2024-29

2024-29

Motion Introduced by: Curriculum and Academic Programs Committee

Date of First Reading: October 30, 2023

Date of Second Reading: November 27, 2023

Title of Motion: REVISED: Request from the Office of the University Provost for Modifications to University Undergraduate General Studies Requirements

Action Requested: This curricular proposal has received all university administrative approvals and is being presented to the Senate for review and voting decision.

Rationale: The Office of the University Provost is proposing a new framework for ASU’s General Studies curriculum to succeed and replace the existing program. The proposed program is consistent with ABOR policy 2-210 and has been designed via extensive collaboration with faculty and staff throughout the university.

Herein you will find a revised version of Motion 2024-29 for second read consideration at the faculty senate meeting on 27 November 2023. To address comments from CAPC, the proposal has been revised in a few key ways outlined below. Following the text of the proposal itself, there is a second copy of the proposal with all changes made to the motion since the presentation on 30 October 2023 indicated in red.

1. Following the recommendation of CAPC, we have incorporated all changes presented to them before voting in a “Redline version”. This includes three types of changes. First, revising the names of two categories: (a) “Global Sustainability” has been changed to “Sustainability”. (b) “Scientific Thinking” has been changed to “Scientific Thinking in the Nature Sciences”. The graphic representation of the proposed program has been updated to reflect the changed category names. Second, addition of the word “behavior” in the following sentence to ensure courses from those disciplines are included in this category: “Courses in social sciences and behavioral sciences expose students to the systematic investigation of human institutions, relationships, social structures, behavior, emotions, communication, and health.” (c) Minor textual changes.

2. To address concerns regarding lack of clarity regarding inclusion of courses addressing cultural diversity, we have added the following text to the description of the Governance and Civic Engagement category: “Students will have the opportunity to explore dynamics between governance and civic engagement, which can include perceived inequality or marginalization related to a variety of factors including race, class, citizenship, gender, disability, etc.”

3. To ensure courses focused on developing the skills of civic communication such as public speaking and conflict negotiation are included in the Governance and Civic Engagement category, we have added the following text to the description: “and courses in this category may be entirely focused on developing skills in civic communication including listening, deliberation, negotiation, consensus building, and productive use of conflict.” Furthermore, we will work with the General Studies Council and faculty from relevant disciplinary backgrounds to create a second group of learning outcomes for this category appropriate for courses developing civic communications skills.

4. To more explicitly articulate literacy, as requested by CAPC, we created a single learning outcome encompassing the ideas of critical inquiry and communication. That outcome is: “Communicate coherent arguments using evidence drawn from qualitative or quantitative sources.” That outcome has been added to all categories except (1) Mathematics; (2) Quantitative Reasoning and (3) Sustainability. Each of the two latter of those categories already had a category-specific outcome bridging critical inquiry and communication, and the outcome is not well suited to the mathematics category which is focused on foundational mathematics skills. Finally, curriculum is dynamic. Currently, the General Studies Council is the representative body tasked with maintaining the general studies curriculum. They will employ the category descriptions found in the appendices, descriptions drafted with considerable faculty consultation, as they develop criteria and processes for evaluating courses for fulfillment of the general studies requirements in this new framework. During implementation of the proposed revisions to the general studies requirements, we anticipate that changes to the category descriptions may be necessitated to ensure program success, the nature of which cannot be predicted in advance. The by-laws of the General Studies Council (GSC) indicate that “At the end of the academic year, the GSC will prepare a summary of its activities for the year and suggest goals and tasks for the following year. This report will be submitted to the chair and incorporated in the annual report to the Provost.” For at least the next five academic years, the Office of the University Provost will report to both the Senate and CAPC annually on the progress in implementing the revisions to the General Studies requirements. This will include incorporating information from the annual report of the GSC.