Amending general education assessment

Faculty Senate approves two proposals on general education

The University of Idaho Faculty Senate approved a proposal Tuesday to form a General Education Assessment Committee, which would serve as a separate, stand-alone committee focused on general education, said Rodney Frey, senate member from the College of Arts, Letters and Social Science.

But, it didn’t pass without scrutiny.

James Foster, senate member from the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, said there are too many committees on campus already.

Marty Ytreberg, Faculty Senate chair, said Committee on Committees is hesitant to create more committees and would only suggest the formation of another if it were absolutely necessary.

Rodney said the role and function of the new General Education Assessment Committee is one that the Undergraduate Committee for General Education’s members did not want to take on.

“A committee like this, its work is really critical to our general education,” Frey said. “We want to make sure that it’s the best possible gen ed.”

Wendy Couture, senate member from Boise, questioned how the committee members would be appointed, which the proposal said would be by the committee’s director.

Randall Teal, Faculty Senate vice chair, said the appointment of members would be based on the need for expertise.

“I have a sense the director would have the sense and inclination of who would have the time to be involved,” Frey said. “The director would not want to work in isolation from Committees on committees.”

Stephan Flores, senate member from the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences, expressed concern about how the proposal asked for three members to represent eight colleges. He said if a college offers a lot of general education courses but a representative from that college is not a member, critical insight is lost.

“The goal is to have good representation,” Rodney said.

Despite the concerns raised by senators, they voted unanimously to approve the formation of the General Education Assessment Committee.

Faculty Senate also voted to amend the University Committee for General Education policy language to include the committee’s review for general education courses eligible for transfer to other state institutions.

The amendment was made to include the Idaho State Board of Education’s general education matriculation “GEM” courses, which are courses that fit specific criteria and can be transferred as equivalents within state institutions.

Katelyn Hilsenbeck can be reached at [email protected]

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