Minutes

1. Presentation to Board of Trustees—The presentation to the Board of Trustees was, according to Chancellor Mullen and VCAA Padilla, a success. Dr Katz briefly discussed the history of general education and general education reform in the U.S., and then discussed contemporary trends in the field and what the UNCA revision is considering. Several of the Trustees asked questions and offered helpful suggestions.

2. Focus groups—Dr Katz has sent out the schedule of the focus groups already; he needs one or two people to take notes at each event. The schedule is:

Thursday, 20 Feb General Education Focus Group: Diversity in the Curriculum, 4:30 pm in the Laurel Forum

Friday, 21 Feb General Education Focus Group: Liberal Studies and Senior Colloquia, 4:30 pm in the Laurel Forum

Monday, 24 Feb General Education Focus Group: Writing Intensive Courses, 4:30 pm in the Laurel Forum

Tuesday, 25 Feb General Education Focus Group: Topical Cluster Approaches to Liberal Studies and General Education, 4:15 pm in the Laurel

Forum

Friday, 28 Feb General Education Focus Group: Quantitative Intensive Courses, 12:15 pm in the Laurel Forum

3. Implementation issues—Katz and Pat McClellan have begun to discuss some basic implementation and tracking details. It was agreed, however, that technical concerns should not guide the revision process.

4. Convergences and Divergences—The Design Team agreed that if at all possible we would try to come to consensus on the remaining 7 areas of difference. We agreed that it would be best to separate architecture from criteria at this stage. It might be the case, for example, that criteria are best discussed at the faculty focus groups, so that we can get the guidance of our colleagues on such specific details.

This session was very lively and challenging. The team worked in a very focused manner, staying an additional hour and a half past its scheduled adjournment, coming to an end at 7 pm, having resolved the remaining points of difference. Dr Katz thanked everyone for their commitment, their energy and their willingness to make sacrifices.

The next step will be to take the Draft Proposal for the Integrative Liberal Studies Program (a tentative title) to the GERTF as a whole for discussion and critique. Following this, we will present the model to the faculty as a whole.