Dear Colleagues,
Whether you spent time with your family or friends, worked on projects that fed your creative passions, or sank yourself into your new favorite book or Netflix series, I hope your holiday break lived up to your expectations! I found the time to read two books that bolstered my enthusiasm for our general education reform efforts. First, I re-read Jeffrey Selingo’sCollege Unbound.Second, and just as timely, I readGeneral Education Essentials:A Guide for College Facultyby Paul Handstedt.
Calling for “radical change in order to serve the next generation of college students” (p. 58), Selingo highlights the social, political, economic, technological, and demographic headwinds that will shape the future of colleges and universities. Our reimagination of general education at 鶹ý is an opportunity to answer that call, and one that would likely resonate with Handstedt’s observation that general education curricula can “create an academic world that mimics more closely the wicked problems of today’s work world” (p. 30).
Last semester, hundreds of faculty and staff engaged in a collective exploration of general education at 鶹ý. They shared perspectives and asked questions at the more than 25 department visits and campus presentations and joined reading groups to study and discuss general education models and structures, learning goals and competencies, faculty development and resources, first-year experiences, high-impact practices, and general education purposes, outcomes, and assessment. Ash F.J. Thomas, student and Mace and Crown’s Arts and Entertainment Editor, wrote ansummarizing the feedback from the reading groups.
Building on this momentum, a general education reform steering committee will build on the work of the general education executive committee and reading groups this semester. Those who have been invited to serve on the steering committee include Aaron Arndt (Professor of Marketing), Orlando Ayala (Professor of Engineering Technology), Brett Beber (Associate Professor of History), Dooyoung Choi (Associate Professor of Fashion Merchandising), Matt Grau (Assistant Professor of Physics), Travis Jones (Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Librarian), Barbara Kraj (Associate Dean, Ellmer College of Health Sciences), Jeff LaCombe (Associate Dean, Batten College of Engineering and Technology), Benjamin Melusky (Associate Professor of Political Science), Megan Mize (Director of ePortfolio and Digital Initiatives), Catherine Moss (Director of Retention and Special Populations, 鶹ýGlobal), Reneldo Randall, (Director of Advising, Sciences), and Lanah Stafford (Director of High Impact Learning Initiatives). Associate deans Martha Daas and Joshua Wallach will co-chair the steering committee and members of thegeneral education reform executive committeewill also continue to serve.
The steering committee will meet bi-weekly to: (1) develop a formal recommendation for a required first-year experience, experiential learning, or a signature “鶹ý” experience as a component of the general education curriculum; and (2) propose five to seven shared general educationlearning goals. Colleagues with key expertise will be invited to join steering group meetings throughout the semester. The steering committee will submit a report to the Faculty Senate by the first week of April for their feedback.
Embracing transparency, community, and shared governance, the steering committee will host a kickoff discussion, open to all interested stakeholders, during Activity Hour (12:30-1:30) on January 23rdin the Webb Student Center. I hope you are able to attend and be a part of the discussion.
The importance of this effort for our community cannot be Overstated. Consider the following from Handstedt’sGeneral Education Essentials:“When all is said and done, general education is perhaps best described as both a responsibility and an opportunity”(p. 170). We have a responsibility to reform our general education curriculum so that it bolsters learning and ensures our students are optimally prepared to successfully navigate their degree programs and their futures as 鶹ý graduates. Together, I am confident we will create a general education curriculum that reflects our shared commitment to improving our community through education.
I look forward toReimagining the Future of General Education Together!