3.5.1 Competencies in General Education

Commission Standard: The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.

Status: In Compliance

Rationale: Western regards general education as essential and has identified specific goals for its general education program under two broad headings:

Academic Skills

Proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking

Competence in a language other than the native language

The ability to understand and apply mathematical skills and concepts

Knowledge, Perspectives, and Critical Analysis

A historical perspective and an understanding of connections between past and present

An appreciation of the complexity and variety of the world's cultures

An understanding of the scientific method and a knowledge of natural science and its relevance in our lives

An understanding of science and human behavior

An understanding of factors that enhance health, well-being, and quality of life

The general education program itself works toward these goals by requiring baccalaureate students to take 44 hours from a range of designated courses in six areas—organization and communication of ideas         (12 hours), humanities (9 hours), social and behavioral sciences (9 hours), natural sciences and mathematics (9 hours), world cultures and American cultural diversity (3 hours), and health and wellness (2 hours). Included among this work are 18 hours of required courses in English composition, a second language, history, public speaking, and mathematics.

Not all of the ten goals for baccalaureate general education can be covered in the minimum of 15 hours devoted to the general education component of associate degree programs. As a result, the General Education Committee settled on seven of the ten in constructing a general education policy for associate degrees.

Academic Skills

Proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking

The ability to understand and apply mathematical skills and concepts

Knowledge, Perspectives, and Critical Analysis

A historical perspective and an understanding of connections between past and present

An understanding of the scientific method and a knowledge of natural science and its relevance in our lives

An understanding of science and human behavior

As a letter from Dr. Robert Dietle, the general education coordinator, explains, the committee felt that these goals could be reasonably served by a fifteen-hour requirement in which students must take Freshman English for the organization and communication of ideas category and then three hours in humanities, six hours in social and behavioral sciences, and three hours in natural sciences. Because the electives among these requirements are drawn from the baccalaureate list of electives all the hours transfer as general education for students wishing to go on to a four-year degree program.

A recent general education exercise was to construct a matrix showing which of the university's general education offerings support each of these goals and to demonstrate that no student completing the program would miss out on work toward achieving any one of them.

The university assesses the effectiveness of its general education program from two perspectives. The first is curriculum review. In 1998 the provost established the General Education Review Committee charged with reassessing the curriculum. Committee members participated in national meetings, compared Western's requirements with those of several benchmarks, circulated draft plans, and conducted open meetings for faculty, staff, and students. Once their report was submitted, it received further internal review by the University Senate General Education Committee and the Senate itself before being adopted in January 2001.

The committee called for improved leadership on general education and an ongoing review of general education courses. Accordingly, the university appointed a general education coordinator, and the General Education Committee established an annual review process focusing each year on one of the six general education categories. The committee requires every department offering a course in the category to provide evidence that it meets a general education goal. In conjunction with the department and college curriculum committees, the General Education Committee also reviews courses proposed for general education to assure that they advance general education goals.

As a result of the committee's work and these additional review efforts, the university has eliminated a clumsy and confusing system of non-categorical requirements (students had to take a certain number of courses with an emphasis on composition, ethics, cultural diversity, and so on), and 56 courses so far have been dropped from our general education offerings, partly to make room for 35 better focused additions. These changes are summarized in a table prepared by the Potter College Dean's Office.

Western also assesses general education on the basis of student performance. Some documentation comes from surveys. The National Survey of Student Engagement gauges student attitudes and activities, as does the Western Kentucky Student Engagement Survey. Most significant, however, is a series of course-imbedded assessment mechanisms. Still in its embryonic stages, this process is being developed in conjunction with academic departments and the University Outcomes Assessment Committee. The General Education Committee identifies goals to be assessed for a particular year and works with departments to develop strategies for assessing student progress toward meeting them. At the end of the assessment period, departments report results and indicate changes they intend to make as a result of their findings. The committee and the general education coordinator provide a written response to the provost and the dean of Potter College, who is designated to work with the provost on general education matters.

For the initial cycle, the General Education Committee proposed assessing the following goals: proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking; competence in a language other than the native language; and ability to understand and apply mathematical skills. The departments of Communication, English, Modern Languages and Intercultural Studies, and Mathematics tested assessment instruments during spring 2003 and reported to the General Education Committee. Now they have revised their processes and begun a two-year cycle of gathering assessment data for 2003-2005.