Course Review and Reapproval Process
To ensure that Gen Ed courses are well aligned with the program’s mission and goals, the Standing Committee on General Education reviews courses at regular intervals.
Background photo of a TF raising her hand and participating in a classroom activity with her smartphone.
The Gen Ed program has a culture of continuous improvement through constructive feedback from the Standing Committee on General Education. Our goal is to help each course be as strong as it can be and to ensure consistency across the program.
Review Criteria
- Course uses the study of its specific topic to engage students in exploration of its Gen Ed category
- Course gives students the opportunity to grapple with urgent problems or enduring questions
- Course draws connections to the outside world—and, often, also to students’ own lives—to help them develop habits of mind, civic virtues, and ethical judgment that guide them as citizens and citizen leaders
- Assessments promote deep learning, align with big-picture course goals, and hold students accountable to all assigned material
- Course materials help students encounter and weigh varied perspectives on the topic
- Workload is rigorous (6-8 hours per week outside of class)
- Grades reflect differentiation in the mastery of course content
- Faculty meets regularly with teaching team leading to a fair and consistent experience with sections and grading
Materials
In its reviews, the committee considers the following materials:
- Faculty & TF reflections
- Syllabus
- Assignment prompts
- Course evaluations
- Grade distribution
- Enrollment
- Committee feedback to date
Note: The committee considers student evaluations, especially the qualitative comments from the Q reports, as part of its review process. We view them, however, in the context of course rigor, grade differentiation, and experimentation with new pedagogies designed to meet college-wide initiatives or to adapt to our changing teaching landscape.
Review Process
All courses are reviewed after their first offering in the program and periodically thereafter.
At each review, the committee will decide:
To review the course again after the next offering. In this case, the committee will provide feedback to the instructor and will expect to see substantive changes before the next offering.
To approve the course for 3 more offerings or 5 years (whichever comes first), after which time the course will be re-reviewed.
In the case of acute concerns, to discontinue offering the course in the program.
Interim Reviews
The Committee may decide, for a wide range of reasons, to review a particular course more often than its schedule would otherwise dictate. Examples may include:
- Enrollment of more than 200 students
- Repeated high levels of grade compression and/or low workload
- Change in instructor