03-4 Process for Reviewing General Education - Approved 11/12/03

Go back to the Policy Table

1) A task force will consider the goals and objectives of the GE program, review the evaluation of the current program found in the last WASC report, and develop an appropriate GE Program.

The process will include the objective of implementing "Recommendation 3" of the 2003 Graduation Rates Task Force Report, which states: "The total number of units in General Education (including Title V) will be reduced to 48 units." (Supporting reasons are attached to this document.)

2) Using the following process, aGE Task Force will be formed to develop a plan for revising general education:

• By December 5, 2003, the faculty of each college (AMC, B&E, ECS, EDU, HHD, HUM, SBS, S&M) and the Library will elect a representative to the GE Task Force.
• EPC will appoint three people from among the membership of EPC, with no more than one EPC member from any one college.
• Associated students will appoint a student member.
• The Provost will appoint a staff member who has advising responsibilities.
• The chair of the GE Task Force will be a faculty member elected by and from the members of the Task Force.
• The Associate Vice President for Undergraduate Studies will provide staff support and will serve as a non-voting member of the Task Force.

3) The following are among the criteria to be used for the process:

• The Task Force members will study current national theory and practice in general education and current requirements and practice within California higher education.
• All meetings of the Task Force will be open meetings.
• The Task Force will examine the learning outcomes of the general education program and revise as needed and will describe how the recommended program will achieve those outcomes.
• The Task Force will consult widely with the campus community. Specifically, the Task Force shall hold open hearings for faculty, staff, and students. After the Task Force has developed a preliminary plan, academic departments and colleges will be given an opportunity to provide written comments. EPC and the Faculty Senate will be consulted regarding the preliminary plan and will identify issues they wish for the Task Force to address.
• The final report of the Task Force will include:

1. a statement of the goals and objectives of the GE Program
2. the recommended curriculum
3. a description of the process followed to develop these recommendations, and
4. a rationale that supports the recommendations and that addresses the concerns raised at the hearings and by the departments, colleges, and the Faculty Senate.

4) The GE Task Force will request of the Provost, in consultation with the Provost Council, a Two-Phase analysis of the fiscal impact of revising General Education.

First Phase:

The Deans and the Provost will examine the funding basis for the current general education program and will address resource implications for all departments.

Second Phase:

After the Task Force has developed a proposed general education plan, the Deans and the Provost will design a resource-allocation strategy for implementation of the new program. The implementation strategy will be forwarded to EPC and to the Senate as an addendum to the curricular proposal.

5) The proposed timeline

Fall 2003

• Target, criteria, process and timeline approved by EPC and Faculty Senate
• Task Force selected
• Phase I of fiscal analysis begins

Spring 2004

• Task Force begins its work
• Phase I of fiscal analysis completed and shared with campus community

Fall 2004

• Task Force completes its work
• Phase II of the fiscal analysis

Spring 2005

• Review and approval by EPC and Faculty Senate

Summary: This proposal would bring the CSUN general education program into alignment with the lower-division, transfer curriculum and would fulfill Title V requirements for general education.

Supporting Reasons to Approve a Process for Reviewing General Education:

CSUN's GE/Title V program is the largest in the California State University system. CSUN's GE/Title V program totals 58 units. This includes 52 units distributed among six areas of

Nine (9) of these units, (from at least two areas/sections) must be upper division units, and may not be taken sooner than the semester in which junior standing (60 units) is achieved. The Title V requirement can be fulfilled with an additional six (6) units.

The program is complex, difficult to explain in a clear and concise manner, and may provide an incentive for students to turn to local community colleges to complete a clearer, shorter general education program.

For example, the Intersegmental General Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) requires 39 lower division units for transfer students who are certified. A gross inequity exists between the number of lower-division GE units required of native CSUN students and transfer students.

This policy change will push the University toward examining the content and desired outcomes of general education. A reduction in general education will provide the students with greater course choices while pursuing a liberal education, focus deeper into non-major disciplines, and add minors to their degree objectives.

In a study of the over 35,000 students who graduated from CSUN between 1992 and 2000, those students who started at CSUN as freshmen graduated with an average of almost eight more units than did our upper-division transfer population. This difference is consistent with a larger general education program for our freshmen as compared with the transfer students. In the Fall 2001 student survey, 36.3% of the respondents identified units in general education (after work and financial pressures and units in the major) as a significant obstacle to graduation in a timely manner.

Go back to the Policy Table