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California State University
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Academic Senate • One Washington Square
• San Jose, California 95192-0024 •408-924-2440
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SS-F05-3
At its meeting of
October 24, 2005, the Academic Senate passed the following Sense of the Senate
Resolution presented by Senator David for the Curriculum and Research Committee.
Sense of the Senate
Resolution
To Maintain The purpose and approach of eo 595
Whereas: The national panel report, Greater
Expectations: The Commitment to Quality
as a Nation Goes to College, offers a new vision
that promotes the kind of learning students need to meet emerging challenges in
the workplace, in a diverse democracy; and
in an interconnected world (AAC&U, 2002, p. vii), and
Whereas: the
Panel Report defines liberal education as
“a philosophy of education that empowers individuals, liberates the mind from
ignorance, and cultivates social responsibility. Characterized by challenging encounters with
important issues, and more a way of studying than specific content, liberal
education can occur at all types of colleges and universities. ‘General education’ and an expectation of
in-depth study in at least one field normally comprise liberal education” (p.
25), and
Whereas: the
national Panel Report defines general
education as “the part of a liberal education curriculum shared by all
students. It provides broad exposure to
multiple disciplines and forms the basis for developing important intellectual
and civic capacities” (p. 25), and
Whereas: the
Panel recommends that colleges and universities place new emphasis on educating
students to become intentional learners (p.
22).
“For intentional learners, {the} intellectual student {is connected}
to personal life, formal education to work, and knowledge to social
responsibility … the intentional learner is empowered through intellectual and
practical skills” (p. 22) and
Whereas: San
José State University has spent the past 2+ years in discussions about what
makes an “educated person” (see Appendix A) and as a result of these
discussions, the Greater Expectations
Report, and other current literature, revised its General Education
curriculum in 2005, and
Whereas: San
José State’s General Education curriculum was praised by the WASC visiting team
in fall 2004, and
Whereas: The
current General Education pattern, in conjunction with major programs, enables
students to be intentional learners who are prepared for the 21st
century, and
Whereas: We
endorse the current policy that provides for approval of units in excess of 120
units for programs that require it, and
Whereas: The
formulation of curriculum and requirements is a matter appropriately vested in
the faculty collegial governance, therefore be it
Resolved: that
the 48-unit General Education package described in EO 595 should not be
diminished, although campuses may choose to revise their own GE curricula to
address such issues as information literacy, community service-learning, and
ethics (as SJSU has already done). It
provides the breadth necessary for a liberal education, the flexibility to grow
and adapt, and it serves as an excellent vehicle for students to reach the goal
of becoming intentional learners in the 21st century.
Approved:
10-17-05
Present: Emily Bruce, Peter Buzanski,
Robert Cooper, Debra David, Michael Kaufman, Caroline Le, Shauna Moriarty, Bill
Nance, Pam Stacks, Howard Turetsky, Dominique Van Hooff, Beth Von Till
Absent: Xiaolu Hu, Sigurd
Meldal
Vote: 12 0-0
Financial Impact: Unknown