General Education Council
Chairs: Maurianne Adams (Co-Chair) and W. Brian O'Connor (Co-Chair)
Membership List
Minutes
Joint Academic Matters Council & General Education Council Meeting Minutes July 23, 2009
2006-2007 Annual Report
Achieving Liberal Education Outcomes: an Evidence-based Assessment System
Special Report of the General Education Council and the General Education Task Force concerning The Purposes of General Education, presented in Sen. Doc. No. 09-060 with Motion No. 73-09.
The General Education Council meets once a month during the academic year.
During the Fall 2009 semester the Council will meet:
Friday, September 18
Friday, October 16
Friday, November 20
Friday, December 18
All meetings will be held from 2:30-4:00 p.m. in the Chancellor's Board Room, 370 Whitmore.
The General Education Council shall oversee that part of the University curriculum which is
required of all undergraduate students. It shall:
(a) Review and recommend proposals and policies concerning General Education requirements;
(b) Establish guidelines and criteria for all courses which satisfy General Education
requirements; review the courses proposed for General Education and existing distribution
requirements and make appropriate recommendations to the Faculty Senate;
(c) Review courses previously approved to fulfill General Education requirements (or distribution
designations) within five years of their approval (and within every five years thereafter) in
order to recommend their re-approval to the Faculty Senate;
(d) Serve as an advisory body to the Deputy Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education
on matters relating to General Education; and
(e) Serve as an advisory body to curriculum committees in schools and colleges on matters
pertaining to General Education and other requirements (excluding requirements for the
major).
Its membership shall be:
(a) Sixteen Faculty Members or Librarians, at least five from different professional schools and
at least five from Arts and Sciences (with at least one from each of the colleges and
one from the Professional Library Staff);
(b) The University Registrar, serving ex officio;
(c) The Director of Transfer Affairs or a designee, serving ex officio;
(d) The Assistant Provost for Undergraduate Advising and Learning Communities (UA&LC) or a
designee, serving ex officio;
(e) The Deputy Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education or a designee, serving
ex officio;
(f) The Director of the University Writing Program or a designee, serving ex officio;
(g) The Director of Assessment, serving ex officio;
(h) The Director of the Center for Teaching, serving ex officio;
(i) The Five College Coordinator or a designee, serving ex officio;
(j) The Chairperson of the Academic Matters Council or a designee, serving ex officio;
(k) The Secretary of the Faculty Senate or a designee, serving ex officio, non-voting;
(l) Two Graduate Teaching Assistants/Associates; and
(m) Three Undergraduate Students.
The General Education Council shall establish a committee on Variance consisting of: the
University Registrar, the Director of Transfer Affairs, the Provost's designee, and at least
three faculty members. The committee Chair shall be a member of the General Education
Council, appointed by the Chair of the General Education Council. The committee shall review all
student petitions for variances from the General Education Requirements. The following conditions
and procedures shall apply:
(a) such petitions shall be made through the student's undergraduate Dean, with accompanying
comment/recommendation by the Dean, and forwarded to the Registrar's Office for consideration
by the committee;
(b) all requests for variance from the General Education requirements based on an allegation of
misadvising shall include a statement verifying such misadvice by the academic advisor
or dean involved;
(c) no requests shall be granted for the use of University of Massachusetts Amherst non-General
Education courses to fulfill General Education requirements;
(d) no requests shall be granted for a variance from the requirements based on a student's
completion of a course because of legitimate but mistaken belief that the course filled a
General Education requirement, if the student may use the course to complete a General Education,
University, or major requirement not yet filled; and
(e) a student may register an appeal to the committee's decision only with approval of his/her
initiating Dean.
From Chapter 5 Section 5 of the Faculty Senate Bylaws
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