USF General Education Council - Minutes of November 5, 2007

Present: Sue Bartlett, Scott Campbell, John Ferron, Ilene Frank, Hunt Hawkins, Ed Kellner, Gladis Kersaint (Chair), Kathy Laframboise, Phil Levy, Jane Noll, Paul Reller, Drew Smith, Nancy White.

Absent: C. David Frankel, Sharon Geiger, Joan Morris, Laura Rusnak (excused), Jeffrey Ryan, Cheryl Zambroski (excused).

Guests: Ken Caswell, Terri Flateby, Pat Maher, Diane Williams

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m. in SVC 2080. Dr. Kersaint presided.

The minutes of October 15th, 2007, were tabled for approval in the next meeting.
Discussion
1. The GEC members discussed about the possibility of limiting on-line courses as many departments may convert live classes to on-line classes due to constraints in scheduling of classes. Some members were concerned about the impact of on-line courses on the quality of General Education courses in terms of assessment, instructional examples etc. Some members also expressed their concern about on-line courses, where the face to face interactions between the faculties and the students are lacking. It was discussed that GEC will review the quality of each proposal in terms of objectives of the new General Education dimensions regardless of format. There was some discussion about whether an on-line course can maintain the same quality as a classroom course. There were also concerns raised about the student's drop out rate from on-line courses and the members concluded that courses approved as classroom delivery method have significant changes when they are offered on-line. Some members emphasized that courses that are currently being reviewed by GEC for the General Education Curriculum should be reviewed on content and not on delivery method.
Course Proposal Review Status
1. Approved Courses
  With Funding Request ($$$$)
  - THE 4434 - Caribbean Theatre -------------------------Approved.
    This course a study of plays and popular theatrical forms of the Caribbean including carnival and calypso. The student will investigate the social and political forces that shape the culture of the Caribbean. This course was approved and meets the Gordon Rule Communication (listed in the website as a Gordon rule writing course) requirement.
    Core Area: Exit Course - Capstone Dimensions: CT, I, CIPE, HCD.
  - CGS 2094 - Cyber Ethics -------------------------Content Approved only.
    This course deals with many ethical issues, e.g. privacy, freedom of speech, security, intellectual property, and workplace globalization, are impacted by computing and related technology. These issues are examined from theoretical, cultural, and geopolitical perspectives. This course content was approved but the funding request needs to be reviewed by the funding committee before full approval can be given.
    Core Area: Cultural Diversity and Global Context Dimensions: CT, I, GC, IL.
  - ECH 2025 - Energy, Environment and Sustainability -------------------------Content Approved only.
    This course is a critical analysis of energy sources, distribution and consumption using scientific methodology. The course will focus on attributes of commonly used energy sources including environmental impact. The course will also focus on social, political and economic implications from a global perspective. This course content was approved but the funding request needs to be reviewed by the funding committee before full approval can be given.
    Core Area: Physical Sciences Dimensions: CT, I, SP, ENP.
2. Review Issues
  - The GEC chair asked the committee to continue using the reviewer checklist as they review courses
3. Committee Reports
  1. Assessment Sub-committee
    The members of the assessment sub-committee met on 29th October, 07 and discussed the use of embedded assessment versus standardized test. The committee is recommending the use of embedded assessment and the way a specific area would be assessed will be dependent on the courses. The sub-committee is working on the development of a rubric which would determine whether the students are meeting the expectations. Also the sub-committee would develop a rubric to assess whether the courses are meeting the dimensions' requirements. The sub-committee expressed the need for participation of faculty for the development of the rubric. There were issues raised regarding the complications of the process.
  2. Marketing/Promotions
    The subcommittee completed the process of prioritizing the audiences for marketing purposes. They have decided that advisors should be on top of the list because they would be advising incoming freshmen. They are to be followed by students and their parents. The sub-committee will work towards making the students and parents more aware of the General Education Programs. The sub-committee will tailor presentations about the importance of General Education programs for general sessions as compared to presentations to the colleges where the presentations would be more college specific.
  3. Recertification Process
    The Recertification Process committee met on October 16th in SOC 29. The members voted that courses be recertified every five years and the make it feasible for the new course instructors to have access to the original proposal. The GEC members passed a motion to approve recertification within five years. The GEC also voted in favor of the motion that the Council should send a letter to chairs soon alerting them to the timetable for recertification and recommending that routinely new instructors should look at the original proposal and websites resources.

The next meeting will be on Monday, November 19, 2007, at 3:00 pm in SVC 2080. The meeting was adjourned at 4:55 pm.

Please send any suggestions or comments to:
Mia Fluitt - webcat@ugs.usf.edu