Forums finish up on campus
Brian Haenchen
-Staff Writer-
Another phase in the process to modify the 42-hour general education block concluded on Feb. 22 with the final General Education Draft Proposal Forum.
The General Education Draft Proposal Forums were just another step in the process that began over three years ago, but did not gain traction until last summer, according to General Education Coordinator Shaun Reno.
“We have had conversations about possible changes at the district level for about three years,” Reno said. “However, serious discussions that led to the proposal started last summer. The proposal was written up during the fall semester.”
The potential amendments to the general education block were presented in the form of six different proposals to the faculty as a whole a week before the spring semester began.
Proposals one and two, which were discussed during the final Draft Proposal Forum, focused on the potential addition of another English course to the core requirements, as well as a reformation of the speaking and writing intensive requirements.
The Missouri State Freshmen Composition Sequence mandates specific guidelines for English composition courses. To ensure its compliance with the new regulations, the English department laid out a set of requirements, known as the “freshmen composition sequence.”
According to Eric Meyer, associate English professor and honors program coordinator at STLCC-Meramec, the two basic composition courses, ENG 101 and ENG 102, are similar to the required courses at St. Louis University.
However, proposal two argues that since ENG 102 is not a required course at Meramec, many students move from ENG 101 to a writing intensive course that is designed to “reinforce” writing skills rather than introduce them.
While ENG 101 and ENG 102 together meet the state’s requirements, Meyer said combining the two courses into one would be impractical.
“Some universities, like Mizzou, try to pack all of that into one course, but they have a different student population,” Meyer said. “We just have a larger group of students who need more instruction in composition than some universities. [Those universities] can select out [students] and we’re open [to everyone].”
Because material from ENG 102 cannot be sufficiently incorporated into ENG 101, the district proposed transitioning 102 from an elective to a requirement for the 42-hour block.
The other issue discussed during the forum concerned the adequacy of the college’s writing and speaking intensive courses. An assessment of these classes conducted by the General Education Assessment Committee in spring 2008 revealed that many of the writing and speaking activities being incorporated in those classes failed to meet the requirements for writing and speaking intensive courses.
“There are some indications that writing intensives aren’t working,” Meyer said. “We can look at the curriculum and say this isn’t happening, because none of this is writing intensive directive. All you have to do is look and there is, ‘No, we do this in 102; 102 is not required.’ Therefore, we’re not requiring of all students what the state insists that we require.”
Due to the lack of speaking intensive courses, fitting those courses into the 42-hour general education block has become an issue for many students. This problem has led to “hundreds of waivers,” according to the proposal.
As coordinator of the honors department, Meyers said he sees “a pretty large number of students” who are “beyond needing the Cornerstone class” but are forced to take the Cornerstone and Capstone classes simultaneously in their final semester.
“It’s a waste of their time. It’s a waste of their money. So, they go seek a waiver,” Meyers said. “In those situations, it seems warranted. It makes sense to waive the requirement for those students. So, this is something the college should look at.”
The district committee also addressed the content of the Capstone and Cornerstone courses.
According to proposal three, 64% of students had taken their interdisciplinary studies class, a course designed to serve as an “orientation to fundamental college study skills,” after completing their initial 12-credit-hour block. To ensure that goals of the course are being met, the district hopes to create interdisciplinary courses unique to each section.
While proposal three suggested narrowing the view of Cornerstone courses, the fourth proposal looks to make Capstone courses more of a “culminating experience of general education curriculum goals.” The modified Capstone course would focus on two projects: a student reflection on his or her general education experience and creation of a student-inspired and faculty-mentored project.
The district’s other two proposals focused on inconsistent content levels in interdisciplinary courses and a lack of global and intercultural topics in the general education block.
Reno will now take the results from his forums and, with the other regional coordinators, will meet with both the vice president of academic affairs and the vice chancellor. They will discuss their findings and make any necessary changes to the proposal.
The regional coordinators must come to an agreement on the proposal before they can push it through to the next step. The proposal has to go through the college’s governance process, which requires approval from each campus’s government councils, before advancing to the district-wide administration.
“Since we are, in terms of degrees, one college, we all have to agree with what the components will be,” Reno said. “While we are one college, our individual student bodies have different needs. So, we have to find ways to meet all those needs.”
Reno said because the entire process is so time-consuming, none of the current students will be affected once it is officially implemented.
“Once we feel like we have a proposal that’s worth pushing forward, we’ll move it to governance,” Reno said. “Governance will take, probably, two to three months at least. Then the implementation itself will take, depending on what is being put in, could take anywhere from one to two years. So, any student who is currently here will not be affected.”
