Faculty Senate General Education Committee

November 3, 2008

325 Main Hall

Meeting convened at 3:33pm, by Galbraith

Committee Members Attending: Michael Current, Eric Kahl, Anne Galbraith, Tom Gendreau, Eric Kraemer, Tom Pribek, Cris Prucha, Robert Ragan, Don Sloan

Excused: Jon Fields

Guests & Consultants Attending: Chris Bakkum, Carla Burkhardt, Bill Cerbin, Billy Clow, Kathleen Enz Finken, Bob Hoar 

M/S/P, to approve minutes of 10-20-08; voice vote, unanimous

information f/Bill Cerbin, followed by discussion:

 - CLA requested by GEC 2 years ago

    1. performance-based/critical thinking, rather than testing

       for large bodies of information; "adjust scores for ability

       incoming to institution": measuring differences in gain

    2. provides institutional analysis, not individual

       performance; "gains made by UWL are in the 90 percentile"

    3. freshman to senior gains: not GE specifically;

      "thinking behind CLA presumes integrated skills"

    4. had to contact 400 seniors to get 100 to participate;

       freshmen "easier, a captive audience in UWL 100"

 - a pitch for "CLA in the classroom" program, creating

   performance-based tasks: might we hold a workshop on campus? 

   methodoloy is "similar to what we're trying to do" with

   assessment

    1. $3k cost, non-class day, "fairly intensive" workshop

    2. no limit on participants; interest individual instructors

discussion of re-charge for GEAC

 - frequency of assessing a designated course SLO

 - changing GE list of SLOs; requesting dept. feedback on

   usefulness of SLO

 - Galbraith will tweak & send to Senate before Nov 20

M/S/P, "as per our discussion”; voice vote, unanimous

information: "we must chase down Jim Jorstad" to incorporate our

 responses to freshman orientation video

M/S/P, GEC disapproves appointing a GE dir. apart from the chair

 of GEC; voice vote, unanimous

 vice chancellor/provost: if there is no more work beyond normal

 work of comm, no need for compensation (same presumption for

 other committees); would it be adequate for GEC to write a memo

 acknowledging that significant work should be compensated?

M/S/P, GEC recommends that if there is work required during the

 Summer, then provost will give adequate compensation to chair of

 GEC from previous year; voice vote, unanimous

info & discussion on university assessment dir., f/provost

 - formulated as part of CATL: provide workshops,

   resources/expertise

 - administer CLA

 - do institutional assessment, "number we do is large"; adding

   the course-level assessment to existing projects

 - title would be "instructional academic staff," preferably Ph.D.

 - GEC will review position description at meeting on 17th,

   before Senate on 20th

 - provost will offer to put GEC rep. on search committee

Meeting adjourned 5:17pm

Notes compiled by Tom Pribek