Undergraduate Education, Council on - Minutes - 2007-2008
Minutes for 11-30-07.
Council on Undergraduate Education (CUE)
Meeting opened at 1:35 p.m and adjourned at 2:45.
Submitted by C. Freeman
Members Present:
B. Matthews, Chair-elect, B. Kirby, M. Shearer, M. Chu, G. Weinberg, J. Wheatley, C. Levine, C. McLean, A. Nowel, T. Morant, R. Foy, C. Jordan, M. Atkinson, J. Tector, A. Joyner, B. Mills, J. Ambrose, C. Freeman, A. Dupont, H. Kellner, L. Williams, D. Howard, J. Spurlin, D. Barlage
Guest: Larry Blanton – University Honors Program
Comments from the Chair: Chair-elect called the meeting to order.
Comments from the Associate Dean for UAP: Dr. Ambrose announced that GEP implementation updates will be available through a link from the CUE site under reports and from DUAP under resources by the first of the year. He also reminded the committee that the Humanities and Social Sciences categories are fulfilled with completion of courses from 2 different fields of study.
Minutes from 11-16-2007 were approved unanimously.
Review of Honors Experimental Course Offerings for the GER for Fall 2007 Semester:
Approved as submitted were the following:
- HON 293D – Between Art and Propaganda… - GER – Literature
- HON 293I – Chinese Popular Literature – GER – Literature
- HON 294K – Kantian Ethics – GER – Philosophy
- HON 294Z – Ethics and Gender – GER – Philosophy
- HON 296V – EcoRealism – STS – HSS perspective
- HON 296C – The Creative Process in Science – STS – HSS perspective
Review of Rationale and Objectives for the Humanities, and Social Sciences categories for the GEP.
The Chair opened discussion regarding the Humanities and Social Sciences objectives.
Linda Williams provided the committee with a revised version of the rationale and objectives for these two categories as proposed by the CHASS Course and Curricula Committee meeting on November 19th. (See attached)
Comments regarding the revised version included that instead of the use of the word “understand” in the objectives, better word choices are “illustrate, demonstrate, describe or explore, analyze, solve” should be used.
Williams suggested CHASS CCC review the language again at its next meeting and return with suggestions regarding wording at the December 14th meeting. The committee agreed.
CUE REVIEW OF CURRENT OBJECTIVES AND RATIONALE FOR THE HUMANITIES
AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES FOR THE NEW GEP
11-16-07
Social Sciences - Revisions are in red font
Rationale: The study of social sciences enables students to understand individual and collective human behavior by:
- exploring meaning within a variety of social, cultural, political, and economic contexts;
- analyzing the structures within which human goals are established and human choices are made; and
- applying theoretical and empirical models to specific cases.
Objectives:
Each course in the social science category of the General Education Program will provide instruction and guidance that help students to:
1. understand at least one of the following: human behavior, culture, mental processes, organizational processes, or institutional processes; and
2. understand how social scientific methods may be applied to the study of human behavior, culture, mental processes, organizational processes, or institutional processes; and
3. use theories or concepts of the social sciences to understand theoretical and/or real-world problems, including the underlying origins of such problems.
Humanities
Rationale: The humanities comprise the subjects and disciplines that use various modes of rational inquiry to understand human nature and experience, organization and change in human societies, the nature of the world, and rational inquiry itself. An education in the humanities requires analysis and interpretation of significant works, gaining an exposure to a variety of methodologies, and learning to apply these in written exposition. An education in the basic humanistic disciplines is necessary to become a citizen with a broad knowledge of human cultures and with well-considered moral, philosophical, aesthetic, and intellectual convictions.
Objectives:
Each course in the humanities category of the General Education Program will provide instruction and guidance that help students to:
1. understand and engage in the human experience through the interpretation of human culture and
2. become aware of the act of interpretation itself as a critical form of knowing in the humanities; and3. make academic arguments about the human experience using reasons and evidence for supporting those reasons that are appropriate to the humanities.
Committee is requesting review of #1 in Humanities objectives – there was discussion that “engage in human experience” may not pertain to all disciplines in the humanities (example: Metaphysics and logic)
Review of Rationale and Objectives for the Advanced Communication requirement in the new GEP (formerly Writing, Speaking and Information Literacy)
Writing, Speaking and Information Literacy – Current GER
Requirement in Writing, Speaking and Information Literacy (7 hours):
- One semester of composition and rhetoric during the freshman year.
- One semester from any of the following:
- advanced writing,
- speech, or
- foreign language (FL_ 201 or higher in the student's first foreign language or any FL_ course in a second language).
- In addition, each curriculum is designed so that upper-level courses and other programmatic experiences help students write and speak competently in the discipline, including the ability to retrieve, evaluate, and manage information in ways that are appropriate to the discipline. In each curriculum, the design and delivery of that support are guided by various forms of programmatic assessment.
Rationale: Writing and speaking are powerful ways of understanding ourselves and the world in which we live. It is through writing and speaking that the various disciplines and professions define the knowledge and methodologies that characterize them. And because effective writing and speaking in academic and professional settings often demand proficiency in the use of information technologies and resources, students must have a basic understanding of how information is identified and defined by experts, structured, organized, and accessed, in both the print and digital environments. Mastery of communication arts and information skills is central to engaging in the productive life of academic and professional communities.
Objectives:
Each course in the writing and speaking category of the General Education Requirements will provide instruction and guidance that help students to:
1. communicate effectively in specific writing orand speaking situations, which may include various academic, professional, or civic situations; and
2. understand and respond appropriately to the critical elements that shape communication situations, such as audience, purpose, and genre; and
3. critique their own writing or speaking and provide effective and useful feedback to enable other students to improve their writing or speaking; and
4. demonstrate critical and evaluative thinking skills in locating, analyzing, synthesizing, and using information in writing or speaking activities.
Discussion re: Advanced Communication Requirement:
Rationale and objectives for ENG 101 and for Adv. Communication should be determined by CUE. Do we trust colleges to fulfill? How is this determined? Dupont stated that part of the college assessment process (campus wide assessment 1x/yr) is to review the Adv. Communication requirement.
Communication in the discipline is what the Task Force is suggesting as requirement for Adv. Communication. Should have a list of courses to choose from and make a broad list.
What should the current objectives be for ENG 101? –Allen Dupont will provide a draft for the objectives and rationale for the Adv Communication category of the GEP.
What should be Advanced Communication rationale? Suggestion that a list of courses be created such as ENG 331, 332, 333. What about similar courses tailored for textiles, design – why just Engineering, Business, Natural Science? Suggestion that there be an IP relationship with English under IP category.