Meeting of the Faculty Senate General Education Committee
October 20, 2008
325 Main Hall
Meeting convened at 3:35pm, Galbraith presiding
Members attending: Current, Fields, Galbraith, Gendreau, Kahl, Kraemer, Pribek, Prucha, Sloan
Excused: Ragan
Guests & Consultants: Bill Cerbin, Dittman, Hoar
Food: brownies!
M/S/P, minutes of 10-6; voice vote, unanimous
report f/Bryan Kopp (with accompanying memo) and discussion of WE/WIMP
- seminar for new instructors this Fall: 11 attended, 4 actually doing course this Fall)
- process for instructors: submit proposal/plan to director, eferred to sub-committee, review & recommend for approval by GEC (WE comm. is a "sub" of GEC, though hasn't been always composed of GEC members); instructor then certified not required to repeat process
- f/Nancy Jones, a "pretty significant number" of certified instructors, including some no longer working here
- funding has been spotty recently, "more solid" now, so can begin "refining & improving": e.g., make public the review criteria, "I don't want a mysterious process"
- new hires given "provisional certification" over Summer; dir. could consult new instructors before 1st GEC meeting of Fall; dept. chairs should assign appropriately certified instructor after schedule published; any "expedited process should be on paper,” that is, a written policy statement
- initial approval is for construction of the course, not instructor,
though he/she then certified for life & for any course post materials on web, including names of instructors, as well as membership/volunteers for subcommittee
- "a lot of opportunity for expanding" WIMP; need for assessment,subcommittee might take lead in making rubric for dept.s
- GEC supports dir. in making sure assigned instructors actually have certification
discussion new charge for GEAC (formerly charged as AHAC and/or AssComm)
- frequency? (comm. assuming yearly assessment)
- # of SLOs, always same evaluated or other(s)? (should not be prescriptive; let dept. choose)
- sampling? what selection allowed by comm.? (comm. presumes every student); instructor might still
review portion of responses for inequity of time needed by instructors in different disciplines
- add to report to GEC the data on SLOs not assessed or last year assessed; evaluate a cycle of SLOs or dump some SLO(s)?
- do ass. for "a few years" before making alterations
- add to charge: "help dept.s revise assessment tools"
- re-assess SLO #1 for "less than desirable results" or "move on" to #2
- make guidelines for sampling
Galbraith will “take stab” at revising charge for further discussion at next meeting, incorporating direction to evaluate all courses again, add courses not taught this year, re-assess SLO #1 but encourage (an)other
Other information & activity
- national search underweigh for university ass. director
- watch freshman orientation video:
1. enjoyed & roundly reviled for its setting,, costuming, &
reciting of catalog
2. should focus on SLOs; need more students & "cool people":
- pass responses along to Kathy Keifer & Jim Jorstad
Meeting adjourned at 5:35pm
Notes compiled by Pribek