The meeting was called to order by Dr. Dan Schierenbeck, Chair, with the following members present: Dr. Nicholas Baeth, Ms. Rochelle Barabas, Dr. Karen Bradley, Ms. Joanne Reinke, Mr. Doug Short, Dr. Stefan Cairns (Chair, FS University Curriculum Committee liaison), Dr. Mike Grelle (FSUAC liaison), Dr. Peter Viscusi, ex-officio, and Ms. Traci Butler, Secretary. Dr. Carla Maltas was not present.

Dr. Grelle moved to approve the minutes from the July 2, 2007 meeting. Dr. Cairns seconded the motion, and the minutes were approved.

There is a Department of Higher Education Curriculum Alignment Committee, and Dr. Schierenbeck is on the subcommittee dealing with English. The next meeting will be in October.

The UCM Department of Nursing and the Harmon College of Business Administration will have new courses up for review this semester. Dr. Grelle attended the Provost’s ad hoc Committee on General Education Policy meeting this summer, and they are waiting to hear what the next step will be from the Provost. Dr. Grelle will send Dr. Schierenbeck an update to be distributed to our committee.

The committee members agreed that having a list of criteria will help during the review process. The following is a list of suggestions defining criteria for becoming a General Education Course:

Must be intended for a general audience

No prerequisites

Must identify primary competencies that will be taught and assessed

Class format and size must support the course skills and knowledge competencies

Demonstrate how identified skills will be assessed and explicitly stated on the syllabus

Explain how the department will explicitly describe commonality of General Education competency outcomes across all sections of the same course

Dr. Schierenbeck will send committee members the list of designated definitions from MU. He also noted that our categories should be built around our competencies. Dr. Cairns said the framework from the Provost’s ad hoc Committee on General Education Policy should help define what we do. Dr. Bradley would like for the committee to find a balance of being open and flexible with defined foundational boundaries.

Dr. Viscusi asked if we need to have approval from the FSUCC. Dr. Cairns said this is operational, and their committee does not micro-manage, but he suggested we notify them as a courtesy and noted that he will be the one responsible for incorporating the new criteria on the web.

The meeting was then adjourned.

Respectfully Submitted,

Traci Butler, Secretary