[YSU-Academic-Senate] Important update From Academic Senate: General Education

[Edmund C Ickert]

Good afternoon everyone,

There has been follow-up regarding the general education topic since last meeting 2 days ago.  I am sharing information provided by Senate Chair Chet Cooper and General Education director Dr Adam Earnheardt.

First, Dr Chet Cooper has requested this message be forwarded to the senate body:


"Dear Colleagues,



At this week’s Senate meeting there was some concern that the body would not have adequate time to respond to the time frame for reviewing the newly proposed evaluation rubric for general education courses.  Below is the statement I read at the Senate meeting from Dr. Earnheardt that set a time frame of one week to respond.



"Following the charge set forth by the Senate Executive Committee, the 75 courses put forth by the General Education Committee are now considered provisional general education courses and will be available for students to select for the Spring 2025 semester. These 75 courses may be appealed for change or removal using a new, revised evaluation rubric that was drafted by the full general education committee. In the spirit of shared governance and transparency, this new rubric will be open for public comment following today's Senate meeting for a period of one week. For purposes of general education committee membership, the Senate's Governance Committee has ensured that the membership of the General Education Committee is complete and representative of the University community."



The revised rubric is included in this message.



It was decided that Senate members will have until Monday, January 6, 2025 to respond.  Responses should be sent simultaneously to the following four persons: Martha Pallante, Edmund Ickert, Chet Cooper, and Adam Earnheardt.  A report will regarding any possible modifications to the rubric will be reported to the Senate at its meeting on January 8, 2025.



Regards,



Chet Cooper, Chair

Academic Senate"

Dr Adam Earnheardt has forwarded an update regarding gen ed which also includes a link to the rubric.  Please see the following message below:

"Based on recommendations made at the October meeting as well as suggestions made by members of the general education committee, the rubric for reviewing courses has been revised.  This revision includes:

1. removing the "DF rate" category.
2. clarifying "class size" and "student interest/need" categories.
3. clarifying "syllabus" category - syllabi will be reviewed, but not as subject matter experts, but to determine adherence to common syllabus (this was discussed following the meeting and addresses the subject matter expert concerns).
4. expanding categories to include YSU general education domain alignment and OT36 learning outcome/domain alignment.
5. adjusted the delivery category to exclude natural science lab concerns (labs are exempt from online delivery in cases where delivery of the course in an on-ground lab is required).
6. adjusted for clarity the definitions for "course offering frequency" to "Offered multiple times per semester," "Offered once per semester," and "Offered once per academic year (or less)."

A note on syllabi: at a minimum, all course syllabi are required to follow the "required elements only" of the common syllabus. All programs who wished to have their courses recertified were already required to submit syllabi. The committee has retained those syllabi. This was meant to be another data point for helping us make decisions.

Additionally, application of the rubric will not summarily penalize new courses (new courses approved and launched within last two years).

Finally, it's important to note that all courses have, at some point, already been approved for inclusion in the general education program. This process is not about determining the relative academic strength and fit of a particular course with a general education domain. That work has already been completed in the past.  This process is meant to use data and other information to cut down the number of available general education courses and to expand the list of 75 to 90.

This is the link to the revised rubric:

[https://res.cdn.office.net/assets/mail/file-icon/png/docx_16x16.png]Gen Ed Recertification Rubric.docx<https://ysuprod.sharepoint.com/:w:/s/GeneralEducationCommittee/EZZDl4VS_BBIjw8pRL9j7I8B38PXx7Qqp2FJL2CAn5R9Ow>

Comments should be directed to Adam Earnheardt at acearnheardt at ysu.edu. All comments will be shared with General Education Committee members.
"

I will be sure to provide any additional updates as they come.  Have a wonderful weekend!


Edmund C Ickert, PT, DPT, PhD, CLT

Certified Lymphedema Therapist

Assistant Professor, Physical Therapy

Department of Graduate Studies in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences

Secretary, Academic Senate

Youngstown State University

Youngstown, OH 44555

Cushwa Hall, B326

P: 330-941-1326

F: 330-941-1898
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