General Education Review Big Questions: (Why) do we need General Education requirements? What are our goals for them? What do we expect students to learn? (How) do these goals align with our institutional learning outcomes? What is special about Carthage that we want to preserve and support? What do we want to change and/or improve?

Trends in General Education at Colleges/Universities* 85% of CUs have institutional learning outcomes A lot of consensus on these ILOs for knowledge and skills But students don’t necessarily understand them Distribution model still the norm Increasing emphasis on “integration of knowledge, skills, and applications” Major increase in “high impact practices” internships, undergraduate research, practicums, study abroad, global or world culture studies, service learning and first-year experiences Still need work on linking gen ed programs to students’ majors *Data from www.aacu.org/about/2015-membersurvey Learning outcomes: 90% have Knowledge of different fields (= “broad knowledge”) (Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Math, and Global Culture, and Diversity in the United States); 90% have “Intellectual and Practical Skills” ( = cross-cuting skills) in reading, writing, oral communication, critical thinking and quantitative reasoning; slightly lower percentages agree on “Integrative Learning” (applied learning) and “Personal and Social Responsibility” including ethical reasoning, civic engagement and intercultural skills

Common ILOs across institutions 92-73%: Broad knowledge in Humanities, Sciences, Social Sciences, Math, Global Culture and Diversity in the U.S. 99-75%: Intellectual and practical skills in writing, critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, oral communication, information literacy, intercultural skills and research skills 79-63%: Personal and social responsibility, i.e., ethical reasoning, civic engagement and intercultural skills 68-65%: Integration and application of learning

Our Process All faculty and staff are invited to participate in the exploration phase of conversation in spring 2016 Divisions and programs will each do SWOT analysis of their Gen Ed component and share their findings and recommendations Clear communication about our progress Notes on meetings will be promptly shared Website Regular reports to Senate and Faculty meetings

Our Process (cont.) Forums to discuss specific topics March 7, March 9, March 30, April 13 At May faculty meeting, written report on progress and plans for summer/fall Summer working group will be selected to craft proposal(s)

Schedule for Today 30 mins: Small-group discussions of gen ed curriculum—each group fill out SWOT form Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Last 10 minutes: Circle top 3-4 priorities 30 mins: each group shares priorities with whole faculty

Carthage’s requirements

Priorities for Gen Ed Review