Present: Faculty—Bruce, Dohse, Hardy, Konz, Krumpe, Lee, McKnight, Pons, Ruiz, Katz; Student—Spencer; Alumni--Perry

1. Semester report to the Faculty Senate (1.24.02)—Dr. Katz reviewed his report to the Faculty Senate, which GERTF is mandated to provide twice yearly as stipulated in the Sense of the Senate Resolution authorizing the work of the Task Force. The details of the report can be found in the minutes of the Faculty Senate for 1.24.02.

2. Discussion of APC Report on Math requirement (with original report submitted to APC)—Dr. Til Dohse and Mr. Peter Kendrick were present to help GERTF members with questions about the program and to comment on curricular directions the Department of Mathematics might be interested in pursuing. Dr. Dohse began by providing a brief history of the Math requirement, noting that originally there was only one general education math course offered for all UNCA students. The department staffed 30 sections to satisfy student need for the course. It was clear to those teaching in the course that this approach was not working. Math majors were bored in the class; students from other departments were not getting the particular content they would need later in their careers here; and faculty were generally unhappy with the course structure and content. These problems led to a revision of the requirement, which produced the current course options.

The number of students taking each of the 5 math options (based on a five-year average) is as follows: Math 155—180 students; Math 163—128 students; Math 167—73 students; Math 191—209 students; Stat 185—342 students. One important point is that, more recently, Math 167 enrollment is on the rise, so that currently about 140 students per year are taking the course. It is also important to note that, presently, UNCA students on average take 2 math courses.

The Department is interested in considering the elimination of Math 163, in order to simplify the scheduling and advising, and to improve the quality of math instruction for the greatest number of students. Because it duplicates high school material, Math 163 is considered the weakest math offering among general education options; for this reason, it also may have the toughest time meeting SACS criteria for fulfilling the general education requirement. In eliminating Math 163, the department would be redirecting students to Math 155, 167, or Stats 185. The only departments allowing Math 163 as an option are Music, Multimedia, and Environmental Studies; moreover, the indications now are that most students in these departments are taking the higher-level courses to satisfy the math requirement anyway. The elimination of Math 163 is merely an option being considered: as yet, there is no departmental consensus.

3. VCAA Search update—Dr. Nelms was away, tending to her duties on the VCAA search, but she wanted to report that the search committee is making good progress and that the candidates are all aware that we are reviewing General Education with a view toward revision. Many are making General Education a discussion point when contacted by search committee members. This is a good sign.

4. Listening projects—The reports remaining include: Atmospheric Science, Music, Psychology, Art, Drama, Math, Literature and Language, Political Science, Health and Fitness, Biology, Sociology. After writing up these reports and receiving them back from the departments following their review of the drafts, please forward them to Katz as Word attachments. Thanks for the hard work on this project.

5. Website additions—Katz reported on a new set of links added to the website, this time on "Resources on the Assessment of General Education Curricula." There are some excellent introductory materials on this new page, including some devoted to concrete models for assessment. Katz is working up pages of links on Science Education and General Education; the Arts and General Education; Service Learning; Learning Communities; and Community-Based and Problem-Based Learning approaches. If you know of resources on any of these topics and would like them included on the site, please email the links to Katz.

6. Our next meetings will be 13 Feb, 20 Feb, 27 Feb, at 4:30 pm, in the Red Oak Room. The agendas for the next two meetings are as follows:

a. 13 Feb, the Humanities Program;
b. 20 Feb, the Social Sciences requirement.

Also, remember to keep the Wednesday, 4:30-5:30 timeslot clear throughout this semester and next year.