Liberal Education and
the Drive to Recertify
by Leslie Schiff
The new requirements for liberal education were approved by the Twin Cities Faculty Senate on April 3, 2008. Liberal education courses represent a piece of the curriculum through which students may meet the Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). At the end of the summer term, 2010, all current certifications for liberal education will expire and courses will need to be recertified as part of the new "Core" and "Theme" requirements.
For students entering in the fall of 2010 there will be seven Cores:
- Arts/Humanities
- Historical Perspectives
- Literature
- Mathematical Thinking
- Social Science
- Physical Science
- Biological Science
and five Themes:
- Civic Life and Ethics
- Diversity and Social Justice in the US
- The Environment
- Global Perspectives
- Technology and Society
Briefly, the goals of the Core are to introduce students to the diverse ways of knowing that have characterized human societies and civilizations and that characterize our world today; reveal the complexity of information and help students appreciate the ways in which knowledge is culturally and intellectually constructed and changes over time; provide opportunities for students to experience first-hand the methods of specific disciplines across the spectrum of the University; and demonstrate that "knowing" is an active, ongoing process.
In contrast, Themes should challenge students to consider compelling contemporary issues that are at the heart of decisions they will have to make as citizens and as human beings.
Although every course is different, we expect that Core courses, since they explicitly address "ways of knowing," are likely to contribute to at least two of the SLOs - identify, define, and solve problems; locate and critically evaluate information - acknowledging that there are multiple ways of knowing and that knowledge may be socially constructed. Theme courses, like Core courses, are likely to contribute to the first two SLOs, and they may also address the final SLO, requiring that students by the time they graduate - have acquired skills for effective citizenship and lifelong learning.
All current liberal education courses need to be recertified to determine if they meet the new criteria, which go into effect for students entering the University in Fall 2010. This process is currently underway and requires faculty to submit both 1) an Electronic Course Authorization System (ECAS) proposal, and 2) an electronic syllabus. Members of the Council on Liberal Education read both the syllabus and the proposal. Some redundancy is encouraged, but students are the intended audience for the syllabus, whereas members of the Council are the sole audience for the proposal. Both the ECAS proposal and the syllabus must demonstrate in explicit terms that the course fulfills the specific requirements for the Core and/or Theme for which it is being submitted, as well as the general characteristics of Cores and Themes.
Faculty members submitting courses for recertification should not assume that the goals of their courses are obvious. A proposal for a course on Shakespeare submitted for the "Literature Core," for example, should not assume that it is obvious that this is a literature course. Rather, it is important to explain in both the syllabus and the proposal how the course fulfills its mission as a liberal education course about literature as described in the Guidelines. It may be helpful to remember that Council on Liberal Education members, like students in liberal education courses, come from units across the University. The Council's aim is to ensure that liberal education courses meet the University's goals and that these goals are clear to students and to faculty members. The CLE Guidelines, Final Report, and other materials are available at: http://www.umn.edu/usenate/committees/cle.html.
Already from our experience reviewing the most recent round of proposals, we can give our colleagues some helpful advice. Here is a list of the top three reasons proposals were not approved:
1. The syllabus does not explicitly state how the course contributes to a liberal education. In some cases, this material is evident in the course proposal, but the syllabus itself lacks the self-consciousness about liberal education that the Council expects in order for a course to meet the new guidelines.
2. A proposed course only partially meets the criteria. The specific criteria for each of the 12 liberal education requirements were crafted as essential course components. Courses are also expected to conform to the general guidelines for liberal education courses and have the characteristics that are common to all Cores and/or Themes.
3. A course proposed for a theme does not fully integrate the theme into the course (see above).
We are in the process of developing a Web site with FAQs related to the course proposal and review process. Watch your e-mail for an announcement of this site. In the meantime, you can contact one or more of the following individuals for additional information:
Laurel Carroll, l-carr@umn.edu
Peter Hudleston, hudle001@umn.edu
Leslie Schiff, schif002@umn.edu
Leslie Schiff is a professor in the department of Microbiology.
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