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General Education at UVM

BACKGROUND

Over the past three decades a majority of universities in the U.S. have adopted a general education standard for their baccalaureate degree programs.  The intent of general education standards is to ensure that students receive foundations in literacy, communication skills, critical thinking, humanistic and scientific inquiry, global citizenship and an appreciation of different cultures.

Although such ideals are consistent with the mission and vision of the University of Vermont, UVM does not have a general education standard.  Each of the Schools and Colleges has its own degree requirements, but the only University-wide requirement for undergraduates is six-credits in approved diversity courses. 

There have been previous attempts to establish a system of general education at UVM, most notably the report of the Committee on Baccalaureate Education (COBE) in 1979; and the Report of the Academic Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate (2002).  Both of these efforts failed due to lack of consensus across the schools and colleges and in the Faculty Senate.

Based on the conviction that UVM does need a system of general education, Provost Knodell  assembled a work group comprised of five deans, seven faculty members, the President of the Student Government Association and the Associate Provost for Curricular Affairs.  Provost Knodell charged the Group to identify the desired attributes that should stem from a UVM undergraduate education and determine how to ensure they are achieved.  More specifically, the work group was charged to:

1. Explain the philosophical basis for a University-wide general education framework at UVM. 
2. Identify the purposes of the general education framework at UVM. 
3. Define what “general education” will mean at the University of Vermont. 
4. Identify the desired general learning attributes for all graduates of UVM baccalaureate degree programs. 
5. Determine how best to ensure that all UVM undergraduates achieve the desired general learning attributes. 
6. Design a system of general education that supports students’ academic options and their ability to change majors and transfer among the schools and colleges. 
7. Recommend a University-wide system for measuring the general education learning outcomes across the nominal four years of undergraduate education for each academic unit and the University as a whole. 
8. Recommend processes for analyzing the learning outcomes data and using it to inform curricular revision and innovation. 
9. Complete this work by the end of the fall 09 academic semester with submission of a report to the Curricular Affairs Committee of the Faculty Senate by December 18, 2009. 

In completing its work the Committee was charged to review the current literature regarding
general education standards as well as the standards, processes and practices of other Universities.  The Committee was further charged to solicit broad input from across campus and conduct its work in an open, transparent manner.  The Committee’s final report will present its recommendations for best practices at the University of Vermont in the context of this background. 

PROCESSES

The General Education Work Group began meeting on September 18 and has been meeting weekly since then to carry out the charge.  We will report our progress through postings on this website, verbal reports at Faculty Senate meetings, and through e-mail broadcast messages.  The Gen. Ed. website has links from the Provost’s page, the Faculty Senate’s home page and the Student Government’s home page, reflecting the fact this is a shared effort among the central administration, the faculty and the students.  We invite the campus community to explore the website.  We encourage you to speak to your unit’s representative(s) to discuss your questions, concerns and ideas.  In addition, you may also direct your questions to gened@uvm.edu.  We’ll answer them as quickly as possible and will post many of them on the Frequently Asked Questions section of the website.

Last modified October 08 2009 08:35 AM