Department _______________________ Senator ________________________
The questions on this survey are based on ideas represented in the curriculum working group proposals and the qualitative assessment of those proposals by Senate. The results of this survey will be used by Senate, the General Education Review Committee, and the curriculum working groups to develop a Gen Ed reform proposal that can eventually be presented to the full faculty for an official vote. There will be one survey for each voting member of senate. Because of the complexity and difficulty of the questions, departments are encouraged to devote substantial time at a future meeting to discuss this. Surveys will be turned in at the Senate meeting on February 21st.
Or if you think there should be flexibility, please check all that apply:
[context for 15, 16, & 17]
Barb Stengel proposed gradually moving toward a series of "shell" inquiry courses as a replacement for and expansion upon current foundational courses. Possibilities might include Scientific Inquiry, Social Science Inquiry, Historical Consciousness, Aesthetic Experience, Critical Analysis and Written Representation, and Applied Math Reasoning. The Task Force proposed that a set of core courses be identified (either from existing courses or newly developed ones) in each of the disciplinary blocks to provide an Introduction to Critical Thinking in the Disciplines. The four core areas were: (1) Math with statistics or calculus component; (2) Laboratory science; (3) U.S. Civics-related Social Science; (4) Literature (from the Humanities).
1 | Do you support the idea of increasing the number of thematically organized courses and learning communities? | Yes | No | ||
2 | What role should distributional requirements play in a revised system? | Distributional requirements should not be changed. | There should be minor reductions in distributional requirements to provide more flexibility | We should consider alternative approaches to the G Block system | |
3 | Would you support increasing the role of demand scheduling? | Yes | No | ||
4 | Do you support a "developmental" approach? | Yes | No | ||
5 | Should we require literature and civics courses as part of distributional requirements? | Civics Yes | Literature Yes | Yes to both | Both should be optional |
6 | Should diversity be intentionally designed into requirements of the Gen Ed system? | Yes | No | ||
7 | If a diversity requirement is included, how should that requirement be focused? | On U.S. diversity only. | On Global diversity only. | Both U.S. and global diversity should be required. | Students should have option |
8 | In what way should credit for freshman seminars count in Gen Ed? | A variety of Freshman Seminars formats should count toward Gen Ed credit | Only count 3 credit courses that are offered outside the student's major toward Gen Ed. | ||
9 | What should we do with the W system? | We should not change the current W system. | We should keep W courses and look into ways to increase the effectiveness of the current approach even further. | We should reduce the number of W courses and instead integrate writing into a variety of Gen Ed / major courses | |
10 | In what way should advanced writing be represented in Gen Ed? | The present requirements for Advanced Writing should be maintained. | As much as possible, Advanced Writing should be offered in sections designed specifically for majors in certain fields. | Allow programs to embed advanced writing skills in other advanced Gen Ed / capstone courses | |
11 | Should Gen Ed reform allow for flexibility between degrees, schools or even majors? | There should be a single set of requirements for all programs | The system should allow for some differences in Gen Ed requirements among degree programs | The system should allow for some differences in Gen Ed requirements among schools | The system should allow for some differences in Gen Ed requirements among majors |
12 | Should there be a foreign language requirement? | Yes, for all students. | This should be an option that is decided separately for each school | Foreign Language should not be a Gen Ed requirement. | |
13 | Do you support making either of these reductions? | Wellness should become an elective course | Speech should become an elective course | Both of these courses should become electives | Both courses should be required for all students |
14 | How many Gen Ed credits should a student be allowed to designate "pass / no credit" under these rules? | None | 2 courses | 3 courses | 4 courses |
15 | Should we work on innovative approaches to make the current course approval process less cumbersome? | Yes | No | ||
16 | Need to increase emphasis on critical thinking in foundational courses? | Yes | No | ||
17 | Should a broader range of qualified faculty be considered? | Yes | No |