Minutes of General Education Requirements Committee December 2

, 2002

1. A meeting of the GER committee was held on Monday, December 2, in the Edna Twamley Room.  David Pierce presided.

2. Those present at the meeting were Carl Barrentine, Connie Borboa, Sara Hanhan, Mark Hoffmann, Wendelin Hume, Chuck Miller, Chuck Moretti, Lila Pedersen, David Pierce, Tom Rand, and Tom Steen.

3. David Pierce reported on the November 21 meeting with the Arts and Sciences College Council and the discussion of GER revalidations. Concerns brought up included the need for departments to be notified earlier of changes the GER committee makes; GER goals stated in the syllabus are an infringement of academic rights; the culture of committee changes with committee membership.

4. David Pierce asked to have the procedures the Committee has been following this year stated in the minutes.

Screening student petitions – Tom Rand moved to have the Chair of the Committee continue to review student petitions. The Chair may approve or deny the petition or refer the petition to the whole committee. In the case of disapproval by the Chair the student may request that his/her petition be heard before the whole committee. The motion was voted upon and carried unanimously.

Distribution of revalidations – David Pierce moved that this year the Committee will operate with each member serving as a department liaison for revalidations. The Chair will be responsible for presenting new GER applications and student petitions. The motion was voted upon and carried unanimously.

5. David Pierce made a motion to add the following guideline for evaluating student petitions: The Committee will disapprove student petitions that request replacement of GER-approved courses with MULTIPLE courses that do not have GER status. The motion was discussed but not voted upon. The committee felt that petitions of this nature should be considered if an adequate justification is provided by the student.

6. The meeting adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Recorded by Connie Borboa