General Education Update: What's Ahead

“General Education” is a rather lackluster title for an essential promise. The University of Cincinnati’s General Education Program guarantees that all UC undergraduates receive a broad-based and well rounded education.

It’s the program that prepares students for the experiences they’re not only going to find on the job, but also for the issues they’ll face with their colleagues, their families, their friends, their communities and, for that matter, the rest of the world.

The UC General Education Coordinating Committee has submitted a revised General Education Plan to its accrediting body, the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools.

The revisions followed a 1999 university self-study that found UC’s old General Education Program to be very ambitious, but also one that needed to be more inclusive and more flexible. Summarizing the new report to the NCA, Ann Twinam, chair of the General Education Task Force, pointed out key highlights of the revised program:

• The General Education Program is included in every college, in every program of study.
• The program serves the distinctiveness of UC’s diverse and complex programs and majors.
• It is embedded within the student’s major as well as electives. Courses promote the development of the four General Education baccalaureate competencies: critical thinking, effective communication, knowledge integration and social responsibility.
• Courses are also coded according to the Breadth of Knowledge (BoK) requirements.
• Reflecting its flexibility, the Program adapts to the many pathways students may take in achieving a degree, such as transferring from other universities, between colleges, or between different majors.

Two committees, the eight-member General Education Coordinating Committee and the General Education College-Based Committee (which includes two faculty members elected by their individual colleges), make up the General Education Task force that headed the revisions of the program, based on input from faculty across the university.

The General Education Coordinating Committee spent much of the 2002-2003 school year focusing on the assessment phase of the Program, developing guidelines that are will be under review by the College-Based Committee in early fall. Twinam says the assessment manual is expected to be published, distributed, and explained to university-wide faculty by fall.

“The student’s capstone project will be one of the major vehicles where assessment will occur,” says Twinam. The student capstone, a demonstration of how the student applies knowledge gained in his or her field of study, can also show what the student has gained through General Education.  College and departmental evaluation measures will be under development through fall quarter, with support from workshops provided by the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning (CET&L) and the General Education Task Force. A pilot assessment program will be launched next year with university-wide assessment beginning the following fall.

“Full implementation of the program will greatly enhance all of UC’s undergraduate degree programs and better prepare our graduates for productive lives and effective civic engagement,” said Anthony J. Perzigian, senior vice president and provost for baccalaureate and graduate education.

UC students will also have their say in evaluating the effectiveness of the General Education Program, through e-mailed questionnaires, surveys and graduate exit interviews.

The General Education Task Force:

Coordinating Committee:
Anthony J. Perzigian, Provost
Ann Twinam, McMicken College of Arts and Sciences
Evelyn Brod, Raymond Walters College
T. Michael Baseheart, College of Engineering
Laura Caldwell, College of Applied Science
J. Michelle Conda, College-Conservatory of Music
Amy Pettigrew, College of Nursing
David Lee Smith, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

College-Based Committee:
Paul W. Biddinger, College of Medicine
Gerald J. Bostwick Jr., School of Social Work
Cheryl L. Cates, Office of Professional Practice
Christine Colella, College of Nursing
John Cuppoletti, College of Medicine
Daniel S. Friedman, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
Laura W. Kretschmer, College of Allied Health Sciences
David S. Kuschner, College of Education
Darnice Langford, Office of Professional Practice
Robert E. Lee, College of Pharmacy
Rebecca Luegers, College of Allied Health Sciences
Jill E. Martin, College of Pharmacy
Ralph R. Meyer, College of Arts and Sciences
Marlene R. Miner, Raymond Walters College
Julie G. Mitchell, Raymond Walters College
Edward C. Nowacki, College-Conservatory of Music
Mark Palkovic, University Libraries
Dennis Puhalla, College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning
Catherine Strathern, University College
Michael C. Walker, College of Business Administration
Linda R. Walvoord, Clermont College
George Wolff, Clermont College

General Education Web site