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| Vol. 17, No. 6 | Oct. 9, 1997 |
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| Vol. 17, No. 6 | Oct. 9, 1997 |
The theme of revising general education requirements ran through both the General Faculty Meeting and the meeting of the University Faculty Senate Monday.
After complimenting members of the faculty because their teaching "lies at the heart" of UD's ranking by U.S. News & World Report as one of the top 25 public universities, President David Roselle urged the faculty to become involved in the senate's efforts to create new general education requirements for the 21st century.
The president said that several issues should be addressed when proposing a new curriculum, including the following questions:
"How can the undergraduate experience be enhanced by the graduate-level one?
"How can UD's investment in technology best be used to enhance the education of our students and how can faculty use it to enhance their teaching?
"Within a reasonable number of credit hours, how can UD offer different kinds of learning experience to our students?
"How can the learning experience be reshaped to make sure that each and every student experiences one of the following-undergraduate research, study abroad, an internship, a discovery-oriented learning experience and courses that insure global citizenship?"
Presentations on how general education revisions have been handled elsewhere are scheduled for two Tuesdays, Oct. 14 and 21, at 4 p.m., in Multipurpose Room A of the Trabant University Center. The dean of arts and sciences at the College of New Jersey and the school's director of general education will speak Oct. 14, and a national educational leader from the Association of American Colleges and Universities will speak Oct. 21.
Suggesting that faculty call colleagues at other institutions to ask how they are managing undergraduate education in the future, Roselle said, "We are in excellent shape to effect change, thoughtful and significant change, that will serve all of us and-most importantly-our students well in the decades ahead."
At the University Faculty Senate meeting that followed, Carol Hoffecker, chairperson of the senate's ad hoc Committee on General Education, introduced a proposed statement of goals to the senators, asking them to invite comments from members of their academic departments.
"Concerns about general education are nationwide," she said, indicating that a curriculum instituted a generation ago is "in need of more than repair...it needs rethinking."
As proposed by the committee, the nine goals for general education at the University start off by assuring that every student will attain "effective skills in oral and written communication, quantitative reasoning and the use of technology."
Additionally, every student will be expected to understand the ways of thinking and the connections that inform the search for knowledge in the arts, humanities, sciences and social sciences;
Hoffecker said that educators believe today there is a fragmentation of knowledge, in which students select from a menu of courses. She said there also are concerns that a community of shared values and purpose no longer exists, that colleges are too driven by professional specialization and that the U.S. won't be able to keep up with a knowledge-based global economy.
Citing published proposals for changing general education requirements at UCLA, the University of Washington and Portland State University, she said that most plans attempt to break down disciplinary barriers, create new teaching methods, connect learning skills to learning matters, all within a comprehensive learning environment.
With funding from the Hewlett Foundation, the senate's ad hoc committee is proposing to create several focus groups this semester- composed of students, faculty, recent graduates and older alumni-to determine their opinions of what general education at UD should be in the future. Hoffecker said she hoped the committee could create the framework for a proposal by spring semester.
When Sen. Jerome Lewis asked if this framework would be a list of required courses, Hoffecker said that other universities tended to establish interdisciplinary thematic courses in the freshman year that created pathways to later, more advanced courses.
"At Washington, they created cluster courses, with a thematic course in the middle and English and math courses related to and integrated with it," she said. She said she hoped that the University could create courses that play on its strengths, mentioning an oceans course under development in the College of Marine Studies.
Questioned about how to measure effectiveness, Hoffecker said that new courses may be offered to undeclared majors first to see if the courses affected their career choices. "We might try that before coming to the senate asking for approval of the whole package," she said.
In another presentation, John Bishop, assistant vice president for student life and director of counseling and student development, spoke to the senate about the five-year, $700,000 grant received by the University and City of Newark to curb binge drinking by students.
Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the grant is now in its second year. Bishop serves as project director.
"On our campus, the level of binge drinking is above the national norm," Bishop said, indicating that the 1993 Harvard School of Public Health survey of 140 campuses found that 44 percent of students are binge drinkers.
Bishop said UD students reported that their average consumption was nine drinks a week and 29 percent of them reported drinking on 10 or more occasions a month.
During the first year of the grant, he said that students were made aware of the University's stronger penalties for underage drinking, efforts were made to shape expectations of incoming students, student organizations were held accountable for high-risk drinking and several standing committees made up of University and community members were established.
"The UD program emphasizes the rights of those who do not abuse alcohol," Bishop said. He suggested that the faculty can influence the environment by considering Monday and Friday examinations, because students often talk about their "three-day work week."
-Cornelia Weil
