Charge and Tentative Time Line

Charge to the Task Force

The Task Force on General Education will be responsible for re-examining UND’s general education program and proposing any needed changes. Specific tasks to be accomplished included the following:

1. Reviewing
– existing data regarding gen ed at UND to identify problems, needs, opportunities
– national trends in general education to identify opportunities
2. Articulating
– the overarching purpose of general education at UND
– specific general education goals within that purpose.
3. Planning for assessment
– of general education goals by answering the question, “what would student achievement of that goal look like, and, therefore, where should we look for evidence of goal achievement?”
4. Considering alignment
– of general education goals with general education requirements and curriculum
– of general education goals with the first year through graduate level curriculum
– of general education goals with current and potential general education assessments.
5. Recommending, based on the above,
– changes needed in general education goals
– changes needed in communication to students and/or faculty about general education goals
– changes needed in alignment between goals and curriculum
– changes needed in assessment of general education.
– changes needed in how general education gets organized and carried out
6. Implementing
– by taking the lead in communicating recommendations to the larger UND community
– by shepherding recommended changes through the appropriate administrative bodies
– by planning institutionalization of changes in general education requirements, alignments, and/or assessments.

Tentative Time Line for the Gen Ed Process

Year One (2005-06): Conceptualizing, studying, proposing, approving

• summer 2005
  – meet with the president
  – meet with the new provost
  – formation of task force
  – reading materials distributed
  – monthly discussion meetings of readings, for those around GF
• early fall
  – Peggy Maki visit
  –gen ed revalidation meeting in conjunction w/ Maki visit
  – other gen ed events, along w/ Maki visit
• fall
  – every-other-week meetings of task force for further study, discussion
  – every-other-week meetings of advisory team to discuss task force work, plan future task force work, consolidate task force ideas, formulate recommendations, etc. for consideration
  – OID opportunities for campus-wide gen ed discussion? opportunity to bring in Robin Wright??
• early spring
  – reach consensus within the task force group regarding gen ed proposal
• spring
  – monthly meetings to air proposals with interested faculty + others across campus; task force members attend to participate, listen, respond, readjust
• late spring
  – proposal solidified + approved by Faculty Senate? (possibly to include added support for a gen ed/assessment position)
  – send a second UND team to Newport for follow-up and implementation planning
  

Year Two (2006-07): Planning, implementing, getting through curriculum committee and University Senate (and into the catalog)

• fall
  – gen ed task force continues meeting to plan implementation
  – advisory team continues meeting to hammer out language, proposals, recommendations to be brought to task force
  – materials regarding implementation to be prepared for curriculum committee
• early spring
  – approval within gen ed task force and advisory team of all implementation proposals
• spring
  – approvals through curriculum, Faculty Senate
  – gen ed text into new catalog

Year Three (2007-08): Implementing for new students