Structural Reform #16: Clear Choices Gen Ed Proposal (GL and CA)

What would change with this proposal?

1. Eliminate the existing Student Choice (Depth or IN) and Interdisciplinary (ID)
requirements.
2. Replace Student Choice and ID with two required categories for AS and AA
students: Global and International Learning (GL) and Communication and
Argumentation (CA).
3. AAS and Certificate students will be required to take a course from CA (which
will replace the existing CM designation) and a course from HR, which might
be expanded to include some existing courses that are currently in ID.
4. The designations and initial course assignments would be as follows:
Global and International Learning (GL) Unless otherwise decided by school
curriculum committees, the courses in GL might include:
ANTH 1030 World Prehistory (GL) 3;
ENGI 2630 Contemporary World Literature (GL) 3;
HIST 1100 Western Civ. to 1300 (GL) 3;
HIST 1110 Western Civ. Since 1300 (GL) 3;
HIST 1300 Colonial Latin America (GL) 3;
HIST 1310 Modern Latin America (GL) 3;
HIST 1450 Middle Eastern Civilization (GL) 3;
HIST 1460 Modern Middle Eastern Civ (GL) 3;
HIST 1500 World History to 1500 (GL) 3;
HIST 1510 World History Since 1500 (GL) 3;
INTL 2040 The Immigrant Experience (GL, DV) 3;
INTL 2060 Intl Lit and Culture (GL, DV) 3;
INTL 2230 Global French Cultures (GL) 3;
INTL 2240 Latin American Studies (GL) 3;
POLS 2100 Intro to International Politics (GL) 3;
POLS 2200 Intro to Comparative Politics (GL) 3;
POLS 2700 Model United Nations (GL) 3;
RELS 2300 World Religions (GL) 3.
Communication and Argumentation (CA) Unless otherwise decided by school
curriculum committees, the courses in CA might include:
BUS 1040 Ethics at Work (CA) 3;
BUS 2200 Business Communications (CA) 3;
COMM 1010 Elements of Effective Communication (CA) 3;
COMM 1020 Principles of Public Speaking (CA) 3;
COMM 1270 Analysis of Argument (CA) 3;
COMM 1500 Introduction to Mass Communication (CA) 3;
COMM 1560 Radio Production (CA) 3;
COMM 2110 Interpersonal Communication (CA) 3;
COMM 2500 Elements and Issues of Digital Media (CA) 4;
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COMM 2150 Intercultural Communication (CA, DV) 3;

LE 1310 Mind, Machine, Consciousness (CA) 3;
CTEL 1020 Career Speech Skills (CA) 3;
PHIL 1250 Reasonable & Rational Decision-Making (CA) 3.
Why These Two Categories?

Global and International Learning:

It fits with previous work at the college intended to designate
International/Global courses and allow students to graduate with an
International/Global designation on their diplomas.
It is important for students to understand our increasingly interconnected
world.
Moreover, guidance already exists for writing language for a Global Learning
designation.
Many colleges are emphasizing Global understanding in General Education.
See, for example, the AAC&Us initiative on General Education for a Global
Century.
Communication and Argumentation:
A survey of national employers shows that they are seeking graduates with
effective communication and critical thinking skills.
We should strongly signal to our students that communication/argumentation
skills will serve them well regardless of their major and career path.
Why Not Applied Science and Technology?
While Applied Science is a General Education category at the University of
Utah, none of our AS and AA graduates or our General Education Certificate of
Completion students who transfer to the U of U will benefit by us having an
Applied Science Gen Ed category. Our existing PS and LS categories are
sufficient.
No other USHE institution has an Applied Science category in General
Education.
Indeed, applied sciences are typically not considered General Education
courses around the country.
How will courses meet their new designation criteria?
1. All courses listed above will be grandfathered into the GL and CA categories to
which they have been assigned.
2. School curriculum committees can change the course categories of those
courses by simply passing a motion and submitting it to the General
Education Committee. Such motions should be passed before this proposal
goes into effect.

3. Courses grandfathered into GL and CA will come up for 5-year review

according to the existing schedule, at which time they will be judged
according to the GL and CA, category criteria.

What are the CA and GL Course Criteria?

(Draft versions of what faculty groups on the Gen Ed Committee have come up with
so far. These drafts are enough to give you an idea of how each category would be
defined.)
Communication and Argumentation (CA)
Objective
Communication and Argumentation (CA) courses focus on the principles, skills
and art of reasoning, in written, verbal, nonverbal and multi-modal forms of
communication. They strive to help students enhance their critical thinking
and analysis skills, develop and support beliefs, and evaluate the strength of
arguments made by oneself and others in real-life situations.
Learning Outcomes
Upon completion of a CA course, students will be able to:
1. Critically listen to and view public and interpersonal communication.
2. Evaluate claims, evidence, underlying, and missing assumptions.
3. Consider audience and purpose in the tailoring of messages.
4. Communicate in groups, work together and make decisions effectively.
5. Recognize and use rhetorical strategies.
6. Identify perspectives and paradigms, manipulative rhetoric, fallacies
and other obstacles to clear reasoning.
7. Understand the variations in modes of reasoning within different
disciplines (scientific, moral, legal, ethical and other frameworks).
8. Assess the quality of information and sources, and/or evaluate and
improve their own reasoning.
Global and International Learning (GI)
Objective
Global and International Learning (GI) courses focus on students learning
about the world beyond the United States. The terms International and
Global focus on different types of power relationships and structures that
impact everyday life in unique ways.
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Global courses focus on the interconnected and interdependent issues that

transcend national borders, function worldwide, and affect the lives of people,
ecosystem diversity, and the earths sustainability.
International courses provide a broad base of knowledge about interactions,
exchanges, relations, cultures, international frames of reference,
communications, historical developments, geography, perspectives, etc.
among specific countries and/or regions in comparative contexts.
Guidelines for Course Proposals
The course title and/or description must reveal the Global/International nature
of the course, the specific focus between International and Global, and any
overlap between the two must be explicit in all of the curriculum documents.
For example, the course syllabus should specify if the course is Global,
International or both in content. The General Education Committee welcomes
courses that provide students opportunities to become civically engaged in a
Global community.
Learning Outcomes
Through both international and Global learning, students should be able to:
1. Become informed, open-minded, responsible, and engaged citizens
who think critically about Global issues and systems.
2. Use a comparative framework to examine the dynamics of power and
how it shapes such issues as knowledge, privilege, gender,
economies, religion, environment and race relations.
3. Use quantitative and/or qualitative analytical skills to understand the
interconnectedness and interdependence of Global systems and the
complexity of international and Global issues.
4. Employ discipline specific approaches/methods in examining
international and/or Global issues, processes, trends, events,
structures, etc. and develop a sense of perspective and social
responsibility in a Globally interconnected world.
5. Address the world's most pressing and enduring issues
collaboratively and equitably through critical reasoning and creative
thinking in order to become civically engaged members of the Global
community.
6. Demonstrate an understanding of the complexities of identity
including how deeply rooted identity is in culture, language, religion,
race/ethnicity, power and borders.
7. Communicate effectively about topics beyondor transcendent of
the borders of the United States or about the United States in a
comparative perspective.
From the student perspective, how does the General Education program
change?
Current Gen Ed Structure for AS
Degrees
Core Skills (12-13 credits)

Proposed Gen Ed Structure for AS

Degrees
Core Skills (12-13 credits)
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Composition (EN)
Quantitative Literacy (QL)
American Institutions (AI)

Composition (EN)
Quantitative Literacy (QL)
American Institutions (AI)

USHE Distribution Areas (15 credits)

(Take one class from each area)
Fine Arts (FA)
Humanities (HU)
Life Sciences (LS)
Physical Sciences (PS)
Social Sciences (SS)

USHE Distribution Areas (15 credits)

(Take one class from each area)
Fine Arts (FA)
Humanities (HU)
Life Sciences (LS)
Physical Sciences (PS)
Social Sciences (SS)

Institutional Requirements (7
credits)
Student Choice (Take an IN course
or a Depth course)
Interdisciplinary (ID)
Lifetime Wellness (LW)
Total Credits=34-35

Institutional Requirements (7
credits)
Comm and Argumentation (CA)
Global and International Learning
(GL)
Lifetime Wellness (LW)
Total Credits=34-35