Tag: course proposals

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on October 18, 2024

The Council on General Education met on October 18, 2024. The meeting minutes for September 27, 2024 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 October 18, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the September 27, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Common Curriculum SLO Assessment Report
  4. Course Proposals
    1. Revised Proposals
      1. ARHS 3305 (Arts of the American Southwest) – PREX-HD
      2. UNIV 2301 (formerly 1301) (Information Systems and Society) – TAS; PREX-W
    2. New Proposals
      1. ENGL 1380 (Introduction to Literature: Monsters and Magic) – LAI
      2. AMAE 3387 (Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship) – CA
  5. General Education Office Updates
    1. SMU-in-Four PREX-CIE Course Proposals
    2. Coherent Rationale Audit Progress

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

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SMU in Four Student Academic Engagement & Success

Call for Common Curriculum Civic and Individual Ethic Course Proposals

Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development professor, Peter Carton, lectures for his class Sports Management Practicum, Thursday, October 14, 2021 in Prothro Hall on the SMU Campus.

The Council on General Education approved updates to the Common Curriculum (CC) Civic and Individual Ethic (CIE) Rubric on September 6 recommended updates were proposed by a cross-functional faculty working group convened by the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness over the summer. While the student learning outcome remains the same, the supporting skills were modified to more clearly emphasize ethical topics, questions, concepts, and dilemmas within civic or individual contexts. 

With the approval of the updated rubric, SMU in Four would like to announce a call for new or the redesign of existing courses to convey the Civic and Individual Ethic graduation requirement. The call for course proposals seeks to increase the number of CIE-tagged courses, and, thereby, the number of seats available to undergraduate students – aiding in time to degree. Proposals are due by November 15 at 5:00pm via the online submission platform. 

Three types of CIE course proposals are being sought. Full-time faculty are encouraged to apply: 

  1. Develop an Online, Asynchronous Course for Fall 2025. Partnering with the Office of Information Technology Online Production Services Team, one faculty proposer will receive one month of extra salary up to $10,000 in extra compensation to develop an online, asynchronous course. The typical online development process takes approximately 9 months. Online courses will be developed for delivery to students on Canvas. The new CIE-tagged course will be expected to be offered each academic year by the proposer’s academic department and may also be offered in the summer for extra compensation. The faculty who develop the course will have the right of first refusal to teach each time the course is offered outside of the regular fall-spring schedule.  
  2. Develop a New, In–Person Synchronous Course for Fall 2025. Two faculty proposers will receive $7,5000 in extra compensation to propose and develop a new course that would meet the approval of the CoGE.  
  3. Redesign of an Existing, In-Person Synchronous for Fall 2025. Two faculty proposers will receive $5,000 in extra compensation to redesign an existing course that meets CoGE approval. Course redesigns will favor proposals that satisfy required major or minor requirements in academic programs with high enrollments.  

After the November 15 deadline, proposals will be reviewed by the Provost’s Office. A limited number of courses will be selected for development. The courses proposed should appeal to a wide range of undergraduate students. Courses that are cross-listed or fulfill additional Common Curriculum requirements are among those that have wider appeal. In-person courses will be expected to have a minimum capacity of 35 seats and the online asynchronous course should have a minimum capacity of 25 seats. 

Given the expectation that these courses will be offered annually as part of the regular fall-spring teaching load, a statement of commitment from the department chair and dean will be necessary to finalize the selection process. Selected courses will be routed for approval to department chairs and dean’s offices before candidates are notified of their proposal’s acceptance.  Following the development of a new course, the course will be proposed to the Council on General Education for final review and approval.  

To support the enhancement of the Civic and Individual Ethic curriculum, the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility is pleased to announce its support by providing funding to aid course development. The selected faculty cohort will offer faculty members a robust network and various development opportunities, including intentional sessions focused on ethical issues and instructional strategies. Participants will benefit from immersive retreats designed to foster collaborative learning, deepen their engagement with ethical topics, and find course development resources. Through this initiative, the Maguire Ethics Center aims to enrich the academic experience and contribute to the growth of high-quality, impactful CIE offerings at SMU. 

If you have any questions regarding submitting your proposal, please contact Dr. Molly Ellis (facultysuccess@smu.edu). 

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 27, 2024

The Council on General Education met on September 27, 2024. The meeting minutes for September 6, 2024 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 September 27, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the September 6, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Coherent Rationale Discussion
    1. 1000- and 2000-level Pre-requisites
  4. Course & Activity Proposals
    1. Revised Proposals
      1. BUSE 2311 (Perspectives on American Business Through the Lens of the Automobile Industry) – TAS
      2. UNIV 1270 (Personal Finance and Branding) – PREX-QA
    2. New Proposals
      1. Activity Proposals
        1. Dennis Simon Civil Rights Pilgrimage – PREX-HD
      2. Course Proposals
        1. UNIV 1301 (Information Systems and Society) – PREX-W
        2. HIST 1328 (Votes for Women) – HC; PREX-HD; PREX-W
        3. ARHS 3305 (Arts of the American Southwest) – PREX-HD (course currently tagged for CA, CIE, OC, W)
        4. ARHS 3382 (Culture Shock: Museums as Sites of Protest) – HC; PREX-CIE
        5. SOCI 3322 (Nonprofits at Work in the Community) – SBS; PREX-CIE; PREX-HD
  5. General Education Office Updates
    1. SMU-in-Four Year Three Progress Presentation (October 17th  at 3 pm)

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

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on April 5, 2024

Office of General Education logo

The Council on General Education met on April 5, 2024. The meeting minutes for March 8, 2024, 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 April 5, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the March 8, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. External Test Credit Review (AP, IB, CLEP) Working Group (Melina)
    1. Field specialists have been reviewing External Test Credit for AP, IB, and CLEP exams. They reviewed exam syllabi, compared them to SMU’s Common Curriculum rubrics, and assigned/maintained tags where applicable. This is still an ongoing review, and we are currently seeking volunteers to assist in reviewing the remaining exams.
    2. Recommendations and Vote (see below after agenda)
  4. Rubric Review (Dayna)
    1. Global Perspectives-Update
    2. SL- American Sign Language
  5. CC Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. MUHI 1313 (Introduction to Critical Music Studies)- Critical Reasoning
      2. ASCE 1310 (Ceramic Technology)- Technological Advances & Society (revised)
      3. BUSE 2311 (Perspectives of Business: Automobile)- Technological Advances & Society
      4. ARHS 3376 (Latin American Art)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      5. ASAG 1310 (Word and Image: 1900-present)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      6. ASAG 1350 (On Beauty)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      7. FM 1300 (Fashion Communication)- Social & Behavioral Sciences
      8. PHIL 3384 (Capitalism and Its Critics)- Philosophical, Religious, & Ethical Inquiry
      9. RELI 3392 (World Films, World Religions)-Philosophical, Religious, & Ethical Inquiry and Global Perspectives
      10. WL 3307 (Perspectives on French Identity)- Global Perspectives and Civics & Individual Ethics
      11. UNIV 1270 (Personal Finance and Branding)- Quantitative Applications
      12. FM 1350 (Fashion & Diversity)- Human Diversity
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Lavender Leaders- Human Diversity
      2. CORE- Human Diversity
      3. Dr. Dennis Simon Civil Rights Pilgrimage- Civics & Individual Ethics
  6. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Catalog Updates Finalized
    2. Peruna Passport Updated
    3. Degree Planner Pre-Approved and Individual Activities in the Co-curricular
    4. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements Vote Results

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

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on March 8, 2024

The Council on General Education met on March 8, 2024. The meeting minutes for February 23, 2024, 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 March 8, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the February 23, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. CC Tag Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research) REVISED-Civics and Individual Ethics; Human Diversity; Global Perspectives
      2. AMAE 3387 (Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship) – REVISED-Oral Communication
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Honor Council – Civics and Individual Ethics
      2. SMU Outdoor Adventures – Community Engagement; Oral Communication
  4. CC Rubric Update (Dayna)
    1. Approved pending revisions.
      1. Social and Behavioral Sciences
      2. Technological Advances and Society
    2. Tabled
      1. Exploring Science
      2. Global Perspectives
  5. Student Progress Toward Degree and Throughout (Sheri)
    1. Role of the Schools in satisfying CIE/CE
  6. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements
      1. CR proposals-voting ballot will be sent out with a 3/21 deadline.
      2. In Development – WIM to W Progress; Modification to Course Content Criteria (4000-level)
  7. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Catalog Review

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

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on February 23, 2024

The Council on General Education met on February 23, 2024. The meeting minutes for February 2, 2024, 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 February 23, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the February 2, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. ARHS 3398 (Introduction to Museum Studies) – Creativity & Aesthetics
      2. BIOL 1310 (Aquatic Biology of the American Southwest)- Exploring Science
      3. PHYS 1320 (Music & Physics) – Quantitative Applications
      4. AMAE 3387 (Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship) – Technological Advances & Society; Oral Communication
      5. ARHS 3326 (How It’s Made: Approaches to the Art Object) – Technological Advances & Society
      6. JOUR 2303 (Media Literacy and Democracy) – Literary Analysis & Interpretation; Civics and Individual Ethics
      7. ANTH 3313 (South America: Culture, Environment, History) – Historical Contexts; Global Perspectives
      8. HIST 3381 (The First World War and Its Impact)- Global Perspectives
      9. RELI 1304 (Intro to Western Religions)- Human Diversity
      10. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research) REVISED-Civics and Individual Ethics; Human Diversity; Global Perspectives
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Honor Council – Civics and Individual Ethics
      2. SMU Outdoor Adventures – Community Engagement; Oral Communication
  4. Student Progress Toward Degree and Throughout (Sheri)
    1. Role of the Schools in satisfying CIE/CE
  5. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements
    2. In Development – WIM to W Progress; Modification to Course Content Criteria (4000-level)
  6. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. CC Overview workshop attendance
    2. CC Course Proposal workshop attendance
    3. Catalog review
    4. Success Fest 2/28/24
    5. Undergraduate Degree Planner deadline 3/1/24

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

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Common Curriculum Proficiency & Experience webpages updated to include successfully-petitioned individual activities

The Office of General Education supports students in fulfilling Common Curriculum (CC) Proficiencies and Experiences with tagged courses, pre-approved co-curricular activities, and individual experiences outside the classroom.

Students can view all approved CC-tagged courses via the Course Search page and review all pre-approved co-curricular activities by downloading the linked list of approved CC activities.

The Office of General Education has now made shortlists of individual activities students have completed outside the classroom, which have successfully been petitioned to fulfill their Common Curriculum Graduation Requirements. These shortlists are not meant to be all-inclusive but help students and their advisors determine co-curricular opportunities – students may complete individually – to satisfy these requirements.

Each Proficiency and Experience webpage has these shortlists under the “Proposing, completing, and petitioning an Individual Activity” accordion. For example, Civics and Individual Ethics, students have successfully petitioned individual activities such as:

  • Volunteer with “Feed My Starving Children” program for 15 hours
  • Organ Scholar at St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church
  • Volunteer with Jubilee Park and Community Center for 15 hours
  • SMU-led trip to Spain, with a civics and institutional field visits
  • Interned in Washington, D.C. with a federal agency
  • Intern for Dallas County Public Defender’s Office

Students are strongly encouraged to submit a pre-approval petition prior to completing an individual activity at smu.edu/petitions. The pre-approval petition should include a supporting statement using the provided template on the P&E webpage, that clearly explains how the individual activity will meet the Student Learning Outcome, Supporting Skills, and Experience Criteria for the requested graduation requirement.

Students who completed an Individual Activity before or after matriculation to SMU can submit a P&E Fulfillment Verification petition at smu.edu/petitions after completing the individual activity. Fulfillment Verification petitions should include:

The Office of General Education also encourages Faculty and Staff to propose their programs or organizations to fulfill graduation requirements. If you have any questions about submitting an Experience proposal, please contact Brittaney Wilson brittaneyw@smu.edu. More information on Experience Proposals can be found here.

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on November 10, 2023

The Council on General Education met on November 10, 2023. The meeting minutes for October 20, 2023 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 November 10, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the October 20, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Courses tabled- Revisions needed
    1. APSM 3360 (Nutrition and Population Health)- CE and CIE
    2. ASCE 1310 (Ceramic Technology)- TAS
    3. ENGL 1363 (The Myth of the West)-HD
  4. New Course Proposal
    1. GEOL 1311 (Climate Change Science) – ES
    2. PHYS 1337 (Nuclear Physics and Society)- TAS
    3. PSYC 3362 (Psychology & the Challenges of Life) – SBS and HD
    4. PSYC 3363 (Psychology of Conflict Resolution) – SBS and OC
    5. PSYC 4301 (Advanced Quantitative Methods in Psychology)-QA
    6. WL 3379 (Modern German Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present) – GPS
    7. GERM 3379 (Modern German Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present)- GPS
    8. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research)- CIE,HD, and GPS
  5. Activity Proposal
    1. SMU Abroad Programs – GPS
  6. General Education Office Updates

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

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 29, 2023

The Council on General Education met on September 29, 2023. The meeting minutes for September 01, 2023 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 September 29, 2023, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the September 1, 2023, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Critical Reasoning Update
    1. Meadows, Lyle, and Dedman
    2. Phase Update
      1. Phase 4
      2. Phase 5
    3. December 1 Proposal Deadline
  4. CoGE Secretary Election
    1. Duties and Responsibilities
      1. Assists with counting and recording votes.
      2. Reviews CoGE minutes for accuracy and details.
  5. Course/Experience Proposals Administrative Review Process
  6. Course Proposal
    1. JOUR 1313 (Writing and Critical Reasoning) – CR
    2. CCPA 1313 (Writing and Critical Reasoning) – CR
    3. ASIM 1300 (Introduction to Digital/Hybrid Media) – TAS
    4. ASCE 1310 (Ceramic Technology) – TAS
    5. RELI 3331 (Renewal: Roman Catholicism) – PREI
    6. ARHS 3355 (Exhibiting Cultures Curating and Interpreting the Arts of the Global South) – CA
    7. WL 3388 (Future Worlds: French Science Fiction from the Enlightenment to the present) – LAI
    8. ENGL 1363 (The Myth of the West) – LAI/PREX-HD
    9. APSM 3360 (Nutrition and Population Health) – PREX-CIE
    10. UHP 3301 (STEM Communications) – PREX-OC/PREX-W
    11. BLI 1210 (Business Communications) – PREX/OC
  7. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. ARHS 3315 (Classical Sculpture) – CA
      1. During rollover course was approved for both CA and HC. They want this to count for CA. Gen Ed submitted catalog update effective Jan 2024.
    2. Student Outreach Schedule
      1. Workshops
      2. Zoom Hours
      3. Pop-Up Tabling
    3. Admin Imaging Update
    4. Breadth Swap Petition (students matriculated Fall 2023 or later)
    5. November 2/3 Engage Dallas Place-based Community Engagement Symposium RSVP by October 20, 2023
      1. November 2nd 4:30-7:00pm at SMU Indoor Performance Center
      2. November 3rd 9:00-1:00pm at Dallas College- West Dallas Campus
    6. Recently removed CC tags from courses
      1. Process Reminder
        1. ARHS 3338-W
        2. ECO 1311-SBS
        3. ENGL 2315-CA
        4. FILM 1304-CA
        5. HIST 1321-OC
        6. HIST 3309-W
        7. SOCI 3312-W
        8. WL 3383-OC

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

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Office of General Education

Council on General Education approved updates to the Common Curriculum Critical Reasoning rubric

On Friday, September 1st, operating within its scope of authority, the Council on General Education approved an update to the Common Curriculum Critical Reasoning rubric.

Critical Reasoning was assessed for the first time in Summer 2021 by the Office of Institutional Planning and Effectiveness. Following that round of assessment, raters recommended reviewing and revising the rubric, which they found difficult to apply in many cases. A faculty-led committee was charged to review and revise the rubric over the summer.

Further review of the rubric found that although the learning outcome for Critical Reasoning is appropriate to the components (Students will demonstrate university-level critical reasoning proficiencies through written expression), the supporting skills emphasize writing and are nearly identical to the supporting skills for Academic Writing requirement, which has a different learning outcome (Students will develop competency, clarity, coherence, and organization in their writing). Plus, writing is assessed separately under the Academic Writing, Writing, and within the academic evaluation process.

The current design of the Critical Reasoning rubric has functioned as a barrier to the development of courses outside of the Writing and Reasoning Program (WRTR), mainly because of the primary focus on academic writing in the current iteration of the rubric. Therefore, efforts to revise the Critical Reasoning rubric have been joined with this effort to expand offerings in Critical Reasoning beyond WRTR 1313, WRTR 2304, and WRTR 2306.

Common Curriculum course proposal forms and the online rubrics were updated with the newly-approved rubric.