Ad Hoc University Graduation Requirements Implementation Committee

Final Report April 2005

The Ad hoc committee on University Graduation Requirements was convened and charged in the Spring Semester 2004.

The following individuals are members of the committee:

The original charges to the committee directed the committee to address two issues.

• Distinction between the BA and BS at WSU.  Define and describe the differences and benefits of each.
• What should general education be at WSU?
  • Write a mission statement.
  • Develop learning outcomes.
  • Design assessment model.
  • Design the structure of general education consistent with the university mission and the board of regents standards.
  • The structure should include other degree requirements such as, Scientific Inquiry, Diversity, BA and BS and University/College tier requirements.

The full committee has met 13 times since Feb 18, 2004 and has sponsored or conducted other activities as well. Committee discussion in the Spring and Summer of 2004 covered review of previous work done by various committees and departments in the areas of assessment and curricula content. Issues such as whether or not scientific inquiry and diversity as currently proscribed in the catalog are necessary or sufficient as graduation requirements for a baccalaureate degree were discussed. The committee members also reviewed relevant literature and discussed alternative models for general education programs. The committee identified a need for a full-time administrative position accountable to the Provost who would coordinate and manage the general education program. This recommendation was forwarded to the Provost for review.  It was also decided that campus conversations should be conducted and a committee retreat be scheduled during the Summer of 2004.

The committee chair attended the Association of American Colleges and Universities conference on General Education and Assessment in Long Beach, California, March 4 – 6, 2004, to be better informed on the current approaches and innovations in general education throughout colleges and universities.

Becky Johns and Lloyd Burton conducted a campus conversation April 14, 2004 with approximately 60 faculty members. The conversation solicited comments on the following questions.

• What do we want general education to look like at WSU?
• Should we be different, unique or distinctive but still competitive?  How?
• Do we need to consider the articulation process going on presently with other state institutions?
• Purpose of general education?

A copy of those comments are available in a MSWord file and were discussed and evaluated by the committee.

On July 29, 2004, Dr. Ann Ferren and Dr. Jerry Gaff, consultants from the SAGE group of the Association of American Colleges and Universities, were brought to campus and to conduct a retreat for committee members and college deans. They offered two key recommendations. First, that the original timeline was too aggressive if the campus were to change its general education program. They urged that we focus on the a longer timeline and engage in more campus conversation before developing recommendations for change. The second was that the committee focus on defining the ideal baccalaureate graduate at WSU before addressing pedagogy models and assessment issues. The consultants perspective was that defining the distinction between the BS and BA degrees were not as important as campus conversation that would better capture an understanding of what faculty defined as an ideal baccalaureate graduate.

During Summer Session 2004 a website for the committee was created to communicate its activities and serve as a vehicle for feedback from faculty and students. (URL:  http://www.weber.edu/GraduationCommittee/default.html)

In the opening meetings, Fall 2004, the colleges, committee members conducted campus conversations informing faculty of the charges and activities of the committee, outlining next steps, and soliciting input from faculty.

October 29, 2004 A focus group involving 4 students from WSUSA was conducted by Brian Davis.

The NW Commission on Colleges and Universities evaluation report provided an impetus to intensify the university’s assessment of general education. As a result of consultation with the Associate Provost and the Executive Committee new charges were issued to the committee that supported wider campus conversations and shifting responsibility for assessment issues to assessment committees for Social Science, Science, Humanities and Creative Arts. This ad hoc committee was charged with developing a recommended mission statement and outcomes/goals for general education by the end of Spring Semester 2005. (Charge – To create a clearly articulated, campus-wide collective conception of the qualities of a college-educated person through a series of campus-wide conversations.  The outcome of these conversations will be a mission statement and learning outcomes for the general education program.)

At the beginning of Spring Semester 2005, committee members began conducting campus meetings using the “Ideal Baccalaureate Graduate” survey form,  Attachment A. The survey was given to each attendee at the meeting. Once the individual forms were completed individuals formed groups and completed a group survey that was discussed in the meeting. The individual and group survey forms were collected and comments entered into a word documents listing all comments.  As comments were consolidated into a single document, the ad hoc committee reviewed and analyzed the comments to develop a consensus regarding statements that would reflect expected outcomes for ideal graduates.

During the Spring Semester interviews with committee members and articles discussing the committees work were published in the Signpost.

331 individual surveys were completed in the following venues:

All seven colleges (faculty and staff)
WSUSA (Student groups)
Open meetings at WSU Central Campus and Davis Campus
Deans Council
The Executive Committee
The Board of Trustees
Faculty Senate
National Advisory Committee

An interactive webpage of the survey form was also posted on the committee website that permitted faculty, staff and students to submit comments. There have been 105 postings to the webpage form.

Becky Johns and Fran Butler as a members of a WSU team attended the Association of American Colleges and Universities conference on General Education Assessment meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, February 17 – 19, 2005.

As information from the ideal graduate surveys were collected and discussed the committee identified four general areas that seemed to recur in most surveys. The four areas identified were: Communication, Working with Information, Knowledge of Core Discipline, and Social/Cultural. Subcommittee were assigned responsibility to develop goal statements for each area. Subcommittees met during March 2005 to develop language for the mission statement and goals. The outcomes and mission statement were finalized at the April 8, 2005 meeting of the ad hoc committee.

The committee developed and endorses the following mission statement and outcomes for General Education at WSU.

General Education Mission Statement and Goals

Weber State University as a comprehensive institution of higher education provides students with a foundation in liberal arts general education.

General education:

• provides knowledge and experiences in a variety of disciplines outside of and complementary to the student’s major area of study.
• develops essential skills that advance success in academic, professional and personal endeavors.
• encourages the student to become a self reliant interdependent individual for succeeding in a continually changing world.
• connects knowledge, skills and attitudes in ways and levels that are appropriate for a university educated person.

The goals of the general education program are that the ideal Baccalaureate Graduate be able to demonstrate competencies in:

Communication:

• Educated individuals create, understand, and convey ideas using writing, speaking, listening visual media and information technology.

Working with Information:

• Reading and gathering appropriate information that will leverage their expertise, resources and experience.
• Carefully and thoroughly analyzing information and make well considered, ethical decisions using the information relevant to any issues with which they are confronted.

Basic Knowledge of Core Disciplines:

Such as demonstrating an understanding and appreciation of:

• The diverse forms of aesthetic and intellectual expression within the arts and humanities.
• How the biological and physical sciences describe and explain the natural world.
• The social and behavioral sciences, including the way people interact and relate to the world.
• The logic of mathematical reasoning and the ability to perform mathematical operations.

Social and Cultural Factors:

• The ability to function as both a leader and a team member whether at work or in society in general.
• The ability to create principled, intellectually honest decisions using knowledge, respect, and ethical conduct with regard to diverse people, ideas, and cultures.

Conclusions and Recommendations

This mission statement and these goals are not necessarily a reflection of the current general education program at Weber State University but represent the committee’s agreement on what they should be.  This is the culmination of two and one half years work by two ad hoc committees including the recent survey comments on the ideal baccalaureate graduate.  One should keep in mind that the survey comments are not all encompassing.  The committee members have carefully considered the survey comments but have also attended conferences, researched literature, sought information from consultants and engaged in lengthy discussions to develop this statement.   In addition to the mission statement and goals, a webpage is available that can be used to continue informing and gathering comments (URL: http://www.weber.edu/GraduationCommittee/default.html).

The committee completes its charge by presenting these findings and recommendations to the Executive Committee on April 14 and the Faculty Senate on April 22, 2005.

The committee supports the faculty in its continued efforts to improvement the general education program at WSU with the following recommendations:

• This ad hoc committee recommends that the Faculty Senate endorse and support the proposed mission statement and goals and that they distribute it to the campus.
• The Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate develop next steps and charges which other committees, either standing or ad hoc, would address.
• The Executive Committee set a goal to develop and approve a new model and policy for General Education structure and curriculum review using the mission statement and goals proposed by this committee.
• The Executive Committee direct committees charged with assessment of the General Education core and breadth requirements to insure that assessment criteria and methods align with this mission statement and goals.
• The committee further recommends that any subsequent committees formed or charged regarding general education be charged to focus on the efficacy and implementation of Scientific Inquiry and Diversity requirements in the university curriculum without delay.