GE Committee Minutes
November 12, 2007

Present at meeting: Mary McGuire; Joy Hendrick; Nancy Aumann; Susana Davidenko; David Miller; Donna West; Ron Conklin; Merle Canfield

Minutes from October 29, 2007 � Minutes were approved unanimously.

Proposal from Exercise Science was given to us to read before our next meeting so we can vote on it.

Merle Canfield indicated that most of what is in his new proposal is in the current plan and can be done this year. The current assessment plan indicates that essays will be used or assessment instruments are �To Be Determined (TBD).� He wants to use implement his new proposal for the GE categories of �American History, The Arts, and Foreign Language which have TBD as an option in the assessment plan.

Merle provided the committee with a rubric and the objectives for American History. Along with the objectives was a sample essay question that might be used to determine if students can meet the objectives. Much discussion followed.

The committee thought the rubric was very good. The phrasing of a suitable question to gauge all 3 objectives will be difficult. Merle said it does not have to be one question or even one test. It will be open to the faculty member to decide.

There was some discussion about the difficulty of using objective questions as a measure. More back and forth discussion ensued about which measure will be best for American History. Merle said he has talked to cChairs from some departments about the possibility of allowing the faculty members to use a measure that they would determine. The Chairs supported the idea.

If using multiple choice questions to match the outcomes for a course, a single test that measures all outcomes can be used or multiple tests measuring the individual outcomes can be used. In either case, the results will need to be reported and verified.

A proposal to allow Merle to move forward based on the current plan that indicates �Essay or TBD� and �for implementimplementation �it in the spring with was voted on. Proposal passed.

Faculty from American History, The Arts, and Foreign Language will be able to use the current measure, some other existing measure or one to be determined.

It was also suggested that Merle come up with 2 or 3 examples of how a new measure can be used to gauge the objectives when he meets with the departments again. This should help him gain support for this move.

Meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Ron Conklin