At its February 11 meeting, the College Senate approved the second half of the trustees' general education requirement.
The trustees have made clear two facts:
- The SUNY Office of the Provost will give final approval to courses submitted by SUNY campuses to fulfill the trustees' general education requirement.
- New curriculum may be added in the future. "Campuses may also offer more than one general education curriculum." (General Education Task Force Report, No. 8)
The initial Buffalo State submission of existing courses to fulfill the trustees' core shall be assembled and sent to comply with the SUNY provost's date of April 30. They shall stand as the trustees' component of the Buffalo State general education requirement for the incoming freshman class of fall 2000. More courses providing a greater range of student choices will be added as the Buffalo State general education program develops further.
An ad hoc subcommittee of the College Senate Curriculum Committee will review and recommend the initial curriculum to the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Office. The ad hoc subcommittee will be assembled only for this purpose and will be composed of department chairs whose departments have current listings in the Buffalo State general education requirements. The provost will review and submit recommendations to the SUNY Office of the Provost.
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Each of these chairs will bring to the committee's first meeting the documentation package for any course to be submitted for trustees' consideration. The documentation package will consist of a cover sheet and the syllabus and/or course proposal.
Department chairs may send designees to serve on the subcommittee.
Departments may waive in writing to the senate chair their representation on the subcommittee, as some departments may choose to allow their offerings to remain as general education requirement listings only, or they may choose to send their submissions with another department chair.
The provost will serve as administrative liaison for the ad hoc subcommittee. The senate chair and the provost will convene the committee on a timely date. The senate chair will read its charge. The provost will clarify its organizational procedures and will act as a facilitator and resource for work groups. The provost will serve as mediator/arbitrator for disputed courses and, at his discretion, will consult with suitable departments about such courses to become more familiar with the body of the curriculum.
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Work groups will report in writing to the full subcommittee, using a documentation form, those courses or sequences that they feel are or are not suitable for submission to the SUNY Office of the Provost as meeting Trustees' Learning Outcomes and "individual waiver criteria." The full subcommittee will accept each work group's report, and will recommend it or refer it for arbitration to the provost. The provost is the officer designated to submit Buffalo State curriculum to the SUNY Office of the Provost. The Curriculum Committee will report to the senate on the activity of this General Education Subcommittee.
When the function of this subcommittee has been fulfilled and an initial submission of courses to the trustees is made, this ad hoc subcommittee will disband, and the standing General Education Review Subcommittee will be permanently reestablished and charged in accordance with the recommendations approved by the senate in 1994 and 1999. The continuing senate business connected with the general education requirement will resume. The subcommittee will establish a process for ongoing review of courses for submission to the general education requirement.
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New curricula will proceed through regular channels
- to the Senate Curriculum Committee for approval as curriculum and final approval, then
- to the General Education Review Subcommittee for approval as general education requirement and/or submission to the SUNY Office of the Provost for approval as trustees' general education curriculum.
I hereby accept and approve the senate's recommendation. Provost Marotta will begin meeting and working with the General Education Subcommittee as soon as possible to ensure a timely submission to the SUNY Office of the Provost.
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Degree Audit System Presentations
The Degree Audit Task Force has scheduled demonstrations of two degree audit systems under consideration. Members of the campus community are invited to attend these demonstrations and comment on the systems. Mike Fox, a representative for DegreeWorks, will be on campus Wednesday, March 15. Ivan Rival, from Degree Navigator, will be on campus Tuesday, April 4. Campus presentations will be held from 10:00 a.m. to noon both days. Space is limited; reservations are required. Contact Nancy Babb at ext. 3412 or babbnm@buffalostate.edu.
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Orientation and Early Registration Programs
The Academic Advisement and Orientation Office has scheduled the Orientation and Early Registration Programs for 2000. To provide a more comprehensive program for the transfer population, separate dates are scheduled for transfer and first-year student orientations.
Transfer Early Registration
| Wednesday |
May 24 |
| Saturday |
June 10 |
| Tuesday |
July 11 |
| Thursday |
August 10 |
| Monday |
August 28 |
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First-Year Students
| Thursday and Friday |
June 29 and 30
|
| Thursday and Friday |
July 6 and 7
|
| Thursday and Friday |
August 17 and 18
|
| Tuesday and Wednesday |
August 29 and 30
|
Evening Orientation
Special orientation programs will continue for the families of new students.
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Corporate Leadership Weekend: Call for Nominations
The Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Center of student life requests nominations for students with leadership potential to participate in the Corporate Leadership Weekend Friday, March 31 and Saturday, April 1.
This semester, the corporate partner is Moog Inc.; the theme is "Leadership Discovery: Mission 2000." Students may participate through faculty and staff nomination only. Nomination forms have been mailed, and are available online at www.buffalostate.edu/~leadcntr/form2.html. Contact the LEAD Center at ext. 5533 or frederjs@buffalostate.edu with questions.
Nominations received by Monday, March 13 will allow the center to notify students of their nominations before Spring Break. Thank you for your support in developing the leadership skills of our students.
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National Women's History Month
In 1978, the Education Task Force of the Sonoma County California Commission on the Status of Women identified the week of March 8 as "Women's History Week" to highlight the contribution of women to American history. Within a few years, thousands of schools and communities were celebrating National Women's History Week, supported by resolutions from governors, city councils, school boards, and the U.S. Congress.
In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the full month of March. Since then, either Congress or the president has proclaimed National Women's History Month. The campus community is encouraged to reflect on the contributions of women to the history of Buffalo State and on those women leaders who are making significant contributions to our present and future.
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Minigrants: Round Two
The Equity and Campus Diversity Office is sponsoring a second round of minigrants of up to $1,000 to support efforts of faculty, departments, and student organizations related to the equity and diversity mission and priorities of the college. Details are available in the February 24 issue of the Bulletin.
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College Senate Meeting
The next College Senate meeting will be 3:00 p.m. Friday, March 10 in E. H. Butler Library 210.
General Education Subcommittee Report
At its December 10 and February 11 meetings, the senate approved and recommended to the president the following General Education Subcommittee Report:
In December 1998, the State University of New York Board of Trustees adopted Resolution 98-241, establishing a general education requirement for all baccalaureate degree candidates at SUNY institutions. Provost Peter D. Salins then empowered the Provost's Advisory Task Force on General Education, which, as part of its charge, developed guidelines to assist campuses in adapting their general education programs to the trustees' resolution. The new requirements dictate that all baccalaureate degree candidates complete a general education component of no fewer than 30 credits designed to achieve specific learning outcomes in 10 knowledge areas and two competency areas.
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The knowledge areas are mathematics, American history, natural sciences, Western civilization, social sciences, other world civilizations, arts, foreign language, humanities, and basic communication.
The competency areas are critical thinking and information management.
The General Education Subcommittee of the College Senate Curriculum Committee was charged with developing a plan for implementing these requirements at Buffalo State. The subcommittee has been meeting since May 1999 (including summer). In the fall, subcommittee members attended all initial academic department meetings.
The general consensus is a desire not to diminish the existing Buffalo State core curriculum. This sentiment is particularly strong given the recent committee work and collegewide review of the core curriculum at Buffalo State and the campuswide open hearings.
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The subcommittee noted that adequately covering the learning objectives and outcomes mandated by the trustees' resolution in a pedagogically correct manner would require more than the minimum 30 credits specified.
From the start, the subcommittee has sought and encouraged broad faculty involvement in developing the implementation plan. Open hearings were held on Tuesday, October 19 and Wednesday, October 20, 1999. This report reflects a summary of what the General Education Subcommittee has learned, analyzed, and synthesized from the extended campuswide process.
The timeline required by the trustees' resolution is very ambitious. It is possible to request an extension of the specified deadline; however, it is the general consensus of the subcommittee that such a delay would not benefit Buffalo State. The trustees have indicated that they would provide resources to campuses to support the implementation of their resolution. Although there is a general skepticism in the campus community about the actual provision of resources, it is felt that a positive, proactive, and timely plan is more likely to result in provision of resources than any alternative.
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This report is an attempt to articulate and identify an implementation plan that considers the needs of students, faculty, departments, and the institutional mission in the context of the complex issues that naturally arise when considering change, especially one of this magnitude. The subcommittee has been guided by the following considerations:
- To satisfy the board of trustees' general education resolution;
- To maintain the 42-credit-hour requirement;
- To maintain the structure of general education as it currently stands;
- To provide students with broad and flexible options to satisfy the general education program;
- To accommodate students in professional degree programs and transfer students; and
- To treat all academic programs with a high degree of equity within the proposed general education program.
The subcommittee was guided in its deliberations by the report of the Provost's Advisory Task Force on General Education, co-chaired by Buffalo State President Muriel A. Howard and SUNY Provost Peter Salins.
Implementation Guidelines for SUNY General Education Requirement
The following plan assumes that the implementation will take place over the next two years and allows for potential revisions and changes during that time. The college must be prepared to offer a general education program to satisfy the trustees' learning outcomes and competencies by the fall 2000 semester.
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PART I: THE GENERAL EDUCATION CURRICULUM
Section One: All-College, Noncore Requirements
| Requirements |
Means to Accomplish
|
| Writing requirement 0–6 credits. Fulfills trustees' basic communication category. |
ENG 101 and ENG 102 and two writing-intensive courses.
|
| Foreign language requirement 0–12 credits.
All B.A. majors: two years of a foreign language.
All other degrees: one year of a foreign language.
Fulfills trustees' foreign language category. |
101, 102, 201, and 202 of a foreign language for B.A. majors.
101 and 102 of a foreign language for all other majors.
Successful completion of one language through the fourth year in high school satisfies the requirement. One year of high school equals one semester of college study. |
| Critical thinking. Fulfills trustees' competency category.
|
Student will develop critical thinking skills by taking either 1) a course in his or her major department stipulated for this purpose or 2) at the discretion of his or her major department, a course in another department stipulated for this purpose (the other department's course may or may not be the course that the major department requires of its students to satisfy this requirement). Courses stipulated for one's major and/or others may be already existing courses or courses newly devised for this function. It will be the obligation of the department offering the course to devise an assessment measure of the student's success. |
| Information management.
Fulfills trustees' competency category. |
Computer use and research skills will be developed within a student's major (or through course[s] designated by the major department to fulfill this requirement) |
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Section Two: Core Requirements
Maximum 42 credit hours.
Students can use one course from their majors. In each of the core areas-applied science and technology, arts, humanities, social science, math/science, and civilizations-students must satisfy the requirements with courses in two different academic disciplines (courses with two different prefixes).
| Applied Science and Technology (CT) 6 credits |
3–Any course currently listed in core.
|
|
3–Any course currently listed in core. |
| Arts (CA) 6 credits |
3–Course must fulfill learning outcomes of trustees' arts category. |
|
3–Any course currently listed in core. |
| Humanities (CH) 6 credits
Foreign language courses at the 101-102 and 201-202 level are excluded. |
3–Course must fulfill learning outcomes of trustees' humanities category.
|
|
3–Any course currently listed in the core.
|
| Social Science (CS) 6 credits
|
3–Course must fulfill learning outcomes of trustees' social sciences category.
|
|
3–Any course currently listed in the core.
|
| Math/Science (CM) 9 credits
|
3–MAT 103 or another course or sequence of courses fulfilling trustees' math learning outcomes. |
|
3–Course must fulfill learning outcomes of trustees' natural sciences category.
|
|
3–Any other course currently in core.
|
| Civilizations (CC) 9 credits |
American: Designated course fulfilling the trustees' learning outcomes for American history. |
|
Western: Designated course fulfilling the trustees' learning outcomes for Western civilization.
|
|
Other world: Designated course fulfilling trustees' learning outcomes for other world civilizations. |
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Section Three: Diversity
"Double dipping" is permitted in all possible ways.
| Diversity (D) 3 credits |
Course must fulfill Buffalo State diversity requirement.
Any course currently in this category.
|
PART II: A PROCESS FOR IMPLEMENTATION
Premise: Current general education courses will remain in place to fulfill the college's specific general education requirements. The subcommittee intends to fashion the initial trustees' core submission from the existing Buffalo State general education core. New courses seeking any other designation must go through the usual procedures.
Link to Part II
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Curricular Items
The following proposals have been received in the College Senate Office and will be forwarded to the Curriculum Committee for review and approval:
New Courses:
PSY 356 Child Development.This course examines the psychological, social, and biological factors that affect development from conception through preadolescence. It is designed to provide a detailed and comprehensive exposure to the research findings and theories in child development. Topics covered include physical development, language acquisition, cognitive development, social and emotional development, and moral development. Particular attention is directed to mechanisms of developmental change such as genetic, cultural, historical, and experiential influences on child development.
PSY 357 Adolescent and Young Adult Development.This course introduces students to current theoretical and empirical understandings of the transition from early adolescence into young adulthood. A multidimensional approach that includes biological, psychological, and social factors is emphasized. Topics covered include biological, cognitive, interpersonal, self-concept, family, academic, and career transitions, as well as psychosocial problems encountered.
EXE 371 Foundations of Teaching Children with Disabilities. This course focuses on adaptations, procedures, and management systems necessary for effective instruction of children with disabilities in general education settings. It is required for childhood education majors.
CRS 585 Learning Style Methods/Resources for Creative and Talent Development.
This course focuses on topics associated with applying learning style processes to guide planning for creative and talent development. It provides information and hands-on experience on how to document students' learning style strengths. This information can be used to plan creative instruction or apply learning-style techniques and strategies to enhance creative and talent development.
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Course Revisions:
CRS 560 Foundations of Creative Learning and Teaching. This course provides an introduction to theory and research that form the foundation of the discipline of creativity studies. It focuses on developing awareness and understanding of basic principles, select definitions, models, and theories, and provides practice in applying them in a variety of contexts. Group interaction, discussion, and project work are expected.
CRS 580 Creativity Assessment: Methods. This course provides practical information on methods and resources for creativity assessment. It contains a review of basic measurement principles and a critique of specific tools used to assess creativity in both education and business. Students receive personal feedback on a number of measures and develop a profile of their own creative strengths.
CRS 559 Principles of Creative Problem Solving. This course provides an introduction to the theory and application of the creative problem solving (CPS) process. It provides practice in both individual and group uses for either personal or professional contexts. Group work and active participation are expected.
New Program:
English—Postbaccalaureate Certification Program (Secondary Education 7–12)
The following has been approved by the Senate Curriculum Committee and will be forwarded to the president for final review and approval:
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New Program:
Minor in Business Economics
Proposal Submission
The College Senate Curriculum Committee will not set a due date for curricular proposals during the
1999–2000 academic year. Instead, the committee will consider proposals on a continuing basis and do its best to provide a six-week turnaround. Proposals will be processed in the order received.
Proposals received by the committee chair after Wednesday, March 22, 2000, will be considered business of the 2000–2001 College Senate Curriculum Committee.
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