1. 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?

2. 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
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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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)

6. 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

7. Carthage’s requirements

8. Priorities for Gen Ed Review