Core Education Task Force
Accreditors want us to have a faculty committee responsible for supervising the “Core Education” requirements of the university. Core Education is taken to include general education requirements, multicultural requirements, required writing courses, and BA/BS requirements. This may also include first year programs such as FIGs (Freshman Interest Groups) and ARCs (Academic Residence Communities). The Senate needs a task force to specify the scope of such a committee and how it relates to the existing academic committee structure.
Charge:
- Bring a motion to the UO Senate recommending the charge and membership requirements and complete 17-point chart for a standing Core Education Committee by the end of January 2018.
- Provide guidance to Core Education Committee regarding core education as defined above.
- Meet with existing groups on campus working on related requirements (e.g. the group working on the multicultural requirement).
- Make recommendations to the Senate as to the deaccession of courses which no longer meet the objectives of core education courses.
- Produce a report to the Senate by June 2018 containing a synthesis of the research and information used to inform the goals and objectives of the core education program and any other information salient to the function of the Core Education Committee.
- Determine goals and objectives for core education at the University of Oregon by consulting appropriate stakeholders. The task force
- Shall host at least one town hall during fall quarter 2017;
- Will interface with other working groups, e.g. TReD, to engage stakeholders and collect information;
- Will meet with members of the UOCC, UGC and AC;
- Will research the goals and objectives of general education programs of comparitor schools;
- Shall ensure the goals and objectives are responsive to the mission of the university;“The University of Oregon is a comprehensive public research university committed to exceptional teaching, discovery, and service. We work at a human scale to generate big ideas. As a community of scholars, we help individuals question critically, think logically, reason effectively, communicate clearly, act creatively, and live ethically.”
The Senate will convene the new Core Education Committee in Fall 2018 (provided the Senate passes legislation implementing such a committee) and will provide any relevant information discovered by the task force to that committee.
Membership:
- Ron Bramhall, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Excellence
- Sierra Dawson, Assistant Vice Provost
- Bill Harbaugh, Professor, Economics
- Austin Hocker, GTFF Human Physiology
- Mike Price, Assistant Department Head, Mathematics
- Lee Rumbarger, Director Teaching Effectiveness Program, Teaching and Learning Center,
- Phil Scher, CAS Div Dean Social Sciences
- Emily Simnitt, Career Instructor, English
- Christopher Sinclair, Associate Professor, Mathematics
- Josh Snodgrass, UGS Associate Vice Provost
- Undergraduate?
- Additional TTF?
Stakeholders:
The task force shall consult with Undergraduate Studies, the Office of the Provost, the University Registrar, students via ASUO and through public activities, the Dean of the College of Art & Sciences, and other deans as deemed relevant. The task force shall investigate the extent to which graduate students are employed teaching general education courses and consult with this constituency. To the extent recommendations may impact student life, the task force will consult with Division Student Life and the Dean of Students.
Conversation topics thus far:
- What are the perceptions of what is wrong with current general education requirements at the University of Oregon?
- Should the focus be content, pedagogy, or both?
- Shall we shift our focus to pedagogy, design and outcomes of Core Ed as opposed to changing the list of Core Ed courses?
- Plan for the 2017-2018 academic year
- How to assess learning outcomes
- How we review courses