Core Education Committee

Voting members present: Aidas Banaitis, Abigail Crowell, Kelsey Emard, Daniel Faltesek, Colin Johnson, Matthew Kennedy, Brian Mills, Rene Reitsma, Randy Rosenberger, Kari-Lyn Sakuma
Voting members absent: Geoffrey Barstow, Lori McGraw, Paula Weiss
Ex-officio members present: Assessment & Accreditation – Heath Henry; Core Ed – McKenzie Huber; WIC – Sarah Perrault
Guests: Stephanie Baugh, Michael Jefferies, Kristin Nagy Katz, Caryn Stoess, Andrew Valls

Policies

• Transitions, Beyond I, Beyond II
  • Current verbiage:
    • Criteria 3: Require First year students to follow the sequence – Transitions, Beyond OSU I, Beyond OSU II (therefore Transitions must be completed before taking this course). It is strongly recommended that transfer students also follow the sequence, however, they may take Beyond OSU and Transitions at the same time.
    • Criteria 4: Allow for-credit courses that satisfy the Learning Outcomes and Criteria for both Beyond OSU I and Beyond OSU II to be combined within the same course.
  • Suggested revisions:
    • ­Criterion 3: Beyond courses are meant to be taken in the order of Transitions, Beyond OSU I, Beyond OSU II, to create multiple career touchpoints for students. Beyond OSU courses are not to be taken out of order. In some cases, it may be pedagogically appropriate to take adjacent courses (Transitions and Beyond I) or (Beyond I and Beyond II) at the same time as co-requisites, but never all three at the same time.
    • Criterion 4: The learning outcomes for Beyond OSU I and Beyond OSU II may be combined in a single course. A combined Beyond OSU I and II course must be taken after Transitions has been completed (Transitions must be a pre-requisite).
      • It was pointed out that Transitions and Beyond I have similar career topics and could be taken concurrently.
      • The original verbiage in criterion 4 has been referenced in other conversations in the Curriculum Management Office so they’d like to be kept in the loop if this change goes forward.

Action: Motion to approve the proposed revisions the Learning Outcome, Criteria & Rationale (LOCR) document; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

Course Reviews

• (R) PPOL 201 Intro to Public Policy – Social Science
  • The proposer did not develop  the course and is not teaching the course
  • They are meeting with the co-chairs tomorrow to go over the issues and discuss what is needed for redevelopment.

Action: Motion to roll back for revisions; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• (R) BI 101 Environmental Biology: Ecology, Conservation, Global Change – Scientific Inquiry
  • BI 101, 103 and Z 102 were sent back as a group for the following reasons: 1) more detail on how the class teaches the iterative and cyclical process of science in the description of Learning Outcome (LO) 2 in the syllabi and CIM; 2) selection of specific assignments for the essential assignments (e.g., a specific lab report or quiz, rather than ALL labs or quizzes); 3) removal of the statement about BI 101, Z 102, and BI 103 being used to meet Scientific Inquiry requirements from the syllabus; 4) greater clarity on what makes these general education classes versus major-preparation classes; 5) clarity on whether these three courses act as a series or separately, as statements in the syllabi appear to contradict themselves on this; and 6) clarification of the number of hours required for the class across all three syllabi and that 12 hours/week should INCLUDE study and review time, rather than exclude it.
    • Addressed critique 1 well, but Cascades syllabus could use a little additional work.
    • Cascades did not remove the statement in critiques 3 and 5.
    • Study and review time is unclear; seems rather high for a core education class.
• (R) BI 103 Human Biology: The Human Body, Health and Disease – Scientific Inquiry
  • BI 101, 103 and Z 102 were sent back as a group for the following reasons: 1) more detail on how the class teaches the iterative and cyclical process of science in the description of Learning Outcome (LO) 2 in the syllabi and CIM; 2) selection of specific assignments for the essential assignments (e.g., a specific lab report or quiz, rather than ALL labs or quizzes); 3) removal of the statement about BI 101, Z 102, and BI 103 being used to meet Scientific Inquiry requirements from the syllabus; 4) greater clarity on what makes these general education classes versus major-preparation classes; 5) clarity on whether these three courses act as a series or separately, as statements in the syllabi appear to contradict themselves on this; and 6) clarification of the number of hours required for the class across all three syllabi and that 12 hours/week should INCLUDE study and review time, rather than exclude it.
    • For critique 1, sufficient information was provided
    • Cascades was the only one to sufficiently addressed the critique about essential assignments.
    • Cascades did not remove the statement regarding using the BI and Z courses to fulfill the Scientific Inquiry requirements. Applies to critique 5, as well.
    • Some work was done but there are still some issues that remain.
    • It does seem like they addressed concerns about study and review time.
• (R) Z 102 Animal Biology: Genes, Behavior and Evolution of Life – Scientific Inquiry
  • BI 101, 103 and Z 102 were sent back as a group for the following reasons: 1) more detail on how the class teaches the iterative and cyclical process of science in the description of Learning Outcome (LO) 2 in the syllabi and CIM; 2) selection of specific assignments for the essential assignments (e.g., a specific lab report or quiz, rather than ALL labs or quizzes); 3) removal of the statement about BI 101, Z 102, and BI 103 being used to meet Scientific Inquiry requirements from the syllabus; 4) greater clarity on what makes these general education classes versus major-preparation classes; 5) clarity on whether these three courses act as a series or separately, as statements in the syllabi appear to contradict themselves on this; and 6) clarification of the number of hours required for the class across all three syllabi and that 12 hours/week should INCLUDE study and review time, rather than exclude it.
  • Much of the same issues as BI 101 and 103.

Action: Motion to rollback BI 101, BI 103 and Z 102: 1) clarify essential assignments for Ecampus and Corvallis; 2) Remove the advising language from Cascades syllabus; 3) change 11-13+ hours to average 12 hours for Corvallis; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• (R) NMC 101 Intro to New Media Communications – Social Science
  • Concerns were addressed appropriately.

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

• (R) ATS 342 Frozen: Our Icey Planet in Climate and Societal Context – Seeking Solutions
  • Sent back to clarify how they will be assessing teamwork.
    • The proposer wrote back with multiple paragraphs breaking down how they will be assessing students on their collaboration and teamwork.

Action: Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• (R) GEO 100 Natural Disasters: Hollywood Versus Reality – Scientific Inquiry
  • Was sent back to request that the description of essential assignment to match on CIM and on syllabi.
  • Everything now aligns and is consistent.

Motion to approve; seconded. The motion passes with 10 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• HST 280 The Transatlantic Slave Trade – Arts & Humanities – Global
  • Will be reviewed during one of the summer meetings.