Core Education Committee

Oregon State University Faculty Senate

Meeting of the Core Education Committee
April 2, 2025
10:00-12:00 p.m.
Zoom

Minutes

 

Committee members present: Kelsey Emard (Co-chair), Daniel Faltesek (Co-chair), Andrea Allan, Aidas Banaitis, Liz Delf, Matthew Kennedy Lori McGraw, Holly Mitchell, Kari-Lyn Sakuma, Dave Stemper, Paula Weiss
Committee members absent: Vipin Arora, Abigail Crowell, Brian Mills
Ex-officio members present: Stephanie Baugh (Curriculum Management), Heath Henry (General Education Assessment), McKenzie Huber (Core Education Director), Kali Furman (Difference, Power & Oppression Director), Karen Watte (Ecampus), Ashley Holmes (WIC)
Visitors and staff present: Caitlin Calascibetta (Faculty Senate Office), Andrew Valls (Faculty Senate President), Patrick Ball, Kristin Nagy Katz, Caryn Stoess

New Business & Information Items

No new business or information items.

Course Reviews

The committee reviewed and discussed the following Core Education proposals.

• PSY 426 Psychology of Gender (second review)
  • The requested changes have been made.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 9 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• ED 350 Literature from Marginalized Communities: Classroom Discussion Methods (second review)
  • They did make some improvements and there is a greater sense of intentionality, as well as additional clarity. The essential assignment for Learning Outcome (LO) could be better addressed but is adequate.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 9 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• COMM 432 Gender and Communication (second review)
  • Some things were fixed, but it did not seem like things were fixed in every syllabus.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve pending confirmation that all essential assignments are required. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• BI 346 Ocean Justice (third review)
  • They did not make all requested changes but they did do a lot of work in addressing the committee’s concerns. The course could be considered satisfactory.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BI 363 Colonialism and Systemic Inequality in Conservation
  • It needs some work in explaining how all parts of the LOs are addressed. The essential assignment does not specifically address how students reflect on their own position. The course does not specifically address racism.

Action: Motion to approve with notes to make sure that the essential assignment will need to include the diagram that the students do showing comparison of different approaches for dismantling racism and other forms of oppression, per LO3; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• FE 101 Introduction to Forest Engineering (second review)
  • The syllabus does not match CIM for LO2. The other two items have been adequately addressed.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve pending the proposal email a corrected syllabus to be uploaded to CIM; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BI 373 Field Methods in Marine Ecology
  • The course meets the WIC category and Beyond LO 1. Some minor issues; unclear what the evaluation criteria are and if informal writing and LO2 uses sources. Are the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) competencies integrated into the assignments?

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BI 450 Marine Biology and Ecology
  • There is largely no process for drafts or revisions. There is one paper that does have a revision, and the turnaround is very short.

Action: Motion to rollback: 1) Need to revise the draft and feedback schedule for the main writing assignments to include rough draft submissions earlier in the term with plenty of time for feedback and revising before a final version is due; and 2) clarify how genres and conventions of the discipline are taught; for Beyond: Beyond OSU II LOs need to be in the syllabus and the Beyond assignments need to be in the syllabus (make sure you are using the most recent version of the syllabus); seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BI 204 Introductory Biology I (second review)
  • BI 204, 205 and 206 would like to move from 4 credits to 5. They addressed some previous feedback about LO3; how students are assessed is much more clearly defined. They made a persuasive case for increasing their credits. Why can’t it be kept as the original course series that allowed it to stay 5 credits originally? It is apparently related to the types of classes medical schools will accept.

Action: Motion to postpone discussion until next week. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• BI 205 Introductory Biology II (second review)
  • Hold until next week.
• BI 206 Introductory Biology III (second review)
  • Hold until next week.
• SW 204 Antiracism and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Practice
  • The content is great but there is not a lot of it. There is no evidence of discussion or interaction between students or between students and the instructor. The content does not fulfill the hours of a three-credit course.

Action: Motion to rollback SW 204 to show how the course includes content equivalent to 3 credits; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• SW 205 Affirming Neurodiversity
  • It is unclear how group assignments will be presented. The content does not fulfill the hours of a three-credit course. Some of the assignment instructions are unclear.

Action: Motion to Rollback SW 205 to show how the course includes content/activities equivalent to 3 credits. Clarify what the essential assignment is for LO1 (two seem to be selected); how online presentations will be managed for LO2; and how do they demonstrate inclusion of marginalized voices in the project for LO3; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• ANTH 252 Wealth and Poverty
  • Good, with no issues.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• WGSS 225 Disney, Gender, Race, Empire
  • It looks like a good course. There are minor concerns about LO 1 and LO3, but no serious issues. The Assessment Office has no concerns about the LOs.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 11 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• HSTS 213 Landscapes & Waterscapes in Indigenous North America (second review)
  • They did what the committee asked for with some of the items but there are still some concerns around LO2.

Action: Motion to rollback: thank you for addressing concerns 1 and 3. Please provide more detail about how racism is taught in LO2 and LO3 and how it intersects with colonialism and other forms of oppression. Also clarify how assessment has students evaluating all parts of LO1; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• FW 324 Food From The Sea
  • Minor issues with the syllabus between CIM and the syllabus – listed as recitation in CIM but a lecture in syllabus. No specifics about course cap and group sizes. No explanation on how groupwork is supervised outside of class. Unclear if the course is looking at multiple solutions. The matrix needs a lot more detail. Suggest that the course description could include mention of the problem(s) students will tackle.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve, pending syllabus changes and Heath Henry’s review; seconded. The motion passes with 8 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• SUS 350 Sustainable Communities
  • Cascades syllabus needs updating. Appears to include substantial content from CEOAS courses.

Action: Motion to rollback; needed meeting of the minds between campus modalities, other campuses need to meet the consideration of perspectives present in the cascades syllabus; further active description of how the teamwork is actually facilitated - passive offer of office hours is not enough; discussion deferred until next week.

• HST 105 World History II: Middle and Early Modern Ages (second review)
  • Changes have been made, and the course is sufficient for the category but it is unclear if the changes have filtered through all the syllabi.

Action: Motion to conditionally approve, pending syllabus changes and Heath Henry’s review; seconded. The motion passed with all in favor.

• COUN 212 Global History of Mental Health
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.
• ART 209 Global Architectures
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.
• ANTH 218 People and Cultures of China
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.
• ES 260 Intro to Pacific Islands Studies
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.
• SW 214 Culturally Affirming and Nonviolent Communication
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.
• GEO 351 Saving Planet Earth: Reducing Carbon Emissions
  • Discussion moved to next agenda.

Adjournment

With no further discussion or business before the committee, the co-chairs adjourned the meeting.