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A campus of The California State
University
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Office of the Academic Senate
•
S02-7
At
its meeting of May 13, 2002, the Academic Senate passed the following Policy
Recommendation presented by Pam Stacks for the Organization and Government
Committee.
POLICY RECOMMENDATION
MODIFICATIONS TO S96-9;
ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE AND PROCEDURES:
BOARD OF GENERAL STUDIES (BOGS)
Whereas, General Education is an important
and considerable portion of students’ curricular experience and the Board of
General Studies is the responsible agency for oversight of the courses that
make up the GE curricula; and
Whereas, the curricula are the purview of
the faculty; and
Whereas, a broad range of subject matter is
considered and would benefit by informed, broad-based faculty oversight; and
Whereas, Senate Committees are guided by
Standing Rule 18C (relating to open meetings); and
Whereas, the Board of General Studies is
not a Senate Committee, but rather is categorized and listed as an “Other
Committee” because of its reporting structure; be it therefore
Resolved that the implementation of this
policy will phase in as terms on the BOGS expire; however, all present terms
will expire by the end of AY 2003/2004; and be it further
Resolved that vacated seats during the
phase-in period of the policy will be filled by Colleges selected randomly (by
the Committee on Committees) from among the appropriate Colleges; and be it
further
Resolved that
University Policy S96-9 be amended and replaced as follows:
Recommendation
#1: The University Curriculum & Research Committee, in concert with the
Board
of General
Studies, recommends that the Academic Senate accept as a package the following
proposed
plan for General Education.
I. Structure Of General Education Program
A. Core
General Education (39 units)
Basic Skills
(9 units)
Written
Communication LA (3 units)
Oral
Communication (3 units)
Critical
Thinking (3 units)
Science (9
units)
Life Science
(3 units)
Physical
Science (3 units)
Mathematical
Concepts (3 units)
Humanities
& Arts (9 units)
Arts (3
units)
Letters (3
units)
Written
Communication IB (3 units)
Social
Sciences (9 units, includes 6-unit American Institutions requirement
emphasizing
Human
Behavior (3 units)
Comparative
Systems (3 units)
Social
Issues (3 units)
Human
Understanding & Development (3 units)
B. Advanced
General Education (12 units)
Earth &
Environment (3 units) general description:
The scientific study of the physical universe
and its life
forms in order to understand and appreciate the importance and impact of
science on the
well-being
of humans.
Self,
Society & Equality in the US (3 units) general description: The study of
the relationship of
individuals
and racial and cultural groups to each other to understand and appreciate
issues of
diversity,
equality and structured inequality in the
Culture,
Civilization & Global Understanding (3 units) general description: The
study of significant
achievements
of the human intellect and imagination in a global context to understand and
appreciate
different ideas, cultures, values, religions, institutions, languages, and
peoples of the
world.
Written
Communication II (3 units) general description. The development of advanced
proficiency
in college
level writing and appropriate contemporary research strategies and
methodologies to
communicate
effectively to both specialized and general audiences.
C.
Structural Overview
General Education Program
CORE GENERAL
EDUCATION
Skills
Written
Communication IA 3
Oral
Communication 3
Critical
Thinking 3
Humanities
& Arts 9
(includes
Written Communication IB)
Science 9
(includes
Mathematical Concepts)
Social
Sciences 9
(includes
6-unit American Institutions graduation requirement)
Human
Understanding & Development 3
Total units
39
ADVANCED
GENERAL EDUCATION
Prerequisites
Writing Skills
Test
Upper
division standing
Completion
of CORE GE
Areas
Culture,
Civilization & Global Understanding 3
Earth &
Environment 3
Self,
Society & Equality in the
Written
Communication 11 3
Total units
12
II. Administrative Structure
Board of
General Studies
A. The Board of General Studies shall consist
of twelve members: eight teaching faculty
(representing
eight colleges), two students, the Associate Vice President for
Undergraduate
Studies, and
the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies (Curriculum).
1. The faculty members of the Board shall be
elected by the faculty electorate in each college in an
election
administered by the Dean’s office. Each
department in a college shall be informed of a pending
election and
shall nominate one tenured faculty member.
2. Prior to the departmental nomination, each
person seeking nomination shall prepare and circulate to the
department
faculty a brief (not more than 100 words) statement summarizing her/his experience
and
objectives
in General Education.
3. The college curriculum committee shall select
not more than three of those nominated to place before
the college
electorate. The college curriculum
committee may choose to meet and consult with the Provost
(or designee) prior to making the selection.
4. Selection by each college curriculum
committee shall be based on interest, competence, and experience
in the
General Education curricula; the statements prepared by departmental nominees
shall be considered.
5. Faculty shall serve three-year staggered
terms. When a full-term vacancy is to be filled, or a vacancy for
an unexpired term of more than one year, applications shall be
solicited from the college, and an election held as provided above.
6. Vacancies of one year or less shall be filled
for the balance of the unexpired term. The college
curriculum
committee in consultation with the Dean shall select a member to fill the
vacancy.
Consideration
shall be given to, among others, those who applied for the last vacancy for
which college-
wide
solicitation was required.
7. A faculty member of the Board may be granted
a leave for one semester. A one semester
interim
appointment
may then be made as provided in 6.
8. If a college is unable
to elect a faculty member to the Board, then the position will be filled for
one year by the college curriculum committee in consultation with the Dean.
9. Student appointments should be made on the
basis of interest, experience in the General Education
curricula,
and a scholastic record of academic excellence.
Student members of the Board shall be
appointed by
the Provost in consultation with the elected members of the Executive Committee
and the
Associated
Students President.
10. Student appointees shall
serve one-year terms and may seek
independent study credit by working with the Chair of BOGS.
B. The Chair shall be the Associate
Vice President for Undergraduate Studies.
C. Administrative members
shall serve ex officio and be non-voting members; with the exception that in
the case of ties, the AVP for Undergraduate Studies as Chair of the Board may
vote.
D. The Board
shall report to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
III. The
authority and responsibility for the Board of General Studies, which is
exercised in
terms of the
Trustees' 1961 "Statement of General Principles in the Delegation of
Authority and
Responsibility
to Presidents," is as follows:
A. The Board
shall actively solicit courses and curricular proposals designed to satisfy
General
Education
requirements from all colleges and departments of the University, shall review,
approve,
and
authorize courses and curricular proposals for purposes of General Education,
and shall
evaluate the
courses and curricula it has approved.
B. The
Board, in consultation with the appropriate college deans and department
chairpersons, shall
provide for
and approve "challenge" mechanisms for Basic Skills requirements.
C. The Board
shall consider petitions from programs for relief from the fifty-one semester
hour
General
Education requirement. Petitions shall be approved whenever the total number of
units
required for
purposes of formal accreditation of the program, plus the units required for
General
Education,
exceed the maximum number of units that can be required for the degree under
Trustee
regulations.
D. Policy proposals affecting General Education
curricula shall be brought to the Academic Senate by the
Curriculum
and Research Committee. The Organization
and Government Committee shall present policy
proposals
relating to administration of General Education.
E. Annually, early in Fall Semester, the Board
shall present to the Senate (through Curriculum and
Research
Committee) a report on its activities for the preceding academic year.
IV. Procedure
The following rules shall apply to the proceedings of the Board of
General Studies:
A. Meetings of the Board
shall be open to the campus community, unless the Board specifically votes to
close a particular meeting or portion of a meeting. Circumstances justifying closed committee
meetings include but are not limited to proceedings involving evaluation of
persons or programs or possible consideration of issues involving privacy or
confidentiality (See Standing Rule 18c).)
B. Departmental
representatives (normally course coordinators) shall be invited in a timely
manner via the Associate Dean of the respective college to attend all Board meetings at which their
course will be discussed.
C. If the Board denies certification
or re-certification of a course, it shall provide the course coordinator with
written feedback, explaining all of the reasons for denial. The Board may not raise in subsequent
proceedings on the same course additional objections, except those that apply
to new materials submitted.
D. If the Board proposes
guidelines regarding criteria for
certification or re-certification in addition to those prescribed by the
University policy, these guidelines shall be submitted to the Curriculum and Research
Committee for policy review and will subsequently be made available to all
course coordinators.
The Board
may make additional rules for the
conduct of its proceedings, but they must be consistent with
the
University policy, including the foregoing provisions A through D above.
V.
2005-2006. Review of General Education Program. (See Historical Footnote 1)
Because the
proposed program will not be fully implemented until Fall 2000, the Board
requests
that the
next complete review of the program be conducted five years later in 2005
Recommendation
#3: The University Curriculum and Research Committee recommends that the
Academic
Senate direct that the next full structural review of the General Education
Program will
be conducted
by the Board of General Studies in 2005, with on-going assessment to be
continually
maintained.
1. Historical
footnote. S96-9 included a Transition
Plan that has been implemented and is shown below for completeness.
Recommendation
#2: The University Curriculum and Research Committee recommends that the
Academic
Senate accept the following as a transition plan, with this segment to expire
and be
deleted from
the policy after full implementation is achieved in Fall 2000.
Transition
Plan
A. Fall
1997-Summer 2000. Transition.
1. Areas:
Implement new areas transitionally in Fall 1997, with full implementation in
Fall 2000.
2. Courses:
All current Advanced GE courses will remain in their presently approved areas
of Culture &
Civilization,
Self & Society, and Earth & Environment (unless the department requests
a change to a
different
area). All Area B5 (Integrative Science) courses will be placed in Area B 1
(physical), B2
(biological),
E (Human Understanding), or R (Earth & Environment) upon recommendation of
the
department in consultation with the GE Advisory Panel for Science. By Fall
2000, all courses must
meet new
criteria.
3. Students:
Beginning in Fall 1997, all new and continuing students will meet four Advanced
areas.
a. Culture,
Civilization, & Global Understanding (or previously completed Culture &
Civilization)
b. Self,
Society, & Equality in the
c. Earth
& Environment
d. Written
Communication II
In the Core, all continuing students will follow the pattern under
which they were admitted or the new pattern, whichever they prefer.
All newly
admitted Fall 1997 students will follow the new pattern (including Area E,
Human Understanding and Science).
(Note: All
previously completed Culture & Civilization and Self & Society courses
overlap Cultural Pluralism or Human
Understanding,
so most students will complete these requirements.)
B. Fall
1996. Assessment, evaluation, & faculty development,
1. The GE
Advisory Panels and Board of General Studies will conduct student evaluations
of all currently
approved
courses to determine if current and proposed objectives are being met.
2. The Board
will review the holistic summaries of the portfolio project to determine if
overall GE
objective
are being met for continuing students.
3. Deans
will appoint representatives from each college to a new GE Advisory Panel to
develop and
recommend
criteria for Area E. Human Understanding
& Development in Core GE.
4. The Board
will solicit funds to support faculty development in both course content and
the teaching &
learning
process in General Education.
C. Spring
1997. Criteria.
1. The Board
of General Studies, in consultation with the faculty, will modify existing
criteria for
Advanced GE to
a.
Incorporate new goals, objectives, and requirements for Equality in the
the specific
concerns of Senate Resolution SS-S-95-5.
b.
Incorporate new goals, objectives and requirements for Global Understanding
into Culture & Civilization
to address
the specific concerns of Senate Resolution SS-S-95-5; and
c. Modify
goals, objectives, requirements, and faculty qualifications of Earth &
Environment to strengthen
science and
scientific method as the focus, and incorporate "the well-being of
humans" perspective from
Advanced
Human Understanding, using the GE Advisory Panel for Science as consultants.
d. Modify
requirements for "all Advanced GE" courses to incorporate aspects of
Human Understanding that
address
"application of course content to the integrated human being."
e. Present
criteria for certification of courses in all areas as a package to the Academic
Senate by the end of
the Spring
1997 term for its approval.
2. The Board
and GE Advisory Panel will solicit proposals for courses in Core Area E. HUD.
D. Fall
1997-Fall 1999. Review, modification, re-certification & communication.
1. The Board
will sponsor workshops for faculty on incorporating new criteria and effective
teaching
techniques
2. The Board
will prepare a brochure for students, faculty and staff explaining the content,
goals, and
objectives
of General Education. Summary statements will be incorporated into the GE
Course Listing in
the Schedule
of Classes and the Catalog.
3. Faculty
will review current and potential courses in order to modify them to meet new
criteria
4.
Modifications of current courses should begin in Fall 1997 with full compliance
and submission no later
than Fall
1999 for recertification in Fall 2000.
5. New proposals
may be submitted any time between Fall 1997 and Fall 1999 semester for full
implementation in Fall 2000.
Approved: via email vote
after discussion on April 29, 2002
Present: Connolly,
Katz, M.Y. Lu, Miura, Onkvisit, Singh, Stacks
Absent: Baba, Dresser
Vote:
Financial Impact: None
ACTION BY
UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: APPROVED BY PRESIDENT ROBERT
CARET ON
JUNE
18, 2002.