The Transforming General Education Task Force was created by Faculty Senate in Spring 2019.  The purpose of this task force is to consider the recommendations of the PLC and act upon those recommendations where appropriate, focusing on the goals and value of a liberal arts education, while involving those whose healthy skepticism can lead to the discovery of unintended consequences and unanticipated problems.

Task Force Objectives:

  • identify means and assess the effectiveness of general education at SOU, looking at data from various groups of learners and at various groups of courses;
  • assess the effectiveness and efficiency of general education courses that also count as majors courses;
  • review studies on student perception of general education and collect campus data on the perceptions of SOU students, faculty and staff;
  • find ways to align changes in general education with the needs of current and future student demographics in terms of transferability, content, and pedagogy; 
  • consider which general education approaches will attract and retain students;
  • carefully monitor and further explore dual credit transfer alignment and growth potential in general education such as the Interstate Passport and the General Education Maps and Markers effort;
  • consult broad constituencies throughout the university community while also following the regular shared governance procedures for curriculum change;
  • set a reasonable timeline and be mindful of the resources and incentives needed for innovation, planning, and implementation;
  • identify synergies with the work of other professional learning communities such as those dealing with upper division education, creativity, lives of purpose and learner satisfaction;

Meetings:

The Transforming General Education Task Force meets on Fridays from 2:00pm - 4:00pm in LIB352. 

Members:

Voting Members:

Dale Vidmar Library
Elizabeth Whitman Undergraduate Studies
Kylan de Vries Social Sciences
Brie Paddock STEM
Bonnie Holmes Humanities & Culture
Sean O'Skea Oregon Center of the Arts
Alena Ruggerio BCE
Erin Wilder EHL


Ex Officio:

Susan Walsh Provost & VP of Academic Affairs*
Matt Stillman Registrar
Lee Ayers Director of Undergraduate Studies
Max Brooks Career Preparation Coordinator
Clay Austin Director, Center for Instructional Support
Danielle Mancuso Associate Director of Student Life
Edward Derr Student Success Coordinator
Stephanie Butler Assistant Director, Pre-College Programs
Moneeka Settles Coordinator of INL Program
 Jody Waters Associate Provost & Administrative Contact for UCC & USC 
 Andrew Gay Faculty Senate Chair

*Administrative Contact for Task Force

 

Students:

Britney Sharp ASSOU President
Jason Takarabe ASSOU Director of Internal Relations
Alexis Huff ASSOU Multicultural Affairs Senator
Anuhea Nihipali Student At Large
Sarah Guenther Faculty Senate Admin. Asst.

2019

Six General Education Capacities