OFFICE OF ACADEMIC AFFAIRS

General Education
Implementation Update

Sept. 17, 2019

As co-chairs of the General Education Implementation Committee, we are privileged to work with a deeply committed team of people representing all of Ohio State's undergraduate-serving colleges and campuses in this critical work. You will learn more about ongoing efforts in the updates that follow, but please know that the General Education Implementation webpage located at oaa.osu.edu/ge is another great resource with up-to-date information on the process. Instituting a new General Education (GE) program is a tremendous opportunity, and we are continually heartened to see the incredible passion and energy with which the university community has responded.

— Laura Podalsky and Blaine Lilly
Co-Chairs, Implementation Committee

Updates from the committee

The General Education Implementation Committee is tasked with responding to eight key areas of exploration noted by the campus community in the development of the new General Education curriculum: expected learning outcomes, policies and procedures, bookend courses, high-impact practices, open themes, advising, embedded/cross-sectional components and regional campuses.

Much of the committee's work is conducted within eight subcommittees, each aligned with an area of exploration. The committee serves as a sounding board for issues raised by these subgroups and helps link the subcommittees to relevant resources.

In addition, the committee is considering overarching topics including but not limited to:

Timeline: what are the necessary actions each college and campus will need to take between now and the launch of the new General Education program in autumn 2021?
Assessing and improving the GE: What are the roles of bodies such as the University-Level Advisory Committee for the General Education (ULAC) and the Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee in evaluating and improving General Education over time?
Connecting to campus: How can the committee secure the broadest possible insight by connecting directly with impacted groups across campus, including faculty, staff and students?

In the coming weeks, the committee and subcommittees will be in contact with a number of groups across campus to solicit input on a variety of issues. Other ways to participate in the process include the "Questions and Comments" form on the implementation website or contacting a member of the committee.

GE Implementation Website

Updates from the subcommittees

Bookend Courses subcommittee

The subcommittee has initially recommended that the bookend courses have the following goals:
- provide students with learning opportunities to understand the purpose of the GE curriculum
- allow students (at the beginning of their Ohio State experience) to engage with faculty from a variety of fields through flexible formats
- introduce students to digital skills that will enhance their academic and career success
- provide students with opportunities to reflect and analyze their student experience at Ohio State
The subcommittee has focused on delineating the initial, 1 credit-hour bookend course by recommending that
- the course be delivered via a hybrid approach, with online and in-person components
- there be large individual sections led by a team of faculty members from different disciplines, with each section supported by multiple graduate-student teaching assistants
- each section will consist of 1) core content that is universal across the course and 2) flexible, faculty-led learning threads that allow students to choose topics of exploration from faculty across disciplines
A plan for participation from each college and a model for compensation and recognition of faculty who deliver learning threads and lead sections need to be worked out at the executive level.

Expected Learning Outcomes subcommittee

This subcommittee has drafted expected learning outcomes for the overall GE program, the Foundational Areas, and broadly for the Themes.
It has sought initial consultation from the GE Implementation Committee and stakeholders outside that committee, with feedback currently ongoing.
The subcommittee will seek additional input from several groups of undergraduate students.

Policies and Procedures subcommittee

The subcommittee on Policies and Procedures has begun to make suggestions about the institutional framework that will govern the new GE. They have proposed that ULAC become more robust in its membership and be responsible for the ongoing evaluation and monitoring of the GE. They are now working to collectively imagine and propose the process for how existing and future GE themes will be vetted and thinking through how individual courses might be approved under the new GE structure.