SUNY Oswego General Education Council Operating Procedures and Course Approval Guidelines

Section 1. Composition and Charge of the General Education Council

A. The composition and charge of the Council shall conform to ARTICLE XVII of the Bylaws of State University of New York Oswego. That Article is duplicated here:

Section 1. Membership a) Ex-officio members are the Director of General Education and a member of the Administration designated by the President.

b) The Faculty Assembly shall elect six voting faculty members with staggered three-year terms. Four shall be elected from the College of Arts and Sciences, one from each of the following four groups: (1) Humanities, (2) Fine and Performing Arts and Library, (3) Social and Behavioral Sciences, and (4) Natural Sciences, Computer Science, and Mathematics. One shall be elected from the School of Education. One shall be elected from the School of Business.

Section 2. Functions

a) The General Education Council shall review and approve courses and proposals for general education credit, and monitor the General Education program.

b) The General Education Council shall, upon the request of the President or the President’s designee, review the performance of the Director of the General Education Program and make recommendations to the President or the President’s designee.

c) Upon request of the Provost, the General Education Council shall oversee the selection and review of campus candidates for the position of Director of General Education and make recommendations to the Provost for this position.

d) A representative of the General Education Council shall sit on the Academic Planning Committee of the Faculty Assembly Executive Board.

Section 2. Operating Procedures

A. Meetings

  1. The General Education Council shall meet at least twice each semester. More frequent meetings shall be held, as needed, in order to discharge the business before the Council in a timely manner.
  2. Discussions and deliberations by the Council shall adhere to Robert’s Rules of Order.

B. Review of Course Proposals

  1. The Council shall publish guidelines for new course submission, with specific reference to the learning outcomes of the State University General Education Requirement (SUNY-GER).
  2. Course proposals shall be received in a format similar to that used by the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. Proposals must contain information regarding course title, course number, credit hours, and frequency of offering; course description; prerequisites; course justification; course objectives; course outline; methods of instruction; course requirements; means of evaluation; resource requirements; and a bibliography.
  3. Course proposals shall undergo a preliminary evaluation using a worksheet that lists SUNY-GER learning outcomes and locally developed learning outcomes in order to determine a course’s fit within the category for which it is submitted. The evaluation worksheet shall also allow the Council to consider non-learning outcome elements (e.g., frequency of offering, staffing, resources, UCC status, etc.). See Appendix A for evaluation worksheet.
  4. Council members will deliberate on new course proposals and render decisions in a timely manner.

C. Assessment

1. The Council shall establish a schedule and methods for the ongoing assessment of General Education offerings.

D. Other Business

1. The Council shall deliberate and render decisions regarding any other business that comes before it.

Section 3. Reporting Out

A. Courses Not Approved

1. In the case of courses not approved, the chair of the sponsoring department shall be notified. A formal memo documenting the rational for not approving the course shall be provided.

B. Courses Approved

1. In the case of approved courses, the following parties shall be notified and provided with the appropriate documentation: the Office of the Provost System Administration (for SUNY-GER courses); the campus registrar; the faculty assembly; and the sponsoring department.

C. Other Business

1. The Council shall report out to the faculty assembly, and any other interested parties, the outcome of any other business it conducts.

D. Minutes

  1. The minutes of Council meetings shall constitute a public record and be open to inspection.
  2. At the end of each school year, the Council shall publish, and make available, the minutes from that year’s meetings.

APPENDIX A COURSE EVALUATION WORKSHEET

Course Title _____________________________________________________________________
Course Number ____________________
Credit Hours _________
Frequency of Offering _______________
Enrollment ___________
Proposed General Education Category ________________________________
Course proposals should be evaluated against criteria set forth in the Guidelines for the Approval of State University General Education Requirement Courses (Office of the Provost, May 4, 2001) & the SUNY Oswego GE2000 Course Development Guidelines.

Consistent with Guidelines Approaches Guidelines (minor revisions required) Fails to Meet Guidelines Not Applicable
Learning Outcome(s):
Course Description
Prerequisites
Course Justification
Course Objectives
Course Outline
Methods of Instruction
Course Requirements
Means of Evaluation
Resource Requirements
Bibliography

Notes:

 Last Updated: 7/9/07