GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS
Introduction
General Education and
Students
General Education at
Clarion
Process of
Developing the Proposal
General Recommendations
Faculty Senate CCPS
Council on General Education
a)
Structure of the Council on General Education
b) Responsibilities
Specific Recommendations
Liberal Education Skills
Writing
Rational
Mathematics
and Quantitative Reasoning
Additional
Liberal Education Skills
Liberal Knowledge
Values
Criteria for
Values Course
Recommendations
Applications of
General Education in the Major
Health and Personal Performance
Implementation
Appendix A: Statement of Philosophy on General
Education
Skills
Liberal Knowledge
Values
Application
Appendix B: Quantitative Reasoning
Appendix C: Liberal Knowledge
Appendix D: Implementation Guidelines for
Values
Agenda
Back to Clarion University General Education
May 2, 1994
For the last decade, the future of General Education has been a focus of conversation in American higher education. Organizations such as the National Institute of Education, the Association of American Colleges, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science have made statements regarding the purposes, content, and outcomes of General Education. So too has the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education in the Priorities statement for the 1990's. And while the emphases of these statements may differ, they hold in common certain fundamental beliefs about General Education.
The common thinking of these documents has shaped national trends in the making and re-making of General Education programs across the country. Among the clearly held common beliefs apparent in the national dialogue are these:
1. the need for greater emphasis on liberal studies for all students based upon the recognition that the liberal arts and sciences are fundamental to a good undergraduate education;
2. the recognition that certain fundamental skills -- especially reading, writing, speaking, and mathematics skills -- are basic to students as tools for analysis, synthesis, and creation of ideas in the content areas of General Education and beyond in their majors;
3. the understanding that in their liberal studies students should come to understand both the integrity of individual disciplines and the interrelationship of these disciplines in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences;
4. the belief that students should have the opportunity in General Education to examine the values implicit and explicit in their studies as an encouragement to reflection on their own values and both the commonality and pluralism of human values;
5. the emphasis on active approaches to learning that involve students directly in their own learning, including collaborative learning, seminars, simulations, field work, as useful alternatives to lecture;
6. the recognition that General Education should be a total baccalaureate experience for students with both an integrity of its own and a need to be integrated ultimately with the major;
7. the understanding that reform of General Education is an on-going process that requires continuing experimentation and assessment and overt encouragement to innovation in approaches to teaching and learning.
The national dialogue on General Education has informed the discussions of change in General Education at Clarion. In fact, the proposal for a revitalization of General Education that follows ultimately in this document is consonant with the fundamental trends in reform of General Education apparent in colleges and universities across the nation.
The focus of the national dialogue on General Education is, as it should be, on the needs of students in colleges and universities in the United States. The discussions during the past several years at Clarion have also focused specifically on students and their needs. Reflecting the national conversation, the proposal that follows is intended to begin to address the particular needs of students attending Clarion University. Among them are:
1. The need of students to understand the purposes of General Education and, indeed, the purposes of higher education itself
Many students come to the university without an understanding of the purposes of higher education and without clear academic goals for themselves as students in the university. If they have come solely for "job training," they misunderstand the greater purpose of a university education. And whatever their sense of purpose and direction, they often do not fully grasp the intrinsic and extrinsic value of General Education.
A variety of means must be found to help students to understand the purposes of a university education, including and especially its General Education component. Recruitment literature, program brochures, and course catalogue materials should overtly reflect on these purposes. Orientation and advisement programs should accommodate the need of students to understand these purposes. Courses in the program and course materials themselves should reiterate these purposes and lead students incrementally toward an understanding of them. Finally, the relationship of General Education to the major should be made obvious to students by better integration of these two primary areas of focus for undergraduate students.
2. The need of students to graduate from the university with useful intellectual skills that transcend the boundaries of a particular course or even a specific course of study or major
Skills such as writing, reading, and speaking; computer use and library information retrieval; quantitative analysis and critical analysis and synthesis -- all should be introduced to students and used regularly in the context of General Education and reinforced frequently across the curriculum beyond General Education.
3. The need of students to have and to exercise meaningful choice in the selection of courses in General Education in order to broaden their intellectual and personal knowledge outside the major
Because most departments designate the courses that students may take to fulfill the requirements of their major, it is within General Education that students typically are able to take courses reflecting their own interests. Sometimes, however, it is difficult for students to exercise meaningful choice in General Education. What has happened is that their major programs have begun to stipulate courses in General Education, expanding requirements native to the major beyond the major. In other cases, courses that reflect their interests are circumscribed by limited availability of these courses. And in some cases, the individual student's own lack of experience and knowledge makes it difficult for him or her to exercise appropriate choice.
Enabling students to exercise meaningful choice among course
options in General Education requires several changes in the present situation at Clarion.
First, the requirements for a major should be just that, and should not impinge on the
choices students are permitted to make in the context of General Education. Second, while
scheduling of General Education courses cannot be separated from the reality of scheduling
courses outside General Education, every reasonable effort should be made to provide
courses and sections that allow students appropriate choice in General Education. Finally,
print materials should be available to students that assist them in understanding the
nature of each General Education course option and its relationship to the purposes of
General Education.
4. The need of students to engage the resources of the university to assist in their personal development
Whether they are traditional students with a significant amount of maturing to do or mature adults undergoing substantial personal change, Clarion students should find in the university an opportunity to clarify and develop their personal values and beliefs and to consider "what kind of person" they are and may wish to become. The General Education program offers students significant access to the accumulated wisdom of human experience derived from diverse times and cultures. In that wisdom explicitly and implicitly may be found appropriate guidance for students in their personal development. Students should be made aware of this and in the context of General Education be provided with opportunities for free and civil examination of their own values and beliefs.
5. The need of students to become more cosmopolitan in experience and outlook as they enter the next century
The revolution in transportation and communications technology during the twentieth century is effectively shrinking the world. From an economic, political, cultural, and social perspective, students being educated for the twenty-first century cannot afford to be unaware of the world beyond their locality, region, or nation. General Education must, therefore, provide students with
access to the diversity of cultures within and beyond our nation and encourage students to an understanding of fundamental relationships in the national and global community.
Whatever its virtues -- and they are many -- as presently constituted the program of General Education at Clarion does not adequately reflect the assumptions of the national dialogue on General Education and may not adequately meet the needs of the students as outlined above. And so the process initiated by the Faculty Senate in 1986 has resulted in the proposal for change in the program that ultimately follows in this document.
The present program in General Education was implemented in 1975. Previous to 1975, General Education in the university was a highly prescriptive program of courses, with requirements varying among departments, and with a total of sixty-one credit hours mandated for students in General Education courses before graduation. The present program, approved by the Faculty Senate in 1974 and inaugurated in the 1975-76 academic year, is a choice-oriented program with two overt requirements (ENG 111 and HPE 111) and a series of distribution categories that give focus to course choices. The present program requires forty-eight credit hours before graduation. The same basic requirements and distribution structure in the liberal arts and sciences applies to all undergraduate students. Within ten years of the inauguration of the present program of General Education, two initiatives were mounted to revise the program to give it more specific focus. Neither initiative received the approval of the Faculty Senate.
In 1986, responding to the need for review of General Education, the Faculty Senate directed the Subcommittee on General Education to develop a comprehensive Statement of Philosophy on General Education. The statement was developed during the ensuing two years, reviewed by the faculty, and approved by the Senate in 1988. It was subsequently approved by the Council of Trustees of the university. The Senate then charged the Subcommittee with developing a proposal for "implementation of the Statement of Philosophy on General Education." (See appendix A.)
The Faculty Senate's charge to the Subcommittee on General Education was affirmed by the one hundred and thirty-four participants in the Strategic Planning/Goal Setting Conference in the spring of 1991 in these terms: "By Fall 1992, the General Education Subcommittee shall present through the Committee on Courses and Programs of Study to the Faculty Senate an implementation statement for the General Education Program, and, if approved, begin implementation no later than Fall 1994." The six point rationale provided by the Conference for its statement is as follows:
1. Lengthy deliberation has been devoted to the articulation and approval of General Education goals at Clarion; it is now time for action.
2. Students will be better enabled to develop and integrate skills in problem-solving, decision-making, writing, speaking, and viewing and listening.
3. Students will be enabled to better understand and respect their own heritage and values and those of others in a world of increasing diversity.
4. The public will continue to expect more of college graduates in terms of analytical, mathematical, oral, and written communication and critical thinking skills.
5. The skills, knowledge and values developed by students in the General Education Program are clearly applicable to their academic, professional, and personal lives.
6. Numerous national reports have noted the erosion of the liberal education component of the university curriculum in favor of the major and professional preparation. This is happening at Clarion as well.
Furthermore, our students need an opportunity to develop basic academic skills, to be exposed to the breadth of human intellectual achievement, to be in contact with the contributions of some of the great minds of world culture, to be asked to engage in critical and integrative thinking, to have the opportunity to explore personal interests beyond the confines of a major or career-choice, and have an opportunity to gain the wisdom and guidance of several millennia of human efforts to answer major existential questions, such as "who am I?" and "what kind of person do I want to be?" Additionally, it is in the liberal component of the university curriculum that students may be asked to consider their relationships to their friends and neighbors and loved-ones, and to assess their roles and responsibilities as participating citizens of the country and of the world.
The Subcommittee on General Education undertook its charge from the Senate in 1988 with two basic beliefs: first, the movement toward implementation of the Statement of Philosophy should be an incremental process, building gradually and logically toward a proposal for change and, second, the process of developing the proposal should encourage substantial and continuing involvement of faculty from across the university. These beliefs have motivated the specific activities of the Subcommittee for the past three and one-half years.
Initially, the Subcommittee wrote a grant proposal that funded a series of public presentations and workshops by five nationally recognized authorities on General Education during 1989-90. The series was intended to inform campus discussions of the status of General Education nationally and to assist in the development ultimately of a proposal for implementation of the university's Statement of Philosophy on General Education. Individuals from across the university attended the public presentations. A core group of almost thirty faculty members representative of all segments of the university participated in each of the workshops conducted by the outside authorities. Well over one hundred faculty, students, and administrators participated in the five two-day workshops during the year.
In 1989-90, the Faculty Senate endorsed the membership of the core group of some thirty faculty participating in the grant-funded workshops as a study group to work with the Subcommittee on General Education in developing the proposal for implementation of the Statement of Philosophy on General Education. The Student Senate added several students to the group. This broadly based group has met regularly since (every two weeks until the fall of 1992 and virtually every week this fall) to discuss, determine, shape, and now propose a future direction for General Education in the university.
As a result of the workshops and discussions sponsored by the Subcommittee on General Education during the past three years, a number of initiatives have been undertaken to experiment in specific ways with the potential for change in General Education. Existing courses have infused writing and a focus on values into their content. A "common reading" was used last year across many courses in the humanities. The "Making Connections" program, a living-learning community program that enrolls students in thematically-centered clusters of skills and liberal-learning courses, was begun this year. These initiatives are an index both of the desire for change in General Education and of the variety of approaches to change possible in reform of General Education. They suggest some but do not dictate all of what the university might do to strengthen the vitality of General Education at Clarion.
What follows immediately are the general and specific recommendations now being made for the future of the program of General Education at Clarion University. These recommendations are the outcome of a process begun in 1986 with the drafting of the Statement of Philosophy on General Education and developed since 1989 through the intensive activities of the General Education study groups and the Subcommittee on General Education.
The recommendations presented here are general in nature and would relate to all courses in the program in General Education.
1. Development and teaching of general education courses is the responsibility of the academic faculty. All courses proposed for inclusion in the program in General Education should originate with the department or departments proposing to teach the courses.
A successful program in General Education must have the support and involvement of the faculty. The academic departments are the base of such support. This fundamental idea is commonplace in literature on General Education and reflects academic common sense.
2. Administration and oversight of the General Education Program should be placed in the hands of a Council on General Education (presently the General Education Subcommittee).
The General Education Program transcends both departmental and college levels. General Education is a university requirement and requires a university-wide oversight. All five General Education Consultants recommended that the administrative oversight of General Education be either placed under the central administration or a representative faculty group under faculty leadership. The developers of this recommended program strongly believe this function should remain under the Faculty Senate and the Committee on Courses and Programs of Study which is the contractual body for curriculum matters.
3. The overall structure, responsibilities, and constitution of the new Council on General Education would be as follows:
Faculty Senate
CCPSa. Structure of the Council on General Education.
(1) The Council on General Education would replace the General Education Subcommittee of Faculty Senate, and would have basically the same authority as the current subcommittee but its duties are more explicitly stated.
(2) The Council on General Education will be an elected body with the exception of the administrative representative and the student representative who will be selected by their respective groups. Each faculty group allocated a representative will elect and submit a list of two candidates for their council position to the CUP-APSCUF Executive Committee who will in turn oversee the election of the respective representatives in a general bargaining unit election. The runner-up for each position will serve as an alternate for that position.
(3) The membership of the Council will consist of one faculty representative from each college or school; one faculty representative from the natural sciences and mathematics and one faculty representative from the humanities and social sciences; one faculty representative from the Venango Campus; one faculty representative from the faculty not in a college or school; one representative from the administration (the Vice President for Academic Affairs or a designee); and one student representative, selected by Student Senate. All faculty representatives will be elected. The term of office for each member will be three years. Terms of initial members will be staggered to assure continuity on the Council.
(4) The Council will elect a chairperson at its first meeting after the general elections of Bargaining Unit.
(5) The Council will report its recommendations directly to the Committee on Courses and Programs of Study of Faculty Senate.
b. Responsibilities
(1) The Council will be guided by three fundamental documents: Mission and Goals of Clarion University, Statement of Philosophy on General Education, and the program in General Education as approved by the Faculty Senate.
(2) The Council will recommend to CCPS an initial certification of all offerings for General Education using course syllabi and departmental rationales for the inclusion of the offerings as continuing options in General Education.
(3) The Council will have the authority to recommend changes to the structure and substance of the program in General Education through the Committee on Courses and Programs of Study to the Faculty Senate.
(4) The Council will review all offerings proposed for the program in General Education referred to it by the Committee on Courses and Programs of Study.
(5) The Council will be proactive in support of General Education in such ways as assisting faculty in generating workshops, grants, and training programs in areas of General Education, solicitation of course proposals or initiatives in General Education, and as spokespersons for the General Education Program on- and off-campus.
Involvement of a representative group from the university community in the development and oversight of the programs in General Education is the fundamental way of maintaining the commitment and energetic support among faculty, administration, and students necessary for the success of the program. The structure recommended here is consistent with existing curricular review and structures of the university.
3. General Education should be understood as a "living" program amenable to review, revision, and innovation.
To retain its vitality, the program in General Education will be open to experimentation and assessment and, indeed, will invite change and innovation. The program will also be flexible enough to accommodate changes in academic focus, teaching methods, and even policy without requiring a complete reconceptualization of the program itself.
4. General Education should be conceived not as a "first two year" program. Rather it should be understood as part of a total baccalaureate experience, including junior and senior level courses, and related specifically to the experience of students in the major.
To make the program in General Education effective and meaningful for students, it must have both an integrity of its own and integration with other facets of the academic experience of students, especially the major.
5. To be included among course offerings in the program of General Education, courses should meet the following general criteria. (It would be the responsibility of the sponsoring department or departments to demonstrate how their courses meet the criteria for inclusion among General Education options.)
a. General Education courses will be "open" enrollment courses to the maximum degree possible, eligible for selection by any undergraduate student.
b. General Education courses at the foundational level will not have prerequisites, and upper division courses to be selected for General Education will have only limited prerequisites.
c. The course content and evaluation measures of all General Education courses will involve significant integration of at least two learning skills. These learning skills are writing, reading, mathematics and quantitative reasoning, speaking and listening, and critical thinking.
General Education courses should include as many skills as possible but no less than two. The selected skills should be explicitly stated in course syllabi and their weight in determining the grade for the course should be indicated in the syllabi.
The concept of paired, linked, or team-taught courses will be encouraged as a means to provide opportunities for development of skills in the context of connected knowledge. Critical thinking, especially, is enhanced when students are asked to analyze and synthesize information from seemingly disparate areas.
d. Courses applicable to the program in General Education will not be remedial in focus or designed to raise student skills to generally accepted college standards. Such courses may count as meeting full-time enrollment or financial aid requirements but will not be accommodated in the context of General Education.
During the 1989-90 academic year, the General Education Subcommittee conducted a series of workshops examining contemporary thinking on general education issues. These workshops were guided by five consultants from different academic disciplines. All five of the consultants recommended that remedial courses not be counted for credit in General Education. The study groups and the Subcommittee agree with their recommendations. Financial aid is available for students to make-up the deficiencies of their secondary education. Federal student aid policies currently allow students to take up to 24 semester hours of preparatory coursework that does not count towards graduation.
e. Students underprepared in the skills requisite for university study will be identified on admission and be required to take courses that will attempt to prepare them for such study. These courses will have the following characteristics:
(1) Enrollment will be restricted to those students in need of remedial work.
(2) The courses will not apply to requirements in General
Education.
(3) The sponsoring departments will designate these courses as remedial in intent.
f. Students will have reasonably wide choice within the context of General Education course offerings and the respective distribution categories of the program. Specific course requirements in General Education must have the approval of the Faculty Senate and the university administration.
Choice in course selection allows the students to pursue their intellectual and personal interests in the context of General Education and to relate their selection to their other academic goals.
g. Courses applicable to the program in General Education will require students to learn actively and independently of the textbook and the instructor.
Students participate actively in their own learning when they are asked to be more than passive receivers of information. Learning strategies, such as collaborative, seminar, and fieldwork strategies, enable them to take an active part in their own education. Likewise, students learn independently by using the variety of resources available to them in and beyond the university, including and especially library and computer data base resources.
h. To the extent possible, courses in General Education will integrate Liberal Knowledge concepts such that students become aware that every course and discipline has a history, a philosophy, and a set of theories based on a set of values.
i. Courses applicable to the program in General Education will consider overtly with students the values (academic, human, etc.) reflected in their content and method of instruction.
Certain courses in the curriculum are focused on the matter of
values. All courses in the university, in one way or another, reflect values in their
content or approach to teaching and learning. All courses that apply to the credits
required in General Education, while they may not focus on values, should help students to
understand the values implicit in what they are learning and how they are asked to learn
it. Doing so will enable students to deal better with their own values and to come to
terms with values other than their own.
6. Proposals submitted on behalf of General Education or by faculty involved in General Education initiatives should be given equal consideration with other types of initiatives in an open competition for faculty development funding.
The need for continuing review, revision, innovation, and assessment in connection with General Education requires support for faculty involved in the program as they seek to maintain its vitality in course content, in teaching methods, and in the connections between and integration of knowledge and skills across courses.
The university's Statement of Philosophy on General Education calls General Education "enabling education":
At its best, general education enables students to develop academic skills; acquire liberal knowledge; shape individual values; and apply all three in their academic, professional, personal, and societal lives.
Taken together, the specific recommendations that follow are intended to shape the future of the program in General Education at Clarion University.
According to the Statement of Philosophy, the "fundamental academic skills" that are a focus of General Education are the "basic enablers of education." They make it possible for students to acquire and create knowledge, and, consequently, they enable students to assess existing values and develop new values. [They are] the vehicles for critical analysis and synthesis of ideas and attitudes ... the seminal elements in every student's continuing academic development.
Recognizing this, the following recommendation is made regarding the skills component of General Education.
Students will complete eighteen (18) credits of university study in the category of "Liberal Education Skills." This study shall include: English 111 (three credits); quantitative reasoning (three credits); mathematics competency (three credits); and courses in at least two of these areas: computer information science, English composition (writing), foreign language, logic, mathematics, speech communication (twelve credits). They shall, in addition, complete two "writing-intensive" courses beyond General Education prior to graduation.
Writing is a skill that should be exercised by students across the curriculum, as appropriate ways are found in each discipline to incorporate writing as a vehicle for learning into instruction in the disciplines.
1. As a foundation for writing across the curriculum, students will be required to complete three writing-intensive courses prior to graduation: English 111 and two additional courses identified as writing-intensive courses. English 111 will be required in the program of General Education. The other two writing-intensive courses will be courses counting for credit beyond General Education as part of the total academic experience of the student, likely in the major or in support courses for the major not taken to fulfill requirements in General Education.
2. Criteria for identifying writing-intensive courses are based on the standard that the writing activity should engage students in higher order reasoning, such as synthesis and analysis, as well as the communication modes of specific disciplines. "The point, always is to keep students writing in circumstances where it matters to their intellectual and social development, where it is integral to the processes of inquiry and learning, and where it is required, not just in the seeming isolation of `English class,' but in every part of the University as a natural feature of academic life" (Cy Knoblauch, BYWORD, Fall, '86).
RATIONALE:
a. Writing should be used, not just to test knowledge, but to provide learners opportunities to explore ideas and develop connections between new knowledge and the understandings they bring to the pursuit of new knowledge.
b. Writers should be encouraged to revise some portion of their work, under the guidance of the instructor, in order to better understand the constraints of the discipline within which they are working.
c. Writers should have opportunities to use many forms,
including in-class responses, journals, notebooks, reports, formal argumentative essays,
research papers, and other forms pertinent to specific disciplines.
While no fixed criteria are recommended, the following guidelines are those most characteristic of writing intensive programs.
(1) A substantial body of finished work. This is generally expected to total 20+ double-spaced pages in at least two, preferably more, submissions. A variety of forms is strongly encouraged--journals, reports, essays, research papers, etc.--not all of which need to be graded.
(2) Opportunity for students to receive assistance in progress. Such assistance may take several forms, from visits to the Writing Center to conferences with the instructor.
(3) Opportunity to revise some pieces. As revision is an essential characteristic of good writing, students should be able to revise some portion of their work.
(4) Response to student writing. Such response may take many
forms--from extended comments from the instructor to peer evaluation in student groups. It
is expected, however, that the instructor will respond in detail to some extended work of
the students.
3. Departments will propose such courses to the Council on General Education for review and recommendations.
4. Courses so identified will be "flagged" with a "WI" designation.
5. All students entering the university will be tested prior to their initial registration for classes in order to assess their writing skills. Students with skills not appropriate to university-level work will be required to complete a course credited outside General Education designed to prepare them for the expectations of university-level writing.
6. Appropriate incentives will be offered to faculty to
encourage the development of writing-intensive courses across the curriculum.
The creation of writing-intensive courses should enhance present initiatives in the university focused on writing in the disciplines and across the curriculum.
Mathematics and Quantitative Reasoning
Mathematics and quantitative reasoning skills are fundamental to the learning process. Like writing, they are vehicles for learning beyond themselves and are important tools for learning in courses across the curriculum.
1. All students entering the university will be tested prior to their initial registration for classes in order to assess their mathematics skills.
"Students who test below the minimum entry mathematical skills level would be required to take a remedial mathematics course (currently MATH 100) which would not count as General Education credits. Upon successful completion of this remedial course, they would be required to select and pass a regular university-level math course approved for General Education. Students who tested at, or above, the minimal entry-level mathematical skill but below the university-level graduating expectations would be required to select and pass a regular university-level mathematics course approved for General Education. Those students who test at or above the university-level graduation expectations would be exempt from the mathematics requirement in General Education."
2. All students will complete a course focused substantially on quantitative reasoning as part of General Education. The phrase Quantitative Reasoning refers to a wide range of mental abilities which should include learning from data, quantitative expression, evidence and assertions, and quantitative intuition. Learning from data refers to the skills associated with collecting and analyzing data. Quantitative expression is the ability to use and comprehend quantitative language in a variety of contexts. Facility with evidence and assertions allows one to comprehend which conclusions may be reasonably drawn from a body of evidence. Developing quantitative intuition refers to developing a "feel" for numbers and other quantitative concepts. See appendix B for further explanations.
Courses meeting the quantitative reasoning requirement may not
be used to satisfy the mathematics competency requirement.
Additional Liberal Education Skills
Beyond writing, mathematics, and quantitative reasoning, other academic skills are important to a liberal education. They too are vehicles for further learning in and even beyond the university.
All students will select an additional nine credits -- beyond the credits required in English 111, quantitative reasoning, and mathematics -- from at least two skills areas, including computer information science, foreign language, English composition, logic, mathematics, and speech communication.
This recommendation increases the emphasis on foundational skills in the program of General Education, prescribing more courses but nonetheless allowing students some choice.
Liberal Knowledge
According to the Statement of Philosophy on General Education, the liberal knowledge component of General Education
concerns itself, in broad terms, with the intellectual context of [students'] specialized studies and of their lives within and beyond the university .... In their liberal studies, students acquire a knowledge of basic concepts and current thinking in the physical and biological sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and the arts and humanities .... They come to understand these disciplines as discrete and interrelated ways of knowing and understanding their world.To fulfill the intent of the Philosophy Statement on General
Education as it relates to liberal knowledge, to increase the students' knowledge of the
inherent interrelatedness of all aspects of human knowledge, and to minimize
compartmentalization of the curriculum, the following specific recommendations are made:
1. Students will complete twenty-seven (27) credits of university work distributed among three broad distributional categories: nine (9) credits from courses in Physical and Biological Science (Biology, Chemistry, Earth Science, Mathematics, Physical Science, and Physics); nine (9) credits from Social and Behavioral Science (Anthropology, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology); and nine (9) credits from the Arts and Humanities (Art, English Language and Literature, Intermediate Foreign Language and Cultures, Music, Philosophy, Speech, and Theater). At least two disciplines must be represented within each of the three categories.
2. To demonstrate the relationships among the three distributional categories (i.e., Physical and Biological Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Arts and Humanities), students should take at least one course in which they will come to understand how categories are interrelated. Courses meeting this requirement may be selected by the students from any of the three categories in Liberal Knowledge. Approved courses would carry an "L" designation. For further discussion of criteria, see appendix C.
3. After completing the credit hour requirements in a distribution category (Physical and Biological Sciences, or Social and Behavior Sciences, or Arts and Humanities), students should understand why the courses are categorized as they are. All courses which qualify for inclusion in General Education and any of these distributional categories will make explicit the relationship in content and approach to the distributional category, i.e., why political science is a social science and its relationship to other social science disciplines. Because this expectation applies to all liberal knowledge courses, there is no flag required. For further explanation, see appendix C.
4. In order to promote an understanding of the relationships
within and among the fields of knowledge, the following vehicles are recommended as
possible, but by no means the only, ways to implement recommendations affecting Liberal
Knowledge.
a. The use of readings that cut across or synthesize the distributional categories. An "L" flag would be appropriate to a course which makes explicit use of these readings, and so indicated in its syllabus.
b. The development of courses, some of which may be designed primarily for majors and prospective majors, that promote an understanding of the nature of a distributional category or the interrelationships of disciplines within a distributional category. Because such a course would place primary emphasis within a distributional category, it would not carry an "L" designation.
c. The development of two or more courses from different disciplines within a distributional category which cross-enroll the same students and share a parallel subject matter which they address from the perspectives of the respective disciplines. These courses might well be team taught or taught separately, but would be planned, initiated, and sustained by a group of faculty. If the linked courses are within a distributional category, they would not carry an "L" flag.
d. The development of courses which cut across disciplinary categories and subject matter so that students know causation, sequence, order, and design apply to all disciplines. Because these courses cut across distributional-category boundaries, one or more of them could carry an "L" flag.
e. The more general encouragement of curricular experimentation
which has the aim of integrating knowledge from a variety of disciplines. If such
experimentation and innovation demonstrates connections solely within a distributional
category, it would not be "L" flagged; however, acceptance of such efforts as a
part of general education would be predicated upon demonstrating connections, and thus
satisfying the intent of the liberal knowledge component of general education. Those which
crossed distributional-category boundaries should be flagged. See discussion in appendix
C.
The newly-constituted Council on General Education will review existing courses which claim to satisfy specific recommendations above in the Liberal Knowledge component of General Education regarding inter- relationships between and among disciplines.
The review will in part attempt to make more explicit the already wide- spread effort of many faculty in many departments to help students to understand the relationship between a particular course and the discipline in which it is housed and its relationship with other fields of knowledge. The review will also attempt to assure that such relationships are an explicit element in formal course outlines and will encourage but not mandate the use of such means as those suggested in the general recommendations earlier in this proposal.
Values
The Statement of Philosophy on General Education focuses also on the matter of values. In doing so, the statement indicates that the program in General Education at Clarion
... asks students to deal directly with their own values and with values other than their own ... students are asked to identify the values implicit in both the substance and the process of what they study ... to develop a sense of the intellectual and cultural context in which values are formed ... [and] by comparing and contrasting their values with those held by others ... to build a better understanding of the various subcultures that comprise the United States and of the many cultures found on planet Earth.The Pennsylvania System of Higher Education provides the
following description of values education:
"The process of inquiry--research, exploration, analysis, reflection, listening to different voices"--represents a core value and a central method in higher education. Values education occurs when we involve students, formally or informally, in applying this method for several purposes:
* to encourage and assist them as they formulate, reformulate and reflect on their personal values and seek the knowledge, skills, and commitment required to act of those values;
* to identify and examine ethical issues inherent in or raised by the academic disciplines they are studying and the professions for which they are preparing;
* to identify and examine ethical issues that confront us as
citizens of a democratic country, of a world being transformed by science and technology,
and of an increasingly interdependent global society."
[Emphasis on values, report of the State System of Higher Education Task Force on Values Education, August 1991, pp. 11-12.]
The purpose of courses in General Education, therefore, is not to advocate one set of values but rather to promote an understanding of the diversity of academic and human values and to provide students an opportunity to explore their own values.
The report of the State System Task Force on Values Education quoted above lists and describes five "dimensions of values inquiry that can be engaged in, separately or together, in a number of different academic courses and co-curricular contexts," which they take from the Hastings Center Project on the Teaching of Ethics and quote from liberally. We take these "dimensions" as general criteria for a first year values course and for a values course flag.
Determination of the number and kinds of criteria which are
required for a given course is the responsibility of the Council on General Education, as
are the operational efinitions which allow it to apply these criteria.
A. Stimulating the Moral Imagination--attempting "to engage the emotions and feelings of students, to lead them to see that human beings live their lives in a web of moral relationships, to recognize that a consequence of moral positions and rules can be actual suffering or happiness, and to accept the fact that moral conflicts are often inevitable and difficult."
B. Recognizing Ethical Issues--shifting from emotions and feelings to a "conscious rational attempt to identify those elements that represents appraisal and judgment."
C. Developing Analytical Skills--applying critical thinking to ethical issues; assisting students in learning to dissect arguments, comprehend "both the logical and social implications of moral stands," and "understand the importance of coherence and consistency."
D. Eliciting a Sense or Moral Obligation and Personal Responsibility--exploring "the role, in practice, of freedom and personal responsibility," recognizing that "it makes no sense to talk of ethics unless one presupposes that individuals have some freedom to make moral choices and that they are responsible for the choices they make."
E. Tolerating--and Resisting--Disagreement and Ambiguity--helping students to learn to "tolerate the disagreements and be prepared to accept the inevitable ambiguities in attempting to examine and solve ethical problems," but at the same time teaching them how "to locate and clarify sources of disagreement, to resolve ambiguity as far as possible, and to see if ways can be found to overcome differences of moral viewpoint."
Recommendations
The intent of the Statement of Philosophy in General Education and guidelines from the State System of Higher Education is best accomplished by allowing students to choose from an approved list at least two courses focused on values; one during the first year of study and the other at some point beyond the first year. Courses identified as meeting these requirements would be "flagged" with a "V" designation.
1. During their first year, students will select and complete a course, from an approved list, which is focused on the development of a sense of the intellectual and cultural context in which values are formed. Through exposure to a broad framework of human accomplishment and through an examination of cultures and society, students will come to understand the context of values which humankind has operated and to which they as individuals will contribute. Courses amenable to this requirement will allow students to engage in coherent and comprehensive thinking about values--their own values, the values of others, and the values of human society. The courses may be existing or new courses, including integrative courses, cluster courses, or special topics courses.
2. During the subsequent course of their undergraduate
experience, students will take at least one additional three-credit course, from an
approved list, which has a strong emphasis on values inquiry. This second "V"
flagged course beyond the introductory values course will be a check-off requirement with
the credits counted either within the 52 credits of General Education, or within the
requirements of the major. These courses will focus on human values, applied values or
ethics, and may be selected from offerings in existing general education courses or in the
major. They will allow students to explore values in a particular context such as the
social and behavioral sciences, arts and humanities, physical and biological sciences,
from an interdisciplinary vista and/or from a professional-career perspective. See
appendix D for implementation guidelines.
Applications of General Education in the Major
As the Statement of Philosophy on General Education indicates, "The application of liberal studies by students in their majors and even beyond the university is an expected outcome of General Education. The skills, knowledge, and values which are the focus of liberal studies clearly shape the major and professional studies of students."
Recognizing the need for bridging the study of students in
General Education and in the major, the following specific recommendations are made:
1. Students will complete at least three (3) courses in the major that overtly reflect the skills, knowledge, or values components of the program in General Education. A list of such courses will be identified by the departments sponsoring each major. The list will be submitted to the Council on General Education with a brief description or listing of skills, knowledge, or values applications in each "flagged" course. The Council will forward each department's list to CCPS as a "read-in."
2. Courses identified by departments and selected by students to meet this requirement will count only in the major. They will be "flagged" with an "A" designation on checksheets and in the catalogue. Course descriptions and syllabi should briefly explain why a course carries the "A" flag.
3. Of the three courses so required in the major, one may be a lower division course and the other two must be upper division courses. One of the upper division courses may be a capstone course in the major. These courses will apply for credit in the major and not in General Education, but again they will help the student to understand the connection between study in General Education and study in the major.
Health and Personal Performance
Beyond their intellectual needs, students have personal needs appropriate to a general education. These needs include health and wellness and creative or other activity. The following recommendations are made with these needs in mind:
1. All students will complete a two-credit course focused on issues of health and wellness. This course may not be a performance or activity course but rather a study course similar to most academic offerings in the university.
2. All students will take two (2) courses appropriately designated as personal performance courses. Courses applicable to this requirement enhance a student's use and enjoyment of leisure time. Selections might include physical education activity courses, music activities, or other similar courses. The maximum number of credit hours of such courses applying in General Education will be two (2) credit hours, and two (2) separate courses.
Implementation
Assuming the approval of this proposal either in its present or in a revised state, the following recommendations are made for implementation:
1. The Faculty Senate will initiate the election of the Council on General Education.
2. At the beginning of the fall semester following the formal approval of the proposal, the Council on General Education will issue a call for all departments to submit an initial list of courses they wish included in the structure of General Education for up to three years without formal review. The courses would be existing courses that have customarily been used by students to satisfy requirements in General Education. The Council will assume that departmental instructors teaching these courses will make an honest effort to meet the General Education requirements while the course is being prepared for formal review during a three-year period. All such courses will undergo formal review by the end of a three-year period. Their applicability in light of the new criteria for General Education beyond the three years will be reviewed by the Council for recommended approval through CCPS.
3. The Faculty Senate will authorize the initiation of the new requirements in General Education for students entering the university in the fall of 1995.
4. Departments not specifically listed as eligible for inclusion in General Education may submit course proposals to the Council on General Education for review and possible listing only for courses which would fit the criteria of quantitative reasoning, writing intensive, and values categories. Such courses would have to meet the requirements of the specific category in General Education for which they are to be considered. If approved through the normal curriculum process, they would be added to the course options for students.
5. To be included as options in General Education, departmental courses with multiple sections would be approved for inclusion after the three-year review period in one of two ways. The department could submit to the Council on General Education a common syllabus designed to meet certain requirements in General Education, and if the common syllabus is approved, all professors teaching the course would be expected to follow the common syllabus. If the department does not agree on a common syllabus, the department could develop a course syllabus meeting the general education requirement, and submit the proposed syllabus along with a request for a new course number for normal course approval procedure, i.e., the regular ECON 211 course would not be submitted for general education approval, but all sections of ECON 210 would be approved based on the general education approved syllabus and new course number.
6. Departments may request that a course be double flagged, i.e., a course in the major might justify a "WI" flag and an "A" flag. Double flagging should be reflected in the course description and syllabi. Because a flagged designation implies a significant treatment of the indicated flag requirement, it is not recommended that courses be triple flagged. Students may satisfy two flag requirements per course approved for double flags during the implementation period. At the conclusion of the implementation period, the General Education Council should reconsider how flagged requirements are to be met.
7. Students would be informed of the new program in General Education by a variety of means. Recruitment literature, program brochures, and course catalogue materials should overtly reflect on the nature and purposes of the program. Orientation and advisement programs should be developed or re-developed to encourage students at entry into the university and in their continuing studies to reach a full understanding of the nature and purposes of General Education.
8. Departments are encouraged to develop a capstone course within the major which emphasizes disciplinary values, whether in a single discipline or in an interdisciplinary context. The credits for this course would apply in the major. The capstone course would reinforce for students the relationship of study in General Education and in the major by its overt concern with values.
(GENERIC CHECKSHEET ON REVERSE SIDE)
The baccalaureate programs of Clarion University are designed to provide students with both a specialized and a liberal education. Through a specialized education, students obtain some depth of knowledge in an academic discipline and perhaps in a career area. Through a liberal education, students develop a basis and a context both for their specialized studies and for their lives within and beyond the university. The following statement concerns itself with the liberal education or what is often called the general education component of the baccalaureate programs at Clarion University.
General education is enabling education. At its best, general education enables students to develop academic skills; acquire liberal knowledge; shape individual values; and apply all three (skills, knowledge, and values) in their academic, professional, personal, and societal lives. General studies programs are typically called upon to provide students with instruction in these areas. At Clarion University, the general education program is committed to this same mission.
The general education program focuses on fundamental academic skills. These skills -- reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and mathematics -- are the basic enablers of education. They make it possible for students to acquire and create knowledge, and consequently, they enable students to assess existing values and to develop new values. Academic skills are, moreover, the vehicles for critical analysis and synthesis of ideas and attitudes. They are the seminal elements in every student's continuing academic development. They are, in fact, the primary means of communication.
Communication is a fundamental human activity. Through communication -- whether in reading and listening, or in speaking, viewing, and writing, or in mathe-matics -- individual human experience touches collective human experience. The result is learning.
As a means of communication, academic skills enable students both to discover and create knowledge. Reading, viewing, and listening empower them to discover what others think. They put them in touch with the best in traditional and contemporary thought. They help them to understand reality as others understand it. They enable students to acquire knowledge.
But reading, viewing, and listening are not essentially passive experiences. As academic pursuits, they are encouragements to critical thinking, to the active inquiry and reasoning so vital for the creation of knowledge. In the university, students are required to read, view, and listen with their minds, not merely with their eyes and ears. They read widely and critically in the literature of the subjects they study. They also view and listen analytically, assessing what they see and hear and integrating it with what they themselves think. In reading, viewing, and listening, therefore, students are encouraged to active, independent learning.
Speaking and writing also enable students to discover, create, and communicate knowledge. As enablers, speaking and writing are dependent upon reading, viewing, and listening and like them are fundamentally active forms of learning. Effective speaking, for example, assumes active reading and listening in students. Without something worthwhile to say, their speech is mere form. But without a statement that is in an appropriate form, their speech is ineffective. In this sense, the form and content of speech are clearly related, and developing and refining the relationship encourages both critical thinking and effective communication in students.
Writing, too, is much more than mere form for students. Through writing, students first discover what they know about a subject. Writing, in this sense, puts them in touch with their thinking. It further encourages them to be their own teachers, to integrate into their own thinking what they have read and heard. Understood in this way, writing becomes a process, a basic means of inquiry and analysis appropriate to all studies, a vehicle for critical and creative thinking important for all students. Of course, writing is also formal communication. Through it students create and convey their thoughts and ideas to others. To do so, they must relate the content of their thinking to the established conventions or forms of written language. Developing and refining this relationship encourages their thinking and learning. It also leads students to better understanding and use of the standard forms of written expression.
The study of mathematics offers students another opportunity to discover, create, and communicate knowledge. As a symbol system, mathematics functions in human thinking and communication much as any other language. Not unlike writing, the study and use of mathematical symbols encourages precision in analysis and communication. It involves students in the active inquiry and reasoning basic to most study in the university, and serves them further as a means of discovery and creation. Finally, based on such analysis, mathematics provides students with an additional vehicle for communication.
Academic skills, of course, do not exist in a vacuum. Students read about something; students write about something. The liberal knowledge component of the general education concerns itself, in broad terms, with the intellectual context of their specialized studies and of their lives within and beyond the university.
This context includes several separate though interrelated areas of knowledge where students will inevitably exercise choices and be required to make well-informed judgments. Included among them are the ecosystem/biosphere that sustains all life; the social world within which all human beings interact; and the human activities that enrich life, giving it purpose and meaning. Understood in traditional academic terms, the liberal elements of general education that examine this context are the physical and biological sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and the arts and humanities. Working in this context, the human species sets itself apart from other life forms by thinking, reflecting, creating, planning, and passing on a culture through a system of shared symbols.
In order to function intelligently within and beyond the university, students must understand these areas of knowledge separately and as an integrated whole. Such integration is essential for students, since the world of experience is not really comprised of discrete entities. However, it appears on the surface the world is, in truth, an integrated and interdependent system where one area of knowledge clearly relates to another. To enable students to make accurate and realistic assessments of their world, the liberal knowledge component of general education recognizes both the integrity of individual disciplines and the interrelationship of these same disciplines.
In their liberal studies, therefore, students acquire a knowledge of basic concepts and current thinking in the physical and biological sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and the arts and humanities. They also begin to understand the interrelationship of these disciplines and, indeed of all knowledge and experience. They accomplish this through examination of the perspectives and paradigms particular to these disciplines; through experience of the processes whereby knowledge is generated in these disciplines; through application of discipline-specific knowledge to general human understanding and action; and finally, through analysis of the wisdom of these applications in human affairs.
In brief, students come to understand these disciplines as both discrete and interrelated ways of knowing and understanding their world.
The choices people make are implicit statements of their values. At Clarion University, the general education program asks students to deal directly with their own values and with values other than their own. Specifically, through liberal studies, the program focuses the attention of students on the formation of their values in three ways.
First, students are asked to identify the values implicit in both the substance and the process of what they study. They are asked to think critically about these values and to relate them to their own values. Ultimately, they are encouraged to make reasoned choices as they shape and reshape their own academic and personal values.
Second, students are asked to develop a sense of the intellectual and cultural context in which values are formed. Through exposure to a broad framework of human accomplishment and through an examination of cultures and societies far removed from theirs in space, time, and custom, they come to understand the context of values in which humankind has operated and in which they as individuals must continue to operate.
Third, by comparing and contrasting their values with those held by others, students are encouraged to build a better understanding of the various subcultures that comprise the United States and of the many cultures found on planet Earth. With such understanding, students will become more tolerant of diversity and respond more intelligently to its manifestations in their own lives.
This focus on values is achieved through the cultivation of the minds of students in liberal studies. It is pursued recognizing that as students grow in self-confidence and become clearer about their own values, they will be more comfortable with intellectual diversity. It is also pursued knowing that as students participate more actively in the campus community -- a community rich in diversity both of ideas and peoples -- and in other communities after graduation, they will not only become more tolerant of diversity but also more receptive to alternative choices in their own lives.
The skills, knowledge, and values developed by students in the general education program are clearly applicable to their academic, professional, personal, and society lives. They enable students to improve the quality of their lives both during and after their studies in the university. Ultimately, this is the true test of their success and the success of Clarion University.
The application of liberal studies by students in their majors and even beyond the university is an expected outcome of general education. The skills, knowledge, and values which are the focus of liberal studies clearly shape the major and professional studies of students. Armed with skills in literacy and mathematics, students are able to comprehend better the content and processes of their chosen fields. They are also able to articulate better what they learn and what they themselves think. Provided with an intellectual context for their specialized studies, they are better able to integrate disciplinary perspectives with more general human perspectives, perhaps improving both in the process. Understanding their own values and the values of others, they are better prepared to assess and shape the ethical dimensions of their own conduct.
Similarly, liberal studies will influence the professional, personal, and societal lives of students after graduation. As leaders in various work and civic settings, they will find occasion to apply their general education in assessing humane and intelligent course of action for themselves and for others in the society around them.
The goals, then, of the general education program at Clarion University are fourfold. The program is intended to enable students:
1. to develop the academic skills necessary for obtaining knowledge and for attaining success in life;
2. to acquire liberal knowledge as a basis and a context for specialized study and for productive lives after graduation;
3. to shape and understand their own values and respect values other than their own;
4. to apply their learning to their professional, personal, and societal lives.
An education is to be valued: It is the key to individual development, the substance of civilization. Clarion University, through its curriculum, faculty, facilities, and leadership, makes the enrichment of individual lives and of the civilization possible in its baccalaureate programs. Fundamental to this enrichment is the liberal or general education component of the baccalaureate. Fundamental also to this enrichment is the willingness of students to understand what is offered them by the university in general education and to take responsibility for their learning in the program.
A course that is "focused substantially on quantitative
reasoning" must be intensive in skills or abilities such as, but not limited to,
the following:
1. Learning from data: collecting and analyzing data. Skills of data collection include an understanding of the notion of hypothesis testing and specific methods of inquiry such as experimentation and systematic observation.
2. Quantitative expression: the ability to use and comprehend quantitative language in a variety of contexts. These would include units of measurement (e.g., milliseconds, calories), visual representations (e.g., graphs and maps), and scales and distributions.
3. Evidence and assertions: the ability to determine which conclusions logically follow from a body of quantitative evidence.
4. Quantitative intuition: a subjective "feel" for numbers including the ability to estimate, an appropriate sense of scale, a sense of the probability or frequency of events (stochastic intuition), and appropriate use of heuristics (rules-of-thumb).
5. Applications of quantitative reasoning: when is quantitative reasoning appropriate and how can it be applied to real-life problems.
REFERENCE
Wolfe, C. R., 1993, Quantitative Reasoning Across a Curriculum, College Teaching,
Vol. 41, No. 1, pp. 3-9.
APPENDIX C: LIBERAL KNOWLEDGE
Concerning criteria for meeting the Liberal Knowledge requirements:
To qualify for inclusion in general education, courses must explicitly address the question of how whatever subject they specifically address (e.g., physical geology) is representative of the category in which it is included (in this case, Physical and Biological Sciences). Using physical geology as an example, it means that this course may wish to demonstrate how it is representative of science in general, either by reference to the methods and assumptions common to all sciences and exemplified by working geologists, or by showing, in the case of labs, that the students are actually engaged in a methodology common to all of the sciences. Insofar as most sciences which have labs apply a common methodology, making this explicit to the students may represent a rather minor change in the way labs are introduced. Likewise, including a short lecture or two on how geology is, in fact, a science, may not represent more than a small modification, if any, to present content. It is believed that this requirement is not a major modification to existing courses, and in many cases, would be simply a matter of making explicit in the syllabus what is already a part of many courses.
To qualify for an "L" flag, however, the demands are somewhat more expansive, for it is necessary to address relationships between categories. This may take some very specific modifications, including the prospect of creating, at a department's discretion, a course which focused directly on this issue. However, connections between diverse fields are not difficult to find and bring to the attention of the students. As recommended in the proposal in section 4-c, the linking of courses across category boundaries is likely to accomplish this automatically--although explicit mention of the connections ought to be made in the linking proposal--and perhaps one of the courses may, at the discretion of the instructors, have primary responsibility for discussing and exploring the connections. In this case, one of the linked courses might carry the "L" flag; in other situations, all of the courses might; however, it is recommended that a student be permitted to obtain only one "L" flag from a series of linked courses and that students have to pass ALL of the courses of a linked sequence in order to obtain the "L" flag.
It is important to keep in mind the primary purpose of this
requirement--to keep students from thinking that the material and ideas addressed in
biology, for example, have no relevance to history, painting, writing, political science,
or the like. If we consider, as an example, recombinant DNA research, it should be obvious
that there are serious political and social implications of this work, and that it has
direct ethical and moral dimensions. Likewise, technology itself has had social and
economic impacts and great historical events, such as wars, have had a strong impact upon
the development of many fields of science (witness the cold war and the space program).
There is chemistry in pigments and in dyes used in the arts; kinesiology is applicable to
dance as well as athletics; the distribution of mineral wealth impacts international
politics--the possibilities are endless. Furthermore, finding and exploring such
connections can be stimulating and thought-provoking, and provide a good context for
involving students in library research.
What is being proposed is a framework, rather than a prescription,
which will enable us, with the cooperation and commitment of Clarion faculty and
administration, to move forward with the two goals for values education in the General
Education proposal.
This framework is considered an adequate basis for moving forward, leaving further issues to be resolved during the ongoing functioning of the Council on General Education.
Stated specifically, these two goals are as follows:
1. To provide an adequate number of courses which can satisfy the requirement for first year undergraduates that they take a values course. Such courses will require the recommendation of the Council on General Education and then the approval of CCPS.
2. To provide many courses from many disciplines which bear a values flag. Again, the recommendation of the Council on General Education and CCPS will be required.
Specific aspects of implementation:
* General rather than specific criteria have been submitted for the first year values courses because faculty members who teach these courses should be free, within broad limits, to choose the content and methods which they feel will best achieve its common goals.
* In addition to its task of determining whether proposed courses meet the two requirements above, the Council will assist faculty in their revisions and development of courses to meet the above criteria.
* It is recommended that this requirement be initially satisfied with appropriate modification of existing courses including, but not limited to, special topics courses, writing courses, and freshman cluster courses. However, this should only be considered as a temporary measure which is necessary during the three year phase-in period. The focus of the first year course is to be on Values, not on a discipline or the development of a particular professional or intellectual skill. Although Values can be explored in the context of a discipline or examined using different intellectual skills, it should be a consideration of how best to explore Values that drives the choice of disciplines and skills. To the extent that the reverse is true, that a particular discipline or the development of a particular skill is the focus of a course, it is possible that the Values component may be diminished. The committee therefore recommends the development of new courses, focused on Values, as the new General Education program develops over time.
ADDENDA
1. Internal transfer students who enter the university before Fall, 1995 may follow the General Education checksheet in effect at their date of entry into the university.
2. For the purpose of General Education requirements, first time in college students taking university courses in the Summer of 1995 will be considered Fall, 1995 admits.
3. Transfer students' General Education requirements will be pro-rated upon admission, based on the number of credits with which a student enters.
4. In the spirit of General Education, courses in the major and courses required by the major may not be used on the left side of the checksheet.
5. CCPS will adjust the circulation deadlines for curricular proposals for 1994-95 to facilitate implementation of the General Education requirements.
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