Curriculum and Academic Policies Council (CAPC)

Goal 1: Communicate effectively

Goal 2: Think critically and analytically

Goal 3: Employ quantitative concepts and mathematical methods

Goal 4: Demonstrate the ability to think across and about disciplinary boundaries

Goal 5: Respond thoughtfully to diversity

Goal 6: Understand varied historical, cultural, and philosophical traditions

Goal 7: Make informed decisions and ethical choices

Please refer to this working document for details pertaining to the timeline for implementation as well as faculty development opportunities to support the successful implementation of the new General Education Program.

We will add the FYE to all undergraduate program’s Gen Ed program (catalog curriculum table) for the 19-20 catalog, otherwise see the approved proposal. Programs can meet the additional degree requirements (e.g., S, E, & W courses) within the program curriculum or through Gen Ed classes. Once the criteria for the S & E courses are approved, CAPC will welcome proposals for courses to carry to E and/or S attribute.

Some believe the proposal indicates that ALL Gen Ed Goals need to be covered in the FYE and the capstone, but no single faculty member has all that expertise. All FYE instructors will need to know enough about each goal to say why it is important and why we require it. This is "introducing" the goal, not necessarily seeking mastery. In the capstone, an assignment should ask students to reflect on how their project/clinical experience/teaching placement is informed by their entire undergraduate career. It does not need to be graded by the professor, and certainly not "evaluated" for "correctness." we'll review these assignments to assess how well we're doing. the benefit to the student is another stab at integrating their major curriculum, Gen Ed, possibly co-curricular experiences, etc.

There are a lot of schools that do this; it’s easy to search and see how widespread this is. E.g., https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/first-year-experience-programs.

A campus-wide call for faculty participation will be announcement prior to Spring Break. Deans, Department Chairs, Gen Ed Director, the Provost’s office, and Faculty will participate in the faculty assignment process.

This is not true - FYE courses will be offered at a variety of times during the day.

The total General Education program is 40 credits, but there are additional degree requirements - see the approved Gen Ed program proposal (above).

There will be some sessions offered in the spring, but not as many as in the fall.

There are many variables associated with department ratios and overall 25% caps. The implementation of the FYE as currently planned will likely positively affect college target ratios and workload.

We will work backwards from the principle that underlies the Academic Passport, which tries to give students credit for as much as possible, while still maintaining the "specialness" of WCU's curriculum. We will decide on a threshold minimum of credits to be exempt from FYE (analogous to the way we handle Writing Emphasis). There are enough other schools offering FYE's that we can review them for transfer as well. As we develop the FYE, various units may want to include online modules, and we can use those to build a ‘transfer experience' for students coming from 2-year colleges (where the landscape of higher education is much different).

They are certificate programs. The process will be based on the existing program proposal process.

Not immediately, but we will want to cultivate its use so that we're close to 100% (in Gen Ed courses) by around the 5-year mark. Many universities use electronic portfolios with successful results.

Yes! As a result of this frequently asked question, the following motion was offered on the floor of CAPC:
"Motion to Append the General Education Program Motion - Behavioral and Social Science"
Move to append the general education program motion to require Goals 3 and/or 6, inclusive of the previously stated SLO's, for Behavioral & Social Science Distributive Courses.

As part of the new Gen Ed, we’re asking programs to identify a capstone course within the major that will include a “capstone assignment” asking students to reflect on the integration of their major and Gen Ed courses as well as their own progress on meeting the goals of the Gen Ed program.  Students will use the various artifacts that they have placed in their e-portfolio to look back on their years at WCU and write a personal reflection essay.  This does NOT have to be graded by the faculty member teaching the capstone course, it could be included e.g. as a participation grade in the course syllabus.  To that end, we are not asking faculty to develop assignments or anything else that “teach” the Gen Ed goals, we only want the faculty teaching the capstone courses to include this assignment as a required aspect of the course. 

The assignment will be used for assessment of the General Education program, which is an important aspect of reporting to Middle States.  Faculty would only need to present the basics of the assignment and make sure that students upload it appropriately, e.g., to their electronic portfolio. 

We are also planning to develop a template of what the assignment might look like.  Faculty wouldn’t be obliged to use this exact assignment, but the critical aspects of it would be incorporated.  In that way, the faculty teaching the capstone course are not required to instruct on or assess material germane to all the Gen Ed goals.