Undergraduate Education, Council on - Minutes - 2007-2008
Council on Undergraduate Education (CUE)
Minutes for 12-14-07. Meeting opened at 1:35 p.m.
Members Present:
J. Rust, Chair, B. Kirby, I. Schmidt, M. Chu, J. Wheatley, C. Levine, C. McLean, R. Foy, C. Jordan, D. Auerbach, M. Atkinson, J. Spurlin, J. Tector, B. Matthews, D. Howard, L. Williams, H. Kellner, J. Ambrose, C. Freeman, A. Dupont, C. Ashwell
Comments from the Chair: Chair-elect called the meeting to order. Alex Miller was not able to attend today’s meeting and we will re-schedule his visit in the spring. The January 4th meeting has been canceled but the IP subcommittee will meet at that time in Faculty Senate. Thank you to DUAP for the lunch.
Comments from the Associate Dean for UAP: Thank you to members for continued effort in reviewing rationale and objectives for the new GEP. We should hear from the Provost in January regarding the new GEP. The IP subcommittee will meet at the January 4th meeting to begin IP symposium planning.
Minutes from 11-30-2007 were approved unanimously.
Course Review:
BIO 140 and BIO 141 were both approved unanimously for the Natural Sciences category. The wording of the Rationale/Objectives should reflect the CUE approved Rat/Obj for new GEP. The courses were approved to the NS category under the new GEP.
REL 200 for placement on the Humanities religion and Non-english speaking culture list was returned to the department for clarification. After an initial motion to approve was retracted, a second motion was made to send back the action ‘requesting that it be more clearly specified that the course is about world religion in both catalog description and body of work’. The motion to return the action to the department was approved unanimously.
Review of Rationale and Objectives for new GEP:
Social Sciences Rationale and Objectives were approved unanimously as presented below:
Social Sciences – for GEP
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. examine at least one of the following: human behavior, culture, mental processes, organizational processes, or institutional processes; and
2. demonstrate 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 analyze and explain theoretical and/or real-world problems, including the underlying origins of such problems.
Humanities Rationale and Objectives were approved (15 yes, 2 abstentions, and 1 against) as presented below:
Humanities– for GEP
Rationale: The humanities comprise the subjects and disciplines that use various models 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:
- Engage the human experience through the interpretation of human culture and
- Become aware of the act of interpretation itself as a critical form of knowing in the humanities; and
- Make academic arguments about the human experience using reasons and evidence for supporting those reasons that are appropriate to the humanities.
Advanced Communication rationale and objectives will be reviewed at the next CUE meeting and Allen Dupont will work on the draft of the rationale and objectives with the input received from members and others providing input. Send comments to Cynthia Levine and Allen Dupont.
Diversity and Global Knowledge guidelines need to be developed by CUE to assist on-campus groups looking at diversity and global knowledge using rationale and objectives developed out of the GER task force. Suggestion to have a member from the diversity subcommittee and global knowledge subcommittee speak at an upcoming CUE meeting. The rationale and objectives developed will be sent to CUE members for review and feedback from colleges.
The next agenda will include an update from the IP subcommittee and review of adv communication, global knowledge and diversity categories.