3) What does not work in our current General Education program? (set 5)

Sometimes students may not see what is different in the General Education courses from what they've done in high school.

There is not enough depth in the General Education courses.

The students don't know enough about what General Education and the liberal arts are. Arts 310 is in a sense becoming more like Humanities in the way we talk about it on campus; that is, it is coming to be seen as relevant, just as the institution considers the Humanities Program to be.

The current General Education program needs clear details as to what we mean by "General Education and Liberal arts", to specify exactly who we are, what we are as well as what we do.   We must know what our identity is.  We need to be able to speak about the General Education and Liberal Arts curriculum with a single voice.  If we could do this, General Education could become a more effective marketing tool.

In the Sciences, there is too much narrowness within the specific disciplines.  There are limited opportunities for General Education innovation in the Natural Sciences.

Currently the Arts 310, as it is taught, is limited by event availability.  This makes it difficult to plan ahead.

We need more interdisciplinarity in courses beyond the Humanities and Arts programs.

We must not lose sight of the skills component of General Education courses.  The learning of skills should not be lost or ignored as we cover content areas.

There is really no place where the curriculum gives the students an opportunity to reflect on how  general education has altered their perceptions, behaviors, values, and beliefs.  We should be asking students what has changed and how these changes will likely manifest in their lives.

From student feedback, it is apparent that some of them don’t know why they have to do it and don’t see its relevance.  In fairness, these are often the same students who have unresolved personal issues.  Often they don’t see the connection between general education and life.  It is also important to mention that there are students who are thrilled by their experience in their general education classes.

Our assessment process forces us to draw assessment conclusions too quickly.  Some key evaluations may be more relevant ten to twenty years from the time the student takes the course. 

Service learning should incorporated into the general education component.

We need to ask some questions about (1) whether the choices available to students, and maybe the choices made by students, are really serving students' needs; (2) whether there should be more variety in what counts for general education, perhaps mostly in the social science area, along with examining the issue of how such decisions would be made; (3) how diversity may be infused in the general educaiton program