Minutes
April 30, 2003

Present: Gary Brey, Janice Chernekoff, Robert Flatley, Linda Goldberg, Kimberly Johnston, Debra Lynch, Rolf Mayrhofer, Kevin McCloskey, William Mowder, Paul Sable, Randy Schaeffer.

Absent: Brian Wlazelek

1. Approval of Minutes of April 23, 2003

  • Randy Schaeffer moved, Paul Sable seconded, to approve the Minutes of the April 23, 2003 meeting.The motion passed.

2. Reaction to Visual and Performing Arts Meeting

  • Committee members commended Dr. Lynch and Dr. Goldberg on their handling of the two college meetings held to date.
  • Approximately 35 people attended Tuesday’s meeting with members of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
  • The committee reviewed various comments made by the members of the College of Visual and Performing Arts.
  • Dr. Mowder suggested that by changing "experiences" to "competencies" or another appropriate word in the mission statement opens the door more in that competencies can be met through a variety of ways without everyone taking the same courses.
  • The committee discussed the pros and cons of adding to the mission statement a reference to "values."
  • It was noted that portability is a result rather than a reason for changing our general education program.
  • It needs to be reiterated at the remaining college meetings that our present general education model is from the 1960’s or 1970’s and that a major change will be that the new model will be more interdisciplinary.
  • There also needs to be emphasis on the fact that KU needs to develop a general education model that is best for all our students.
  • In response to questions about why we need to change our current general education program, it needs to be pointed out that employer survey responses indicate that many KU graduates cannot properly read, write, speak, and do simple math.

3. Goals

  • Copies of draft goal ideas written by various committee members were distributed to committee members.
  • It was decided to delay working on the goals until after the committee has met with all colleges.Therefore, the committee’s next meeting will be held sometime later in May.
  • Dr. Lynch asked committee members to review the goals and objectives from other universities prior to the next meeting.

4. Other

  • Dr. Lynch indicated that in her absence, Dr. Wlazelek will chair the meeting with the units not in a college.
  • The committee reviewed Dr. Brunner’s comments relative to the mission statement.It was noted that the mission statement should be broad based and not specific as suggested by Dr. Brunner.
  • It was noted that there doesn’t seem to be much "trust" on campus relative to general education. Dr. Goldberg volunteered to review the previous minutes and pull out the common themes that need to be reviewed by the committee.
  • The committee discussed the feasibility of having brown bag lunch sessions with the different colleges during the fall semester to talk about general education.
  • There was discussion about the possibility of having caps on courses such as those that will be designated as writing intensive courses.Dr. Goldberg indicated that she would assist in having this done once there is a model.
  • Dr. Brey noted that there is a philosophical commitment to general education on the part of the faculty members in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
  • It was noted that the shift relative to general education will be from mastering certain courses to mastering certain skills.
  • Committee members discussed the possibility of half-day retreats during the summer to work on the goals and model.Dr. Lynch asked committee members to let her know about availability for half-day retreats on either May 21 or May 28.
  • Professor Schaeffer referred to the "Understanding University Success" publication by the Association of American Universities.Dr. Lynch indicated that copies of the publication will be forwarded to committee members.