General Education Changes Dr. Cheryl Robinson Student Affairs Professional Development Conference February 28, 2013

 Well rounded students…set of skills/aptitudes:  Navigate culture  Appreciate other cultures  Reason clearly - make objective decisions  Core of classes to be well rounded  Preliminary to more specialized courses---exposure to many areas  Functional literacy  Component of curriculum that is not vocational/career focused  Learn to think critically in other areas (other than major)  Diversify cognitive abilities  Broaden perspective of individual What is the purpose of Gen Ed?

 Cultural and Historical Understanding: Demonstrate understanding of the diverse traditions of the world, and an individual's place in it  Quantitative and Scientific Reasoning: Use processes, procedures, data, or evidence to solve problems and make effective decisions  Communication Skills: Engage in effective interpersonal, oral, written communication  Ethical Responsibility: Demonstrate awareness of personal responsibility in one's civic, social, and academic life  Information Literacy: Locate, evaluate, and effectively use information from diverse sources  Critical Thinking: Effectively analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and apply information and ideas from diverse sources and disciplines Gen Ed Outcomes Approved December 2007

 Courses within the General Education Program will:  1. be able to meet the A.A., A.S., and A.A.S. degree requirements;  2. significantly contribute to Valencia's general education outcomes;  3. not narrowly focus on those skills, techniques, and procedures specific to a particular occupation or profession;  4. be transferrable for all programs  5. contribute significantly to breadth of knowledge What are our Gen Ed Principles?

 In order to ensure consistency with decisions regarding the addition of courses to the General Education program, the following questions will be addressed:  1. Does the course contribute significantly to satisfying the General Education Outcomes? (Yes)  2. Does this course, when added to the General Education program, satisfy the mission of Valencia College (Yes)  3. Is this course specific to a particular faculty member? (No)  4. Does this course focus on a specific occupation? (No)  5. Will this course, if added, be transferable to upper division programs? (Yes)  6. Does this course have prerequisites that are not General Education courses? (No) How do we determine breadth?

 Procedures: In keeping with SACS Comprehensive Standard , the institution places primary responsibility for the content, quality, and effectiveness of the curriculum with its faculty, the Curriculum Committee will serve as the eligible voters for changes to the General Education program. However, effective collaboration and communication will be a part of all General Education decisions made at the college.  1. When deciding course additions to or deletions from the General Education program, the discipline-specific voter eligibility list will serve as a means of communication and collaboration.  2. In matters which relate to major changes across the five General Education areas, there will be communication from the faculty Co-Chair of the Curriculum Committee to all tenured and tenure-track faculty at the college. This communication will include the proposed change, the timetable for decision-making, access to resources for decision input, identification of opportunities to provide input, and required date of response. Who is responsible for Gen Ed?

 To be implemented in the academic year  Required for all SUS and FCS institutions  Intent is to form a more consistent Gen Ed experience for all public higher ed students  Reduces Gen Ed from 36 hours to 30 hours  15 hours will come form state core  15 hours can be institutionally determined (as we do now) House Bill 7135 Passed 2012 Legislative Session

 Still 5 discipline areas:  Communications  Humanities  Math  Natural and Physical Sciences  Social Sciences  A maximum of 5 courses per discipline must be established at the state level (remember goal to create commonality)  Students must take one class from the core in each of the discipline areas 15 Hour Core Breakdown

 Work teams were established with both SUS and FCS representatives in all disciplines  Each work team developed discipline outcomes and course recommendations  Karen Borglum chaired Communications work team for the state  Kevin Mulholland served on the Humanities work team  John Niss served on the Math work team  Valencia was well represented at the state meeting! Process to Choose Proposed Core Classes

 Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively.  Students will demonstrate the ability to analyze communication critically.  Course:  ENC X101 English Composition I Communications

 Students will demonstrate interpretive ability and cultural literacy.  Students will demonstrate competence in reflecting critically upon the human condition.  Courses:  ARH X000 Art Appreciation  HUM X020 Introduction to Humanities  LIT X100 Introduction to World Literature  MUL X010 Introduction to Music Literature/Music Appreciation  PHI X010 Introduction to Philosophy Humanities

 Students will determine appropriate mathematical and computational models and methods in problem solving, and demonstrate an understanding of mathematical concepts.  Students will apply appropriate mathematical and computational models and methods in problem solving.  Courses:  MAC X105 College Algebra  STA X023 Statistical Methods  MGF X106 Liberal Arts Mathematics I  MGF X107 Liberal Arts Mathematics II Mathematics

 Students will demonstrate the ability to critically examine and evaluate scientific observation, hypothesis, or model construction, and the use of scientific method to explain the natural world.  Students will successfully recognize and comprehend fundamental concepts, principles, and processes about the natural world.  Courses:  BSC X005 General Biology  CHM X020 Chemistry for Liberal Studies  PHY X020 Fundamentals of Physics  ESC X000 Introduction to Earth Science  EVR X001 Introduction to Environmental Science Sciences

 Students will demonstrate the ability to examine behavioral, social, and cultural issues from a variety of points of view.  Students will demonstrate an understanding of basic social and behavioral science concepts and principles used in the analysis of behavioral, social, and cultural issues, past and present, local and global.  Courses:  PSY X012 Introduction to Psychology  SYG X000 Principles of Sociology  WOH X040 20th Century World History  CPO X001 Comparative Politics  ANT X000 Introduction to Anthropology Social Sciences

 We still get to choose what we want that to look like  Agreement that each discipline will get 6 hours – 3 of which has to come from the state core  We are having discipline meetings college wide to come up with recommendations for the institutional hours  It is an excellent time to review all the courses currently in Gen Ed (we have one of the largest lists in the state). We did this in 2007 when we first adopted the principles but it is time to do it again  You can get involved in these discussions! What about the other 15 hours?

 House Bill 7135 does not address the Gordon Rule  Students will still need 6 hours of Communications/writing and 6 hours of Math/quantitative factors  Each institution gets to determine how to meet the Gordon Rule requirement  What will Gordon Rule look like at Valencia?  This will be part of the discussion of our new Gen Ed Complicating factor: The Gordon Rule

 Concern: Will we come up with “graduation requirements”?  Concern: How will this impact A.S. Degrees?  We also need to make sure we address our Gen Ed Outcomes Concerns/Things to Consider

The Current Map of General Education based on Assessment Plans developed from 2009 and 2010

 State will finalize their recommendations in July  Discipline meetings for institutional hours will start soon  In order to meet catalog and SACS deadlines, we’ll need the institutional list completed by February 2014  2013 legislative session “glitch bill”  Postpones implementation to academic year  Restores credit hours to 36  Notes that not all institutions have to offer every course  Adds and defines “or higher” language Next steps

 Thanks for coming!  Call me if you have any further questions, think of an additional comment or just want to say “hi” (x6883) Questions? Concerns?