Core Committee Minutes

November 13, 2007 - Lorentzsen Conference Room

Members present: S. Schwartz, A. Ingberg, D. Anderson, D. Sandgren, G. Muilenburg,

L. Sethre-Hofstad, M. Burchill

The discussion centered on the Dean’s response to re-evaluate our timeline and process for course approval, and how to proceed in informing the faculty.

We decided to inform Department Chairs that courses, which were submitted on the Short Form for preliminary approval, and were originally scheduled to be re-submitted on the Standard Form by January 15 for final approval, will be considered final approved without coming to the Core Committee again. Further, the details of an ongoing process of consideration of Core courses within each Department will coincide with the rotation of Departmental Self Evaluations.

Other points of discussion were:

• What information will be requested when courses are re-evaluated?

Preliminary consensus suggests:

1) Does this course continue to meet the goals and outcomes for this area as described

in the original proposal?

2) Is this course achieving the overall goal of preparing students to be responsibly

engaged in the world?

3) A current syllabus

• What role will Assessment play in re-evaluating courses and their continuing fit to Core?

• Departments should archive the course proposals in order to re-visit the original design of each course.

• How can the Core Committee serve in a formative role to assist departments in meeting the expectations of the Core curriculum?

• We suggest beginning the process with the 2009-2010 academic year.

Kay Schneider is willing to talk with us regarding development of an assessment tool. She will be invited to our final meeting before Thanksgiving, on November 20.

Sharon Hoverson has also asked to bring some data to the committee regarding library use in the Inquiry Seminars. She will be invited to a meeting after Thanksgiving.

David Sprunger will bring new information regarding Writing Across the Curriculum to our next meeting, Thursday, November15.

The main issues on the agenda for next year will be the Inquiry Seminars and the Capstone courses, which have yet to be defined. We will dedicate an entire meeting to discussion of process for these programs.

Prepared by: MBurchill