Saint Mary's College General Education

Present: Chris Cobb, Janet Fore, Kitty Green, Joe Incandela, Michael Kramer, Nancy Nekvasil, Don Paetkau, Charlie Peltier, Laurel Thomas

Guest: Jessica Ickes

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Joe Incandela informed the committee that Julie Tourtillotte’s work to develop a proposal for adapting the new gened program for the BFA is ongoing; the committee agreed to take up the topic of adapting the gened program to non-BA majors when we have this proposal to look at. The Music Department may wish to take the BFA proposal as a model for the Music Education degree program.

The committee continued to discuss plans for including a Women’s Voices component formally in the new gened program. Discussion focused on the question of the extent to which the Natural Sciences could participate in a plan that distributed a Women’s Voices requirement among the arms of the cross diagram. The committee also discussed the viability of having a free-floating Women’s Voices requirement for each arm, versus assigning the requirement to a single slot in each arm. The committee concluded that decisions about how to structure this requirement would depend upon the learning outcomes for it, which have yet to be drafted, with how much these outcomes would entail being the crucial factor. Feedback from faculty members who would be teaching in the various slots would also be crucial to deciding between a fixed and free-floating designs for the requirement.

The committee concluded that more information was needed before it could proceed further with the Women’s Voices requirement, needing

1. proposed learning outcomes
   
2. information about faculty willingness either to offer courses for free-floating req or to take responsibility for outcomes in particular slots
   

The committee opened discussion of components in the new gened program that would address integration of learning. The committee reviewed the summary integration outcomes and noted the places in the program where these outcomes would likely be met:

• Reflection – Critical Thinking Seminar; LO3 elements; Cross-Currents (maybe)
  
• Adaptation – Professional Arts course
  
• Praxis – Experiential Learning (through LO3 and possibly through the major)
  
• Synthesis – ??
  
• Expression – Basic W, Advanced W, Comp (currently only in some majors)
  

Discussion then focused on the structure for meeting the synthesis outcome, first noting the curricular elements that might address this outcome. These include tandems, linked courses, course confluences, interdisciplinary courses, upper-level tandems, and student-designed integration of courses. After discussion, the committee agreed that it would be valuable to have data on the percentage of Saint Mary’s students who are currently enrolling in the integrative classroom contexts that are now offered to see more clearly how much additional opportunities would need to be added to ensure that all students could address the synthesis outcome for integration of learning.