Minutes

of the General Education Committee

of the Academic Senate

California State University San Marcos

April 20, 2006

Attendance: Jocelyn Ahlers, Michael Hughes, Yvonne Meulemans, Moses Ochanji, Jackie Trischman, Marshall Whittlesey, David Barsky, Andres Favela, Virginia Mann, Candace Van Dall

I. Approval of Agenda, with an addition of PHYS 351 to discussion items, by general consent

II.  Approval of Minutes from 4/13/06, with minor correction, by general consent

III.  Chair’s Report

A.  Social Sciences Proposition

Marshall Whittlesey announced that this proposition passed in Senate on April 19th. He took the liberty of amending it slightly to clarify the intent, and provided the new version on the agenda for the Committee’s information. Andres Favela asked if other programs might wish to take the same route? David Barsky pointed out that Social Sciences doesn’t have dedicated faculty, which makes it a special case. Marshall assured Advising that if issues arise in the future for other programs/ departments, the GEC will certainly take them up.

IV. AP/GEC Coordinator’s Report

A.  Social Sciences Proposition – David noted to the GEC that his intent in introducing the Social Sciences proposition was only to allow use and double counting of existing DD courses in the student’s secondary field, as it was amended by the Chair to do.

B.  Effective Date for AP – David has learned from Darren Bush and Nathan Evans that students already admitted as freshmen for Fall 2006 may have learned that they will received credit for passing AP tests. For this reason, the current AP rules will remain in effect through Spring 2007. Effective Summer, 2007, new AP credit rules will apply. David will work with Andres to ensure the Advising website has the updated information posted.

C.  David noted that History straddles both Area C and Area D. This will be discussed further in the AP credit discussion later in the meeting.

D.  PHYS 351 – Although this GE proposal was submitted in Fall, and approved by the UCC, it did not make it into our GEC packets. David asked that the Committee review this course today.

E.  GEL 110, 120 – David expects to provide these course proposals to the GEC at the next meeting. They are currently being reviewed by CAP, and are seeking Area E certification. The courses will be offered to incoming Freshmen at the Summer Academy, which First Year Programs is planning for this summer. Jackie Trishman asked if Financial Aid will cover this summer program and David replied that it was necessary that it does cover Summer Academy.

F.  LBST ICP – The Integrated Credential Program has almost reached Senate and included in the ICP are Areas BB, CC, and DD, as part of the major. David expects the Senate to vote on the ICP at their last meeting on May 3rd, and it would be useful to know if the GEC approves. The curriculum of the ICP is very tightly structured and it requires three courses which are also intended to clear UDGE requirements: MATH 311 for the BB, VPA 321 for the CC, and ID340B for the DD.

V. Discussion Items

A. PHYS 351 – How Things Work

The Committee reviewed this proposal and there was general agreement that it contains all the elements for a successful BB course. The course was approved for BB credit by general consent.

B. Community College Courses and the CCR

Marshall has received an email from Mary Atkins asking how many transfer students from community colleges receive credit for the CCR and enter CSUSM with that credit. Marshall asked Candace if her Department might be able to generate a report with transfer CCR credit information? Candace will speak with Alan Miles about running this report.

Mary also suggested that the amount of time provided to students to complete their CCR could be reduced to one semester. David agreed this was a good idea, since the purpose of our CCR is to ensure that students have the skills at the beginning of their time at CSUSM, just as the ELM and EPT do for mathematics and English. The Committee discussed further the idea of eliminating CCR credit for community college courses, since our campus no longer offers courses for CCR. Andres noted that if the GEC decides to do this, Patti Garnet must be notified so that she can disseminate the information to the community colleges.

D.  GE Credit for AP Exams

The GEC approved the following by general consent:

European History – Award D credit; remove C and C2.

English Literature & Composition – Continue current policy of awarding A2 and C2.

Art History – Award C1 credit; remove C.

Music Theory – Award C1 credit; remove C.

Studio Art – Award C1 credit; remove C.

World History – Award D credit.

Human Geography – Award D credit.

Minutes prepared by Virginia Mann, staff to GEC

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