Summary of Procedures For

Summary of procedures for

(a) adding, (b) recertifying, and (c) removing courses in the GenED inventory.

(Effective Spring 2014)

1  Introduction.

This document summarizes the institutional steps entailed in either removing or adding courses to the GenEd course inventory. To provide context for this discussion, the GenEd curriculum and the GenEd oversight procedures will be described first.

Purpose of the GenEd Program. The conceptual framework for the GenEd Program is described in Temple University Policy 02.10.02, and the implementation and oversight mechanisms are found in Policy 02.10.03.

In brief, the objectives of the GenEd program are:

1.  to expose students to a wide array of disciplines, and

2.  to develop a specific set of competencies in students, including "critical thinking", "informa- tion literacy", and "communication" broadly defined.

The GenEd course inventory is segregated into three fundamental categories or "areas" (read- ing/writing, a humanities survey, and quantitative literacy), and six breadth "areas" (arts, behav- ior, diversity, world society, US society, and science). Because the word "area" (in the context of GenEd) has this specific connotation, in the remaining discussion the quotes will be dropped.

The GenEd Area Coordinators. Each GenEd-curriculum area has a single dedicated area coordinator whose principal responsibility is to assist faculty in the development of new GenED courses. One might think that faculty -the experts in the subject- would need no assistance in the development of a new course. However, many faculty lack experience in designing a course wherein the teaching and assessment of student-learning competencies is as (or more) important than the didactic course content. Note that every GenED area has a specific enumerated set of student- learning goals over and above the three fundamental competencies (critical thinking, information literacy, and communication skills) that every GenEd course must address in an assessable, verifiable fashion.

The GenEd Directors and executive committee. The Director and Associate Director of the GenEd Program report to the Senior Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies, and these two Directors are charged with the coordinating, facilitating, and managing this large and complex program. There is also a diverse consultative "executive committee", consisting of nine faculty, a graduate student, and two undergraduate students, whose function is to monitor and maintain the quality of the GenEd curriculum. The GenEd executive committee maintains the quality of the GenEd program through two principal activities:

1.  First, the GenEd executive committee evaluates and approves both (a) proposals for new GenEd courses, and (b) proposals to teach existing GenEd courses which are currently taught in other Departments.

2.  Second, in the GenEd executive committee carries out the policy-mandated periodic reassess- ment of all GenEd courses (every four years after a course's initial approval), a process called "GenEd recertification".

Procedural details follow.

2  Adding a GenEd Course

2.1  Adding a New GenEd Course

For faculty who wish to propose a new GenEd course, it is worthwhile to obtain the detailed application materials that are found at the Temple University GenEd website under the "faculty" tab. But, in brief, the requisite course-proposal package must include a sample syllabus, a specific description of the mechanics of course delivery (section size, number of TA's, who will teach the course, etc.), and a narrative explaining why the course as designed both develops and assesses the student-learning competencies specific to the course's anticipated GenEd area. The aforementioned website also provides contact information for the cognizant GenEd area coordinators. The steps for proposing and adding a new GenEd course, then, are:

1.  The proposing faculty member works with the GenEd Area coordinator to develop a viable GenEd course proposal.

2.  Once developed, the GenEd Area coordinator "pitches" the proposed course to the entire GenEd executive committee. The executive committee discusses the proposal and votes on whether to accept the proposed course in its current form or to send it back to the proposer for further work.

3.  Steps 1,2 may need to be iterated. Once approved by the GenEd executive committee, the GenEd Director passes the course proposal to the University APAC Board.

4.  If the University APAC Board approves the new GenEd course, the course is added to the GenEd course inventory, and the various GenEd documentation venues are appropriately updated by the GenEd administrative staff.

2.2  Adding a new Departmental section for an existing GenEd course

If a Department wishes to teach a GenEd course which was proposed by, and approved for, a different Department, it must apply. A paramount consideration in this situation is that all sections of the GenEd course, regardless of Department, be substantially similar in content. (This is because students may retake GenEd classes for a better grade irrespective of which Department teaches a particular section.) The steps, then, are:

1.  Obtain a copy of the already-approved GenEd proposal for the existing course from the Director of the GenEd Program.

2.  Obtain representative course syllabi, for the GenEd course under consideration, from the Chair(s) of the other Department(s) that presently offer this course.

3.  Work with the GenEd Area coordinator to develop a viable GenEd course proposal for the new Departmental section. (Again, here the work will likely be focused on schemes to impart and assess student-learning competencies.)

4.  Once the proposal for the new Departmental section of an existing GenEd course is completed, the cognizant GenEd Area coordinator will then "pitch" the proposed new section to the GenEd executive committee.

5.  The GenEd executive committee will look for satisfactory course-content congruence with existing sections of the GenEd course. The executive committee also examines whether GenEd-area student-learning objectives are both taught and assessed in a verifiable manner. Once satisfied on these two points, the new Departmental section will be approved by the GenEd executive committee. Then, the GenEd Director will pass the new-section proposal to the University APAC Board.

6.  If the University APAC Board approves the new Departmental section of the GenEd course, the GenEd course inventory will be appropriately updated by the GenEd administrative staff.

It is important to note that the new Departmental section of an existing GenEd class will assume the same recertification schedule of the initially-approved course This is because it is desirable (and revealing), in the recertification of a given GenEd course, to evaluate all sections offered by all participating Departments concurrently. We now turn to recertification procedures.

3  Recertification of a GenEd Course

Once approved for inclusion in the GenEd curriculum, all GenEd courses must be "recertified" every four years to remain in the GenEd inventory. Recertification of courses is described at length in the GenEd website but the basic steps are as follows.

1.  At the beginning of a course's recertification year the GenEd Director will notify the De- partment Chair that the recertification materials or "portfolio" will need to be submitted. Departments will have two academic semesters (excluding summer sessions) to assemble the recertification portfolio. This request for a "recertification portfolio" is made to every De- partment which offers the GenEd course under review.

2.  A given Department's recertification portfolio should contain, minimally:

(a)  An enumeration of the faculty who taught the course during the two most recent semesters.

(b)  A syllabus for every faculty who taught the course during the two most recent semesters.

(c)  A narrative explaining:

i.  How and why the course content has evolved from the original approved proposal;

ii.  How and why the course-delivery mechanisms have evolved from the original ap- proved proposal;

iii.  How the specific student competencies enumerated for this course's GenEd area are developed and assessed in this course.

(d)  Examples of student work in support of the assertions made in the narrative.

3.  Upon receiving the portfolio, four to six evaluators, taken from the GenEd executive com- mittee and the GenEd area-coordinator staff, are assigned to individually review each recer- tification portfolio. After their review, each evaluator individually reports their assessment to the GenEd Associate Director.

(a)  Portfolios with uniformly positive evaluations are immediately recertified.

(b)  Portfolios with mixed or poor reviews are further discussed by the entire assembled executive committee. A vote is taken on whether or not to (a) recertify, (b) award a probationary recertification for up to one year, or (c) not recertify.

Note that in the situation where a given GenEd course is taught by multiple Departments, recertification is awarded on a Department-by-Department basis. Furthermore, other factors - such as whether a course is an consistent outlier in either awarded student grades or in SFF evaluations- may also be considered in the deliberations. There are no institutional arrangements for appealing the GenEd executive committee's recertification vote.

Finally, a Department's failure to provide a recertification portfolio by the mandated deadline will result in de-certification, and the course will be removed from the GenEd inventory.

4  Removal of a GenEd Course

Courses are removed from the GenEd inventory for one of two causes, the first which is a failure to be recertified in the periodic four-year assessment cycle. The second reason a course may be removed is simply if it is not offered. GenEd courses which have not been offered for three consecutive semesters (excluding summer sessions) will be removed from the GenEd inventory. In either case, the GenEd Director will inform the cognizant Department Chair in advance of removing the GenEd course from the inventory.