Westfield State University

Westfield State University Curriculum Committee Minutes for February 10, 2011

In attendance: David Laing, Marsha Marotta, John Ohotnicky, Enrique Morales-Diaz, Mary Allen Watson, Volker Ecke, Joseph Camilleri, Liam Harte, Stanley Jackson, Carlton Pickron, Dominick Farbo, Eric Bressler, Elizabeth Starr, Liam Harte, Christin Cleton, Tim Parshall, Emily Tobin, Evan Pacosa, Christine Irujo, Patrick Guiberson, Jennifer DiGrazia

Guests: Goopeel Chung, Larry Griffith

Chair’s Report:  Meeting was convened at 3:50 by Chair Morales-Diaz  Minutes from February 3 meeting amended to include “Enrique Morales-Diaz elected” and “1 abstention” and then approved  Chair Morales-Diaz passed around Subcommittee A and B assignments  Chair Morales-Diaz requested that Curriculum Committee members write down availability for future meetings  Chair Morales-Diaz requested that Chairs of the subcommittees turn in minutes and amendments early so that members of the full Curriculum Committee can review them prior to full committee meetings.  Chair Morales-Diaz reviewed and clarified the charge from ACC that the Curriculum Committee submit a response to ROCCC. He suggested that, based on the meeting he had attended, ACC was not asking Curr Comm to pass ROCCC wholesale; instead, ACC hoped for a stance from Curriculum Committee in response to the philosophy in the ROCCC proposal. Discussion followed as to the actual philosophy implicitly and explicitly articulated in the ROCCC document. Several options from the ROCCC document were discussed as possibilities for extracting the philosophical intent and stance of ROCCC. We discussed that it is important that we understand how and why ROCCC differs from our current CORE. After much discussion and debate, we determined that we could, from the ROCCC document, get a sense of the philosophical stance reflected in the ROCCC proposal. We also determined that we could not vote on the operational details of the ROCCC document at this time.  The four following motions were proposed and voted upon: o Motion #1: We recognize the substantial work that ROCCC invested in its review of the common CORE at WSU. We understand the philosophical stance of ROCCC to be reflected in the ROCCC document as follows: . “During our review process, faculty, students, staff, and administrators have voiced a general desire to ensure that WSC students gain wide-ranging skills, knowledge, and critical thinking abilities that will prepare them for living in a multifaceted, diverse, global, and ever-changing society. Based on our meetings with these campus constituencies, ROCCC has developed a vision for General Education at Westfield State College that is intended to foster the “habits of mind” which the community identify as the goals of the undergraduate experience. Our recommendations seek to synthesize and build upon the nine goals that form the foundation of the current WSC core (WSC Bulletin, p. 49). They also reflect a belief that general education courses should allow for exposure to a wide variety of courses outside of a student’s major. We wish to affirm the value of electives, along with general education and major courses, as part of students’ overall educational programs. We know that licensure requirements and requirements related to program accreditation in a number of majors mandate a large number of credits within the major, leaving little room for student choice. However, we recommend reducing the number of “core” or general education credits required for our students in the hope that both students and academic departments will embrace intellectual exploration as a feature and goal of the undergraduate experience” (Section IV, Educational Vision; Westfield State College Educational Priorities).

 The Educational Priorities we think help to exemplify the ROCCC philosophical stance are articulated in ROCCC as follows: (a) Gaining Breadth of Knowledge and Intellectual Depth: “The campus community articulated clearly that the purpose of general education is to provide a structure where students may become well-rounded, educated citizens of the United States and the world able to navigate complex social, scientific, cultural, economic, and political contexts as life-long learners. The intent of this priority is to provide a solid liberal arts grounding for all WSC students, regardless of major. Accordingly, its objective is for students to integrate major and general education in meaningful and intentional ways. Students will gain breadth of knowledge and intellectual depth by exploring a variety of disciplines or content areas and gain in-depth knowledge in one or more areas of study as determined by their interests, major requirements, and recommendations of advisors. By requiring an introduction to a broad array of disciplines with relevance to an ever-changing world, we give our students the opportunity to bring multiple areas of expertise to bear on complex problems. (b) Developing Intellectual Competencies and Skills: The objective of this priority is for students to gain intellectual competencies and skills in the areas of communication; critical and creative thinking; inquiry; scientific reasoning; numeracy; information fluency; and technology. These academic competencies, necessary to becoming an educated person, are critical across disciplines. In the model we propose, they will be addressed intensively in the first year and then developed and incorporated throughout the rest of a student’s education. (c) Fostering Social Justice and Local and Global Engagement: The objective of this priority is to engender an informed and democratic citizenry. In so doing, students will appreciate the diversity of the human experience, both within the United States and internationally. This priority will aim to foster a sense of justice, social responsibility, and ethical citizenship by exploring the implications of how race, class, gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, and other factors impact individuals, cultures, power dynamics, and local and world politics. In cultivating an awareness of their place in the world community, students will be encouraged to engage in local and world affairs while at Westfield and throughout life. (d) Making Connections and Understanding Contexts: Students at Westfield should graduate not only with knowledge of different disciplines but also with an ability to make connections across disciplines and to see the world through multiple lenses. Ideally, their education will help them to adapt to changing technological innovations, to navigate complicated interpersonal/intercultural contexts, and to apply their knowledge to new situations outside of the classroom. In fact, the ideas we heard from faculty, staff, and students are echoed in national conversations about the purpose of undergraduate education. In a recent survey conducted by AAC&U, more than half of employers stated that “to be well prepared for the changing global economy, today’s college students will need to acquirecross-disciplinary knowledge of science and society, a broad range of high-level intellectual competencies and skills, intercultural competence, ethical integrity, and the ability to apply theirlearning to real-world problems” (AAC&U, Liberal Education & America’s Promise, p. 13).

 We understand the philosophy of the ROCCC proposal to be that which is articulated above: Vote: 15 yes, 1 no, 1 abstention

 Motion #2: We believe that the ROCCC philosophy as articulated both builds upon and changes the philosophy of the current Core Curriculum: Vote: 16 yes

 Motion #3. We endorse the ROCCC philosophy as articulated in the first two paragraphs of section IV and the first paragraphs of parts A, B, C, and D of section IV. It was moved by Marsha Marotta and seconded by Carlton Pickron. Vote: 9 yes 3 No 4 abstentions

 Motion #4. At this time we are not taking a position on the specific recommendations. It was moved by Volker Ecke and seconded by Elizabeth Starr. Vote: 16 yes 0 no 0 abstentions