General Education Reform
Overview
Millersville University is undertaking a program review of its current general educational curriculum. This has included a self-study report (completed fall 2021), an external review process (completed spring 2022), and an assessment of the current general education learning outcomes (completed spring 2022). A task force of faculty and administration has been charged with taking this information and developing potential general education model(s) with outcomes-based learning goals to be shared with the university during the fall 2022 semester. The hope is that the university will adopt a new model by the end of the 2022-23 academic year, for implementation as soon as Fall 2024.
Members
- Dr. James Delle, Co-Chair
Dean of College of Graduate Studies & Adult Learning and Associate Provost for Academic Administration - Dr. Rachel Finley-Bowman, Co-Chair
Dean of University College and Associate Provost for Student Success - Dr. Nivedita Bagchi, Faculty Co-Chair
Professor of Government, Policy, & Law and Coordinator of International Studies - Dr. Steven Kennedy, Faculty Co-Chair
Associate Professor of Chemistry - Dr. David DiRusso
Professor and Chair of Management & Marketing - Dr. Oliver Dreon
Professor of Educational Foundations - Dr. Abdulsalami Ibrahim
Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations - Dr. Lynn Marquez,
Professor of Geology and Chair of Earth Sciences - Professor Michele Santamaria
Assistant Professor of the Library Department
Timeline
| SEPTEMBER | |
|---|---|
| Sept. 6 | Update to Faculty Senate – work to date (summer, website, timeline) |
| Sept. 22 | GE Task Force meets with GERC to discuss models |
| OCTOBER | |
| Oct. 4 | Presentation of models to Faculty Senate |
| Oct. 5 | Share with rest of campus on 10/5 via the website |
| Oct. 13 | Open Forum - Zoom, common hour | Pre-Registration Required |
| Oct. 14 | College Council – Lombardo College of Business |
| Oct. 18 | Open Forum | 12:10-1:00 p.m. in McComsey Myers Auditorium |
| Oct. 18 | Open Forum - Faculty Senate |
| Oct. 19 | Open Forum - Zoom, 2:00 pm | Pre-Registration Required |
| Oct. 20 | College Council – EDHS College Council – University College (faculty only) |
| Oct. 24 | College Council – Science and Technology |
| Oct. 26 | Open Forum | 2-3 p.m. in Stayer MPR (100 & 101) |
| NOVEMBER | |
| Nov. 3 | College Council - AHSS Student Focus Group |
| Nov. 8 | Student Focus Group |
| Nov. 15 | Faculty Senate – GE Taskforce update on feedback to date |
| Nov. 17 | SGA - discussion with GE Taskforce on models |
| DECEMBER | |
| Dec. 1 | All feedback due to GE task force |
| JANUARY | |
| Jan. 26 | GE task force shares final updated models with GERC |
| FEBRUARY | |
| Feb. 7 | First reading of final models at Faculty Senate |
| Feb. 8 | Final models are live to campus on GE reform website |
| Feb. 21 | Second reading of final models at Faculty Senate |
| MARCH | |
| March 27-29 | Faculty vote on models (Round #01) |
| APRIL | |
| April 3-5 | Faculty vote on models (Round #02, if necessary) |
Faculty Resources
-
History and Context for General Education Revision
Since its adoption in 1997, the current General Education (GE) curriculum has undergone one major (2008) and a few minor revisions. During the 2020-2021 academic year, the General Education Review Committee (GERC) began a self-study of Millersville’s general education program as part of the regular program review process. Based upon this review and the external review conducted by Dr. Paul Hanstedt, three key areas in the GE program were emphasized as needing improvement:
- Increasing consistency and coherence between the competencies identified by Millersville and PASSHE (PA State System of Higher Education) and the learning objectives of courses within the curriculum.
- Improving assessment efforts so that they are systematic and comprehensive.
- Helping students gain a better understanding of the purpose of general education and of critical thinking across the liberal arts.
-
Assembling the General Education Taskforce
Following GERC’s critical release of its self-study, the Academic Outcomes and Assessment Committee (AOAC) led the review of the current GE learning outcomes during the spring 2022 semester.
- All faculty were invited to share their comments on a first pass at revisions made by AOAC at the Annual Assessment Luncheon on March 1.
- Members of AOAC visited Faculty Senate to gather additional feedback on April 5 and April 19.
- Two broader feedback forums were hosted on April 25 and May 3.
GERC (General Education Review Committee) also proposed in its self-study the convening of a university-wide General Education Task Force to conduct a holistic evaluation. The task force was charged with recommending possible changes to the General Education Curriculum.
-
Charge and Work of the General Education Taskforce
In May 2022, a task force of faculty and administration began review of the self-study documents and current best practices to develop potential general education model(s). These models will be shared with the university during the fall 2022 semester and another round of feedback will be collected.
- The task force attended AAC&U’s General Education Institute from June 6-June 10 to review the latest best practices in core curriculum and assessment.
- The projected plan is that the university will adopt a new model by the end of the 2022-23 academic year, for implementation as soon as Fall 2023.