The General Education Council met on Friday, October 30, 2009 at 3:00 pm in room 1118 of Anne Belk Hall. Members present were: Dr. Jim Barnes, Dr. Joby Bell, Ms. Carter Hammett- McGarry, Dr. Gabrielle Katz, Dr. Sue Keefe, Dr. Rick Klima, Dr. Paulette Marty, Dr. Mike Mayfield, Ms. Kelly McBride, Dr. Tom McLaughlin, Dr. Terri Mitchell, Dr. Georgia Rhoades, Dr. Lynn Moss Sanders, Dr. Jim Toub, Mr. Peter Rowe, Dr. Dave Haney, Ms. Lynne Waugh, Mr. Nick Rudisill, and Dr. Pete Wachs. Members excused were: Ms. Kelly McBride, and Mr. Zach Grier.
Dr. Mike Mayfield called the meeting to order at 3:05 pm when a quorum was reached.
MINUTES
1. The minutes of the April 17, 2009 General Education Council meeting were approved without changes.
VOTE 1: YES 9 NO 0 ABSTAIN 3
2. The minutes of the September 25, 2009 General Education Council meeting were approved without changes.
VOTE 2: YES 11 NO 0 ABSTAIN 2
OLD BUSINESS
1. Approval of course for Fine Arts designation: ART 3534, Social Change Through the Arts
VOTE 3: YES 12 NO 0 ABSTAIN 1
2. Approval of correction of language regarding GenEd credit for WGC 2202/2205. Original motion was to change the language to reflect that individual sections need to be considered by the WAC Committee or the perspective FCC for approval of the credit requested, either Second Year Writing (SYW) or theme credit, each semester.
Following discussion (during which it was pointed out that it can be confusing to students when the credit only applies to particular sections; it can also be problematic during graduation audits because there is no way of knowing that a student had received credit for the SYW component if the credit is not awarded to the course overall, since the credit would be assigned on an individual basis for just one semester), an amendment was proposed to clarify that not all sections of 2202/2205 carry the SYW credit and the current language only carries through the 2009-2010 academic year.
VOTE 4: YES 14 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0 Approval of change to WGC 2202/2205 language as amended
VOTE 5: – YES 15 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0
The Council recommends that if WGC wants to have a course that can count as SYW, the program should propose a new course (i.e. Tangents Writing) that would always carry the SYW credit. When a particular topic is planned that would be appropriate for SYW, WGC should schedule the course under the new course number; otherwise, they would still use 2202 or 2205. This will require submission of a new course proposal to both General Education and AP&P. If no new course is proposed and approved, beginning with the Fall 2010 semester, there will be no WGC course that meets SYW requirements.
NEW BUSINESS
1. Approval of courses for Writing in the Discipline credit
Motion to consider each course separately VOTE 6: YES 15 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0
ENV 3100, Issues in Environmental Science VOTE 7: YES 15 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0
FRE 3045, Translation Techniques VOTE 8: YES 15 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0
PHL 3530-3549, Selected Topics There was considerable discussion about giving a blanket approval to selected topics courses because the content of the course is not known. VOTE 9: YES 0 NO 15 ABSTAIN 0
FCS 3102, Family, Child, and Professional Interaction VOTE 10: YES 15 NO 0 ABSTAIN 0
2. Reports from Committees: Wellness Literacy: Dr. Mitchell and Ms. Hammett-McGarry reported that a student in the Veterans Association has inquired about a waiver of the wellness literacy requirement for students with military service. Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Mayfield and Ms. Hammett- McGarry met with Military Science leadership to discuss. Dr. Mayfield expressed his appreciation for the way Dr. Mitchell explained the differences between wellness literacy and physical fitness and dealt with this situation so professionally. It was recommended that if they wish to have basic training and/or military service count as wellness literacy, Military Science should submit a proposal to the FCC, documenting how the multi- dimensional facets of wellness literacy are met through military training.
3. Discussion of role of FCCs , Department Chairs, and General Education Council in programmatic content review: Dr. Mayfield welcomed Dr. Steve Seagle (BIO) and thanked him for coming. Today’s discussion is not to bring an item for a vote, but for informational purposes for FCCs. A particular situation has occurred in Biology for students wishing to change science tracks and still compelete the Science Inquiry requirement. BIO 1101/1102 are GenEd courses; BIO 1801/1802 are for Biology majors. While there are many paraellels in general content between 1101 and 1801, topics are covered more in-depth in 1801. Students taking 1801 and wishing to change tracks may be allowed to take 1102 to complete Science Inquiry, but this is the exception, not the rule. The procedure for appeal is being formalized. The FCC will make a recommendation to the Council for a vote, hopefully at the next meeting. Ms. Waugh pointed out that Advising needs a solution quickly, as Spring registration is underway.
4. Discussion of role of FCCs in Assessment: Dr. Elaine Gray distributed a handout describing the tasks and timeframes for Gen Ed Assessment. The first task at hand is for each FCC to identify three participants for the Barbara Walvoord rubric creation workshop. These participants’ names need to be given to Dr. Gray by 11/20. The rubrics created will be reviewed and approved by the General Education Council.
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Academic Conversations on Integration will be held on 11/11, 4:30-6:00 pm. Wine and cheese will be served. All faculty involved in Gen Ed courses are invited.
The meeting schedule for Spring 2010 will be as follows: Friday, January 29th; Friday, February 26th; Friday, March 26th; Friday, April 16th All meetings will be held from 3:00 – 4:30 in Room 1118, Anne Belk Hall.
The meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm.