Faculty Senate OK's general education plan

"The proposal will bring cohesiveness to general education requirements," said Janet Sturman, chair of the University-Wide General Education Committee.

Ann Weekes, chair of the Faculty Senate's Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee, said the new requirements would make it easier for students to change colleges by reducing the number of general education courses they would need to repeat. She said i t also would establish a uniform level of competence for all students.

The requirements are divided into two tiers of study that will be completed in sequence. Foundation courses in math, English and a second language will also be required.

At the Jan. 27 Faculty Senate meeting, concerns were raised about the redundancies many science and engineering students would face under the new plan's Tier One natural science requirement.

In the final proposal, a compromise allows science and engineering majors to use their required chemistry and physics work to complete the requirement.

However, Sen. Donald Myers, a mathematics professor, said the proposal is still flawed because it puts students of all math levels in the same basic science classes.

"It shows no understanding of how math is taught," he said.

Sen. Lauren Sliger, an undergraduate senator and molecular and cellular biology and economics senior, also spoke against the proposal, saying that department heads should be able to decide the classes needed for their majors.

Sliger also drew attention to exceptions in Tier Two that were passed Feb. 5 by the University-Wide General Education Committee.

The exception allows any degree program, with the approval of its dean, to apply for an exception to a Tier Two requirement if it is shown the courses damage either the students' opportunities or the educational program.

"If you can't even enforce what you're proposing then why do it?" she said.

Supporters of the proposal argued that while the plan is not perfect, it should be approved and refined over time.

"It's a step in the right direction," said Sen. Rhonda Wilson, Associated Students president and an accounting and finance senior.

The plan now has essentially all the official approval it needs, said Robert Sankey, director of university curriculum and Senate parliamentarian.

"Since this is a curriculum matter, it is a faculty decision," he said.

UA President Manuel Pacheco and Provost Paul Sypherd must formally approve the proposal. However, Sankey added, Pacheco and Sypherd were at the meeting and did not oppose the plan.

The Senate also heard a new version of the proposal to publish faculty evaluations.

Sen. Patrick Williams, ASUA director of academic affairs and a communication junior, said the original plan to publish a book of faculty evaluations is too expensive to implement, costing about $20,000.

However, online publication would cost half that amount, so Williams asked the Senate to approve an online publication.

Sen. Jacqueline Sharkey, a journalism professor, raised concerns over the security of posting the information worldwide. Discussion was tabled until planned security measures were presented in writing.

The Senate also made several amendments to the proposed shared governance document and tabled further discussion until the April meeting.

The Faculty Senate approved a plan yesterday to implement university-wide general education requirements. The new plan creates the following structure:

• FOUNDATIONS:

  Mathematics:

  • Proficiency in one of three strands of study, depending on the students' major.

  Composition:

  • Most students will be required to take two semesters of composition, but there is an option of developing courses within Tier One to replace an independent composition course for well-prepared students.

  Foreign Language:

  • Students pursuing a bachelor of arts degree will be required to have a fourth-semester proficiency level. Students pursuing a bachelors of science degree will need a second-semester proficiency level.

  • The second-semester requirement could be met through a proficiency exam.

  • TIER ONE:

    • Traditions and cultures - two courses

    • Individuals and societies - two courses

    • Natural science - two courses

  • TIER TWO:

    • Arts - one course

    • Individuals and society - one course

    • Humanities - one course

    • Natural science - one course

One course in the students' degree program must focus on non-Western cultures or race, gender, class or ethnicity.