Core Education Committee

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

Course Reviews

• BI 101 – Environmental Biology: Ecology, Conservation, Global Change – Scientific Inquiry
• BI 103 – Human Biology: The Human Body, Health and Disease – Scientific Inquiry
  • Both courses had similar issues, so it was decided by the Core Education Committee (CEC) to review and vote on them together.
  • Course Specific Learning Outcomes (CSLOs) – the cyclical nature of science is not evident in course content.
  • There is a paragraph in BI 101 and BI 103 (and Z 102) syallbi informing students that they can fulfill their entire Core Education requirement by taking these classes. The CEC has two concerns with this:
    • Advising information should not be listed in a syllabus – faculty can make no guarantees to the accuracy of that information as policies can change.
    • Concerns the idea that the syllabus offers a creative interpretation of committee policy.
  • Both courses are well put together, otherwise, but there were some concerns that they were pre-professional and part of a series, despite the renaming of BI 102 to Z 102.
  • No specific essential assignment is listed on any of the syllabi.
    • Quizzes are listed but the frequency of them varies from syllabus to syllabus.
  • A $100 textbook is required so it is not an Open Educational Resource (OER) but the reasoning behind it is well justified. However, they indicate elsewhere that there are no course fees.
  • Hours of work between modalities are unclear.

Action: Motion to send back both BI 101 and BI 103 for the following: didn’t see the cyclical nature of science, a. minimal detail and b. doesn’t show the interactive dimension of science; need a consistent standard for that level of science; clarify essential assignment/all quizzes? both specific and which modalities; advising information should not be in the syllabus, particularly as it concerns the idea that the syllabus offers a creative interpretation of committee policy; are these all pre-professional?; are these really a series?; hours of work need clarification between campus modalities and why those hours of work are different. Seconded. The motion passes with 9 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• ENSC 210 – Environmental Earth Sciences – Scientific Inquiry
  • Changing the designator to reflect the breadth of course content. Originally GEO 221 and despite the change is still heavily geology focused.
  • No pre-requisite listed but they suggest an understanding of high school level math and chemistry.
  • Descriptions of course activities in CIM are the same for each learning outcome (LO).
  • Each category had the same essential assignment they did uniquely respond to each question.
    • Responses for the third category could be better. Assessment would like more detail, but the current response is sufficient.
  • While Ecampus does not require a lab kit, students can email the instructor by Monday of week 1 to request samples be mailed to them. While helpful, this is also quite short turnaround to reach out to the instructor.
  • There is mention of a field trip on all the syllabi but no description of what it entails on any of them.

Action: Motion to send back for confirmation of using the reflection as essential assignment for all three LOs; rationale for changing designator and how it relates to GEO offerings; and explanation of the field trip for the Ecampus version; seconded. The motion passes with 8 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• OC 202 – Introduction to Biological Oceanography – Scientific Inquiry (R)
  • All requested revisions were made, apart from updating the course description in CIM. It has been updated on the syllabus.

Action: Motion to send back to update in CIM; seconded. The motion passes with 8 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 1 abstention.

• Z 102 – Animal Biology: Genes, Behavior and Evolution of Life – Scientific Inquiry
  • Originally BI 102 but changing it to Z 102 because it focuses on animals, and they did not want students to think biology courses needed to be taken in a specific order.
    • If it’s being redesignated, then it’s no longer part of the series? Clarify with unit.
  • Similarly to BI 101 and BI 103, no specific essential assignment is listed.
  • Cascades does not have an OER but rationale for the decision has been provided.
  • Also includes the advisory statement BI 101 and BI 103 included regarding the Core Education Scientific Inquiry category.
  • Hours of work between modalities are unclear.

Action: Motion to send back for: specify essential assignments; remove advising related guidance from the syllabus; and change the time expectations to be 12 hours including time spent reviewing materials and studying; seconded. The motion passes with 9 votes in favor, 0 votes in opposition and 0 abstentions.

• PPOL 201 – Introduction to Public Policy – Social Science (R)
  • The CEC opted to postpone discussion of this item until next week so they could discuss Policies.

Policies

• Multi-course WICs
  • The CEC does not have a policy but has been in the practice of allowing this to happen; no guidelines for review of multicourse WICs have previously existed.
    • Proposed policy: WIC Learning Outcomes and Criteria can be achieved by combining multiple courses in a series required for the major. When this is the case, any change to any of the involved courses triggers a review of all involved courses together. The WIC requirement will not be completed until all involved courses have been passed.

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

• Combining Beyond II with other Core Education categories
  • Proposed policy: Beyond OSU II can be combined with either Beyond OSU I, or WIC, or Difference, Power, and Oppression (DPO)-Advanced. Substantial evidence must be provided that LOs and Criteria for both categories are fully addressed.
    • Does combining it with another category add to contact hours?
    • Does combining it with another category it add to faculty workload?
      • Workload concerns
    • How did factor in when courses were dual-listed in the past?
    • College leadership noted that 0-credit courses didn’t generate income or revenue for the faculty teaching these courses and they have courses that meet the criteria that exist in other categories.
    • 7-10 contact hours
    • From the Learning Outcomes, Criteria & Rationale (LOCR) document: Require students to gain insights through participating in experiences that can include but are not limited to: site visits, career fairs, job shadowing, informational interviews, internships, undergraduate research, alternative spring break, or other experiential learning opportunities, capstone experiences.
    • What “career readiness” can look like is quite broad, and an experience is outlined as meeting that requirement.
    • Discuss more when the DPO ex-officio is available