General Education Curriculum

Program Review

May 1996

Appendix A
Fall 1992 Faculty Survey Results

On the following pages are summarized the results from the multiple choice portion of the General Education Survey which was completed by University faculty members in the fall 1992. The results are presented without comment or analysis. The data, in addition to Faculty Senate recommendations, will provide a starting point for the work of General Education Review.

PROFILE of the 183 Survey Respondents (Survey Items 1-3):

1. MU Employment:	# (%)
less than 2 years	13 (7.2%)
2-5 years	22 (12.2%)
5-10 years	35 (19.3%)
10-20 years	47 (26.0%)
more than 20 years	64 (35.4%)
2. Unit:	# (%)
Humanities	33 (18.4%)
Social Sci.	35 (19.0%)
Sci./Math	49 (27.4%)
Education	51 (28.5%)
Non-School	12 (6.7%)
3. Advisees:	# (%)
0-9	(5.0%)
1-20	68 (37.8%)
21-40	67 (37.2%)
41-60	19 (10.6%)
over 60	17 (9.4%)

KEY to Graphs for Survey Items 4-37: On graphs for survey items 4-37, the current policy is indicated in bold underlined italics. Graphs compare numbers of respondents and, at the end of each category, show percentages.

FUNDAMENTALS are competency courses which focus on skills basic to success in all fields of study. (Items 4-17)

4. Each student should be required to demonstrate college-level competency in English composition (current requirement).

5. If required, the English composition requirement should be satisfied by

6. If required, the English composition requirement should be completed by

7. (#) _____ advanced writing (AW) courses should be required of each student.

8. If required, the advanced writing course requirement should be satisfied by

9. Each student should be required to demonstrate competency in the fundamentals of speech (current requirement).

10. If required, the speech requirement should be satisfied by

11. If required, the speech requirement should be completed by

12. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ course(s) with a Quantitative and Analytical Reasoning Component (QARC).

13. If required, QARC courses should count

14. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ courses with a significant writing component (W).

15. If required, "W" courses should be counted

16. "W" courses should have _____ as a prerequisite.

17. All "W" courses should be a minimum of (#) _____ credit hours.

SIGNIFICANT COMMUNICATION, MATHEMATICS, or QUANTITATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING (CQ) courses develop skills in communication (speaking, listening, seeing, writing) or solving basic representative problems mathematically or through quantitative methods. (Items 18-21)

18. The General Education Curriculum should include requirements for

19. If required, "CQ" courses should be counted

20. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ course(s) that include a significant communication or mathematics/quantitative problem solving component (CQ).

21. "CQ" course requirements should be separated into "C" (communication) and "Q" (quantitative problem solving) courses.

LIBERAL ARTS CORE COURSES provide instruction in the major areas of knowledge of the arts and sciences. (Items 22-31)

22. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ Liberal Arts core courses in Humanities and Fine Arts.

23. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ Liberal Arts core courses in Social Sciences.

24. Each student should be required to take (#) _____ Liberal Arts core courses in Science and Mathematics.

25. At least (#) _____ course(s) in the Liberal Arts Core should be at the 200 level or above.

26. (#) _____ course(s) within each Liberal Arts Core area should be from a single department.

27. No more than (#) _____ course(s) from a single department should be credited toward the Liberal Arts Core.

28. (#) ____ course(s) in Science and Mathematics in the Liberal Arts Core must be a laboratory science course.

29. Each student should be required to take (#) ____ course(s) in the life and/or physical sciences.

30. Up to (#) _____ required related course(s) should be allowed to be credited toward the Liberal Arts Core.

31. Courses taught by the student's major department should not be credited toward the Liberal Arts core (current requirement).

PERSPECTIVES courses are designed to apply analytical and critical thinking abilities in resolving major social, cultural, scientific/technological, and/or aesthetic problems that are interdisciplinary and/or multi-cultural in content. (Items 32-35)

32. Each student should be required to take (#) ____ Perspectives course(s).

33. Perspectives courses should not carry a "W" label (current requirement).

34. Perspectives courses should not be required in the major (current requirement).

35. Each student should be required to take at least one Perspectives course outside of her/his major (current requirement).

HEALTH and PHYSICAL EDUCATION

36. Each student should complete (#) ____ credits in health and physical education.

PASS-FAIL

37. No course used to satisfy general education requirements should be taken pass-fail, but if students take the same courses for other than general education purposes, they should be permitted to take them pass-fail (current requirement).

GENERAL EDUCATION OBJECTIVES (Items 38-49)

Please indicate your level of satisfaction as to how the general education curriculum meets each of the 12 general education objectives:

38. to encourage creativity;

39. to develop the communication and inquiry skills needed for understanding and continued growth in the major areas of knowledge;

40. to cultivate the ability to reason, to recognize problems, to analyze, and to compose solutions;

41. to provide opportunities to practice analytical skills;

42. to develop a sense of inquiry and curiosity, of wanting to know for the sake of knowing;

43. to acquaint the students with the major areas of knowledge in the liberal arts;

44. to expose students to disciplines other than an elected major field of study;

45. to equip students to explore truth, to appreciate beauty, and to make choices based upon responses to truth and beauty;

46. to expose students to a variety of ideas and systems of belief and to educate them to recognize the different claims to truth;

47. to provide opportunities for students to deal creatively with personal, community, and global concerns;

48. to help students develop the ability to integrate the philosophical, societal, cultural, and physical aspects of life so that they can approach human problems holistically; and

49. to prepare students to make decisions based on available information.

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