical Mythology: approve.

MUS Z201 History of Rock and Roll (also proposed for Area VI): approve for Area IV (rationale: very similar to the other music appreciation courses), pending receipt of revised proposal removing the prerequisite.

Area VI: ENG W462 Rhetoric and the Other Arts. Defer while awaiting receipt of clarification: Is the request for approval of the topic or of the course (variable-topics courses are no longer approved for general education), then vote on email.

3. Computer literacy survey: Jeanette gave a brief update on responses to the survey that had been received so far. She will forward the response received from Political Science, and will continue to forward any interesting responses received to Marge Kimble.

4. There was no time to discuss the memo from the Library on information literacy. The request is to establish a task force on information literacy that will define the level of information literacy expected of IPFW graduates, recommend an implementation plan, and determine how to assess the outcomes. (Editorial comment from the scribe: that more or less excuses GES from discussing the request, since our charge is to define a foundation skill level of computer literacy.)

5. The meeting did not so much adjourn as dissolve.

To: General Education Subcommittee
From: Jeanette Clausen
Subj:: Minutes of September 29 meeting

Present: Brennan, Clausen, Kimble, Skekloff, Tierney, Unsell, Wright-Bower

Next meeting: October 27, 10:00am-12:00pm.

1. Minutes from the previous meeting were not ready.

2. There was a lengthy discussion of how to establish broad criteria for the computer literacy requirement in Area I, as a basis for GES review of school-level definitions of the requirement. We agreed that the requirement, like the other foundation skills, should be easy to test out of, and that students should not be required to add another course in order to meet the requirement; rather, we would encourage schools to show how the needed skills are integrated into courses already required for the degree program. However, the point was made that there might need to be a "fall-back course" for schools in which courses already required for the degree may not cover all the needed areas. Sue reported that the library has been discussing the need for an information literacy expectation, which is one aspect of computer literacy. Jeanette promised to look for a course proposal from years ago (that was turned down at the time) that addressed issues of information literacy. It was agreed that the general-education computer literacy requirement should be relevant to the entire degree program, not just to the major discipline. There was much discussion of how the ACITAS statement of expectations for student mastery of information technology could be of help in defining foundation skills. The JumpStart course goals were also distributed. Eventually it was decided to create a questionnaire to the schools using the ACITAS criteria; Jeanette and Wayne agreed to ccomplete this task so that the questionnaire could be distributed in a timely fashion.

3. Other work that needs to be done this semester:

review course proposals received (there are only a handful). The proposals will be sent out; committee members should email comments to each other prior to the next meeting.
update the Area VI course lists in light of the revised definition of that area. Jeanette agreed to get a memo to deans about that issue immediately.
revise the course proposal form to reflect the revised general-education criteria, and get it posted on the web page in a user-friendly, interactive form that can be filled out and submitted electronically. Marge Kimble offered to teach John Brennan how to do this; everyone else applauded her suggestion.
revise the implementation guidelines to match the revised requirements. This will be on the agenda for the next meeting.
assessment: carry out assessment of Areas IV and V for 2000-01, and develop new assessment measures to match the goals of the revised program.
take proactive steps to get some additional courses in Areas IV and V.

4. The meeting adjourned.