4) What changes in the General Education program would allow it to better serve your department, our students, and the University as a whole? (set 5)

It would help to let students know the backgrounds of the professors teaching in General Education courses; perhaps, advisors should make more of an effort to inform students about the specialties of professors who teach in General Education and encourage students to think about this more thoroughly.

There might be an alternative in Arts 310 where sections can focus on a selection of masterpieces in each of the art forms.  A stable canon and syllabus for Arts 310 would be helpful to the students.

Perhaps we could award more credit for the Arts Lab component.

A general science course would allow the Natural Sciences to better serve our students within the General Education program.

We need to think through the issue of whether we should offer our General Education curriculum as "core" only, "menu" or distribution only, or a combination of both.

Pursuing a completely core-oriented focus might deprive students of exploring other disciplines.

Perhaps we should pursue a topics-oriented curriculum for satisfying the Natural Science, Social Science, and Arts components.  This approach might allow faculty from the Arts, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences to work up courses on a given topic, while employing the disciplinary approaches of their respective fields.  This sort of approach might improve the integration of Arts, Social Sciences, Natural Sciences into the overall curriculum, and promote the kind of faculty integration that we have in Humanities and are aiming for in Arts and Ideas. Curricular changes could be structured around topics; scientists, social sciences, and artists could work together on a single course. A potential problem arises, though: What about breadth? Wouldn't a topic-oriented approach be overly focused, too narrow?  A topics-oriented component for General Education might be a way for us to teach students from multiple disciplines and to give them the opportunity to explore how disciplines understand a given issue differently or from a different vantage point.

We need more faculty development so that experts in specific fields can teach other instructors about the works being covered in General Education core courses such as Arts 310 and the Humanities.  This provides a faculty with the expertise necessary to teach effectively.

We need to do two things:  1) make more linkages between arts and ideas and the humanities; 2) find ways to clarify to students what a liberal arts education is.

We suggest the following:

1. The Humanities Program and Topics in Science.

The Humanities Program should include topics that would attract more scientists to teach in the program. For example, a topic such as global warming overlaps with all areas of science. Otherwise, the subject matter in the Humanities Program tends to be far too removed from science, discouraging science faculty to participate in the program. It takes a lot of time and energy to prepare for teaching outside one's field.

2. Humanities: Geography and Current Events

Geography is important. It should be combined with current issues. Perhaps the humanities gen-ed core can be reconfigured to allow for a course at the sophomore or junior level to deal with these issues. It need not be a course in sequence.

3. Electives and the Core Experience.

Students should be given some choice in general education, including humanities. We tend to overdo the core a bit. Students should also have electives. The gen-ed requirement increased in 1986. And in one department for example, a couple of more courses had to be added to the major due to requirements of the disciplinary national professional society. In this particular case the major needs to use up the correlate courses also. Therefore, students have virtually no electives left.

However, it is not realistic to do away with a core completely. Perhaps 9-14 hours in the core of arts and humanities would be better than the 20 we have now. The CORE is unique to UNCA - some Humanities Core should be preserved.

4. General Education and Mathematics.

Students have trouble with basic mathematics involving simple arithmetic. Math is very weak. The gen-ed math course should have an emphasis on practical applications so that when students take gen-ed courses in science, they can at least handle arithmetic, percentages, and extremely basic algebra. UNCA may also want to consider establishing a clearly-defined minimal math requirement for entry and provide a remedial math course for those that cannot meet the minimal skills level.

5. General-Ed Science, Faculty Resources, and the Small Department.

A science requirement with 8 hours provides for a good science education. The different labs tailored to the different science courses currently offered allows students to see deep connections between theory and experiment. However, there is serious difficulty for small departments in offering both science gen-ed courses. One full-time faculty member equivalent is needed to offer a nominal one section in the five-hour course with lab and two sections of the three-hour course. In a three-person department, this is 33%; for a four-person department, this amounts to 25% of the department. Science departments should be able to contribute to gen-ed in different ways. For example, one department may offer 4 or 5 sections of the three-hour course, including an evening section, while another might have many lab sections for the five-hour course.

 We need to encourage (1) more retention-based study in general education curriculum; (2) more continuity in the general education curriculum--i.e. across multiple courses pursuing similar goals.

We should consider giving students much more role in designing their own curriculum, perhaps by beginning with a freshman seminar in which, with faculty advising, they design their own liberal education, including their general education courses.  This would require something at the far end like a capstone seminar or the presentation of a portfolio.