Excerpted from the GERTF SACS Enhancement Report:

Resource Allocations and/or Structural Changes Necessary for General Education Reform

As observed in the directive recommendations for curricular revision, part C of the GERTF SACS Enhancement Report, the charge of the GERTF differs from those of other SACS Enhancement subcommittees. As a consequence, the GERTF has shaped these recommendations as a set of directives to guide its own future work.

The GERTF should:

· Discuss creating an institutional structure for the continued development, maintenance, oversight, and assessment of the General Education program at UNCA. GERTF will examine a range of issues including, but not limited to, directorship, budget, support services, and faculty development.

· GERTF should explore the development of a policy for creating and authorizing future General Education Review Task Forces; it should also consider policy regarding task force membership, frequency of meetings, the addition of new members, the rotation of members off the task force, and the method for reporting its work to campus constituencies. A recommendation regarding such policy should be submitted to the Faculty Senate for their consideration.

· Explore methods for creating an institutional structure to promote faculty development in General Education. Explore ways of creating an institutional structure to reward contributions to the General Education program, so that such participation figures prominently in the tenure, promotion, and post-tenure review processes. Study the impact of the tenure and PTR criteria on the General Education program.

· Explore options for establishing a regular timetable for future reviews and revisions of the General Education curriculum. As a part of this examination, GERTF should consider future re-accreditation schedules and APC reviews of ongoing General Education practice.

· Study the issue of how faculty and students are socialized into UNCA’s General Education culture.

· Study the implications of FTE ceilings for any redesign and implementation of a General Education curriculum. Explore how best to use adjuncts in the General Education program, in order to maximize the students’ learning experience and to create the smaller class sizes central to liberal arts education. Examine how best to integrate adjunct faculty into General Education courses.

· Examine options for marketing the General Education program to constituencies that include, but are not limited to, department chairs and program directors, students, administrators, potential University benefactors, and other members of local, regional, and state communities.