Tag: Common Curriculum

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on January 27, 2023

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The Council on General Education met on January 27, 2023. The meeting minutes for December 2, 2022 were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.  

  1. Approval of Agenda for the January 27, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the December 2, 2022 Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Common Curriculum Cohort Progression Presentation
  4. Common Curriculum CIE/CE Graduation Requirement Discussion
  5. Common Curriculum CIE/CE Graduation Requirement Exception Proposal for F20; SP21 Admits
  6. Common Curriculum CIE/CE Proactive Plans to Ensure Progression
    • Encourage Course Proposals for CC Tags
    • Encourage Schools/College Participation in Community Engagement
    • CoGE Member visit SMU Community Engagement Council
    • Promote Engage Dallas Awareness Around Faculty/Schools/Colleges

7. Writing Board Membership (Cox & Meadows Representatives)

    • Meeting Dates: 2/24, 3/3, 4/21

8. Office of General Education Updates

    • New Supporting Statement Templates
    • Updated Common Curriculum Petitions in Deployment with Registrar
    • Student Outreach Event Schedule (Pop Ups & CC Workshops)

Meeting and Common Curriculum proposal reminders 

The Council on General Education invites course and approved activity proposals for Common Curriculum general education and graduation requirements.  

The proposal deadline is March 22 (for review on 3/31). Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI) and Civics & Individual Ethics (CIE) are particularly interesting. Accepted proposals will be tagged at the course level and go into effect for summer 2023. 

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support. 

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Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success University Advising Center

SMU in Four announces 2nd-round winners of the Degree Planner completion raffle  

Forty winners were randomly selected from the one-hundred and eighty students who have fully completed Degree Planner.   

 In order for your Degree Planner to be considered complete, you must have:  

  2nd-Round Winners are:  

Amazon Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 SMU Flex Dollars 

($25 value)  

 Starbucks Gift Card  

($25 value)  

 Visa Gift Card 

($25 value)  
SEAN M.  RIA D.  DEAN L.  CAROLINE S. 
EDEN C.  KAYLEE D.  HANNAH S.  TREVOR B. 
GRANT M.  JEFFREY M.  AUDREY L.  JAYDIN B. 
TAYLOR C.  MARGARET G.  CONNOR M.  TRAJAN C. 
MACKENZIE T.  GRACE P.  AMBER F.  MATTHEW B. 
LILLIAN N.  ALEXA A.  MICHAEL Z.  ANTHONY L. 
GIANCARLOS D.  ZAKIYA C.  JOHN P.  HANNAH L. 
BENJAMIN J.  SILVIA V.  TAYLOR H.  JENNIFER S. 
MAKENNA K.  BIANCA H.  CHARLES G.  CAMPBELL S. 
PIPER J.  ISAIAH B.  SOPHIE E.  ANA M. 

Winners can come and pick up their prizes from the Office of General Education, Laura Lee Blanton Suite 100, from Tuesday, February 14th – Friday, February 17th.  

Still, working on your Degree Planner? No need for FOMO! You have one more chance to win some fantastic prizes! Prizes include $25-50 Starbucks, Amazon, Uber, Target, and Visa gift cards. You can also win Flex Dollars and SMU swag, such as baseball caps, sweatshirts, hoodies, and more!  

The deadline for the final raffle is March 10th at 11:59 pm! 

All undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum (CC) are required to complete Degree Planner by March 20.    

Visit smu.edu/degreeplanner for help getting started.   

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Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success

SMU in Four announces 1st-round winners of Degree Planner completion raffle

Thirty-five winners were selected randomly from the one hundred and thirty-one students who fully completed Degree Planner by the first incentive deadline.

For your Degree Planner to be considered complete, you must have:

 

1st Round Winner are:

Amazon Gift Card

($25 value)

 Target Gift Card

($25 value)

 Starbucks Gift Card

($25 value)

 SMU Swag Bag

($50 value)
Emma S. Victoria A. Hannah N. Jake E.
Mireya S. Grant B. Margaret G. Jonathan K.
Staten M. Jordan F. Pavle B. Hannah S.
Tanner H. Monet M. Sierra B. Madeline K.
Sarah B. Avery E. Jaron T. Ronisha T.
Trajan C. Ella B. Lucy M.  
Michael G. Sophie E. Tiffany D.  
Bahar N. Brittany H. Michelle H.  
Sarah N. Mary-Kate B. Xin Z.  
Jose H. Izabella D. Kaylee D.  

Winners can come and pick up their prizes from the Office of General Education, Laura Lee Blanton Suite 100, from Monday, February 6th– Friday, February 10th.

Still, working on your Degree Planner? No Problem! You still have a chance to win some fantastic prizes! The sooner you complete your degree plan, the more raffles you are entered into. Raffle prizes include $25-50 Starbucks, Amazon, Uber, and Visa gift cards. You can also win SMU swag such as baseball caps, sweatshirts, hoodies, and more! Students who complete Degree Planner by 11:59pm on:

  • February 10 (Friday) will be entered in two raffles.
  • March 10 (Friday) will be entered in one raffle.

All undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum (CC) are required to complete Degree Planner by March 20.

Visit smu.edu/degreeplanner for help getting started.

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Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success Student Academic Success Programs University Advising Center University Honors Program

Undergraduate students incentivized to complete Degree Planner

Yesterday, SMU in Four sent email communications to undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum regarding Degree Planner from smuinfour@smu.edu. Student communications were staggered – with tailored communications being sent to declared major students and pre-major students.  

Copies of the communication is below. 

January 18, 2023 

Dear Students – 

Use the new Degree Planner tool, located on your my.SMU Student Dashboard, to plan your path to graduation! This new tool will help you plan not only your upcoming semester, but all courses you will take throughout your college career.    

All undergraduate students on the Common Curriculum (CC) are required to complete Degree Planner by 03/20/2023. [Declared Majors] As a declared major you will complete your degree plan for all declared degree programs and CC requirements prior to Fall 2023 enrollment to avoid enrollment delays. [Pre-Majors] As a pre-major you will complete your degree plan for all CC requirements (Foundations, Breadths, Proficiencies & Experiences) prior to Fall 2023 enrollment to avoid enrollment delays.  

Complete it early for a chance to win some fantastic prizes! The sooner you complete your degree plan, the more raffles you are entered into. Raffle prizes include $25-50 Starbucks, Amazon, Uber, and Visa gift cards. You can also win SMU swag such as baseball caps, sweatshirts, hoodies, and more! Students who complete Degree Planner by 11:59pm on:  

  • January 27 (Friday) will be entered in three raffles.  
  • February 10 (Friday) will be entered in two raffles.  
  • March 10 (Friday) will be entered in one raffle.  

Visit smu.edu/degreeplanner for help getting started or watch the student dashboard video below

—————————————————————————————-

Faculty and staff communications regarding Degree Planner were sent on Friday, January 13th. As promised, Records Offices and advisors will receive email templates to use to encourage student completion in the following weeks. 

Faculty and staff advisors who have the most students complete Degree Planner by the priority deadline of March 20, 2023 will win a $100 Amazon gift card. 

Any questions, comments, and/or concerns can be directed to SMU in Four. 

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Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success

Office of General Education publishes a schedule of student outreach efforts

Throughout the Spring 2023 semester, the Office of General Education will host a variety of student outreach events in the form of pop-ups and workshops to answer questions about the Common Curriculum, University Curriculum, and the new Degree Planner tool in my.SMU.

Pop-Up Tabling Events

Can’t stop by the GenEd office? No problem. We will come to you! Pop-ups are an opportunity to quickly stop by our table and ask questions related to your degree plan, general education requirements, proficiencies and experience, petitions, the Second Language Requirement, and much more. Upcoming pop-up dates and locations include:

Fondren Library by Starbucks

  • January 25, 2-4pm
  • February 15, 2-4pm
  • March 8, 2-4pm
  • March 29, 2-4pm
  • April 12, 2-4pm

Meadows Owens Arts Center, in the Taubman Atrium

  • April 5, 1-3pm

Caruth Hall- Mary Alice and Mark Shepherd Jr. Atrium

  • April 19, 10am-12pm

Common Curriculum Workshops

Why does SMU have general education requirements? What are Proficiencies and Experiences? How and when should I satisfy each requirement? Workshops dive deeper into your Common Curriculum questions and provide in-person support in completing your Degree Planner. Join us for these one-hour working sessions. Upcoming spring 2023 workshops dates include:

Laura Lee Blanton, Blanton 110/112

Sign up for a Common Curriculum Workshop via SMU Connect.

Any other questions, comments, or concerns? Contact the Office of General Education, sign up for an appointment with a team member, or stop by our office in Laura Lee Blanton Suite 102.

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Office of General Education SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success

Sharing details of Degree Planner student adoption campaign

Degree Planner, which launched in November, is a new tool that allows Common Curriculum (CC) undergraduate students to plan progress toward their degree and aid SMU in course scheduling and seat planning to permit timely graduation. All CC undergraduate students (except those graduating in May 2023) are asked to complete Degree Planner before fall enrollment begins this spring. While we want all students to establish a degree plan, SMU in Four is targeting a completion rate of 75% by March 20th.

Student adoption campaign details

Beginning next week, CC students will receive regular communications from SMU in Four requesting they complete Degree Planner. We share details of our plans below so you are aware and can encourage their completion via your own means.

Degree Planner can be completed independently within my.SMU. Pre-major students need to plan their general education and graduation requirements (Foundations, Breadths, Proficiencies and Experiences) in Degree Planner to be counted as complete. Declared students must plan their degree course and CC requirements for each declared major in Degree Planner to be counted as complete. In mid-February, minor requirements for students who have declared their minors will begin to automatically populate in their Degree Plan too. Students can then adjust these requirements as they would like.

To incentivize students, there will be three rounds of giveaways. Raffle prizes include $25-50 Starbucks, Amazon, Uber, Visa gift cards, and SMU swag/apparel. Students who complete Degree Planner by 11:59pm on:

  • January 27 (Friday) will be entered in three raffles.
  • February 10 (Friday) will be entered in two raffles.
  • March 10 (Friday) will be entered in one raffle.

Each school’s records office will be asked to contact any undergraduate CC student who does not complete Degree Planner by March 20 to ensure completion before Fall 2023 enrollment commences.

Faculty and academic advisor incentives

Faculty and staff advisors will also receive incentives whose students complete Degree Planner. The advisors who have the highest percentages of their assigned advising load on March 20 will receive a $100 Amazon gift card. Outreach templates will be provided to advisors later this month to encourage their own nudging.

Remaining Degree Planner advisor workshops

Workshops are planned for undergraduate faculty advisors and academic advisors to learn the new Degree Planner. Each session is identical and will be conducted via Zoom. A meeting notice and Zoom link will be sent 1-2 days after completing the registration form. Available workshops:

  • February 8, 3-4 pm (Wednesday)
  • February 9, 3-4 pm (Thursday)

For more information on how to assist students with Degree Planner, please visit the Degree Planner Navigation for Advisors Wiki page. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please contact SMUinFour@smu.edu.

 

Brittaney Wilson

Undergraduate Degree Counselor; Degree Planner Adoption Team

 

Dallas Forbes

Undergraduate Degree Counselor; Degree Planner Adoption Team

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Office of General Education

Student records updated to satisfy Quantitative Applications with ECO 1311

Numbers
Lyle Civil Engineering and Moody Fellow Graduate Student Michaela Eamma does research at the Gerald J. Ford Research and Innovation Building, Wednesday, November 10, 2021 on the SMU Campus. SMU students and community attend the Celebration of Lights, Monday, November 29, 2021 on the Main Quadrangle in front of Dallas Hall on the SMU Campus.

The Office of General Education, enacting the vote of the Council of General Education, has updated 920 student records who have satisfied the Quantitative Applications Proficiency & Experience via completing ECO 1311 – Principles of Microeconomics.

Effective fall 2022, ECO 1311 now satisfies the Proficiency and Experience requirement. After auditing ECO 1311 syllabi from fall 2020 to fall 2022, no substantial differences in the course design and learning outcomes were found by the Office of General Education. Therefore, student records were bulk updated to satisfy this graduation requirement – rather than requesting petitions be completed by students.

Students received the good news with a celebratory email on Thursday, September 22.

If you have any questions about this update or suggest an audit, please contact the Office of General Education at theccmail@smu.edu or call (214) 768-6168.

 

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Office of General Education

Common Curriculum course search updated with new tags

Conference room

The Office of General Education updated the Common Curriculum course search with added breadth and graduation requirement tags to the catalog.

The August 29, 2022 update reflects the following tag additions by course:

  • ADV 3305- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • ANTH 3361- Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)
  • ARHS 3363- Creativity and Aesthetics (CA)
  • BIOL 3170- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • BIOL 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • BIOL 4380- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • CHEM 4110- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • CHEM 4398- Writing in the Major (WIM)
  • ENGL 2313- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI); Writing (W)
  • ENGL 3340- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3355- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI); Writing (W)
  • ENGL 3362- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3364- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3367- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3379-Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • ENGL 3385- Literary Analysis and Interpretation (LAI)
  • WGST 3370- Historical Contexts (HC); Oral Communication (OC)

Questions or concerns related to the course search update can be directed to theccmail@smu.edu.

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Office of General Education

Updated Common Curriculum Proficiencies and Experiences requirements and rubrics available

The Office of General Education, enacting the vote of the Council of General Education, has published updated rubrics for the Common Curriculum’s Proficiencies and Experiences graduation requirements.

The Council of General Education sought to:

  • Provide consistency across the Proficiencies in terms of the number of hours required for an activity and the length and number of the required reflections
  • Create a standard prompt for each Proficiency, as students often had difficulty understanding what to put in their reflection
  • Add the option of submitting completed work that demonstrates the supporting skills (completed during the activity or course) in lieu of a reflection.

Overall, the Council noted that the inconsistencies in the requirements and the fact that they caused problems for students (and were largely arbitrary), so the Common Curriculum Proficiencies and Experiences were streamlined. The streamlined requirements and updated rubrics are now available on the Common Curriculum website.