A campus of The California State University
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Office of the Academic Senate • One Washington Square • San Jose, California 95192-0024 • 408-924-2440 • Fax: 408-924-2451
S02-6
At its meeting of May 6, 2002, the Academic Senate passed the following Policy Recommendation presented by Miriam Donoho for the Curriculum and Research Committee.
POLICY RECOMMENDATION
METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY SCHOLARS EXPERIENCE (MUSE) NEW STUDENT SEMINAR PROGRAM IN CORE GENERAL EDUCATION
Whereas: In Spring 2001, the Curriculum & Research and Student Success Committees worked with Provost Goodman and the AVP for Undergraduate Studies Lee Dorosz on the framework for a new freshman seminar program; this program was named MUSE, which stands for the Metropolitan University Scholar’s Experience, and
Whereas: In Spring 2001, the Senate passed S01-11, providing that for the first year of implementation, MUSE courses may fulfill Core GE in Areas B1, B2, C1, C2, C3, D1, D2, D3, or E based on their discipline content, and
Whereas: A planning committee was formed in Spring, 2001 and has been working with the Undergraduate Studies Office to create the MUSE Program; such work included developing the goals and student learning outcomes for the courses, recruiting students and faculty, faculty training on the MUSE and GE goals and learning outcomes and issues of frosh, creating a course approval process, and creating a comprehensive program assessment plan; in Fall 2002/Spring 2003, 100 faculty will offer 100 seminars which will serve approximately one-half of the frosh class; and
Whereas: The Provost has indicated his intention to continue and to enlarge the MUSE Program so as to reach more frosh by Fall 2002; and
Whereas: Within the spirit of S01-11 and S98-11 (GE Program Guidelines), the MUSE Planning Committee created a GE approval process for the courses that utilizes peer review groups to ensure that the courses satisfy the GE goals and student learning outcomes; and
Whereas: To continue the program, faculty to teach in Fall 2003 will need to be recruited in Fall 2002 and trained in early Spring 2003 in order to be ready to teach by Fall 2003; and
Whereas: Sufficient information to assess the program and approval process will not be available until Spring 2003; and
Whereas: The MUSE courses need to conform to the curricular requirements and approval processes of the university, and
Whereas: There have been numerous recent efforts to help students finish their degrees in less time, and many SJSU students graduate with far more than the 120 unit minimum currently required for the Baccalaureate; therefore be it
Resolved: That the MUSE courses continue to be approved by the peer review process utilized for the Fall 2002 courses until late Fall, 2003, with such courses permitted to be offered in Core GE Areas B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, D3, or E; details of the review process will be modified based upon the initial experience. And be it further resolved
Resolved: that two MUSE courses randomly selected in each of the eight core General Education categories addressed by MUSE be reviewed by the Board of General Studies, whose report including the individual course evaluations and a summary of the overall process will be submitted to Curriculum and Research and the Chair of the MUSE Advisory Committee; and be it further
Resolved: That the MUSE Advisory Committee work with the Curriculum and Research Committee to analyze the peer review process used to approve the MUSE courses for General Education purposes and the courses reviewed by the Board of General Studies along with their summary to determine if the peer review process is equivalent to the process provided in S98-11; and be it further
Resolved: That the Curriculum and Research Committee report to the Senate in late Fall 2003 on such student success measures of the MUSE program as are evidenced by one-year retention relative to non-MUSE measures of academic performance of the first MUSE class.
Approved:
Present: Carrasco, Donoho, Dorosz, Hambaba, Ibrahim Langdon Matthes, Schmidt
Vote:
Financial Impact: Significant start-up costs were incurred in the initial year, and additional costs will be incurred as the program grows. To some extent such costs are offset by FTES generation. However, costs are likely to be reduced in future as MUSE courses become part of a department's regular curriculum.
ACTION BY UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: Approved by President Robert Caret on
May 9, 2002.