Dear Chairs and Faculty Members,

It is a pleasure to announce that the revisions to the CIM forms for CAPC proposals have been finished. We are now ready to welcome submissions of courses to be part of the revised General Education program, effective Fall 2019. All currently approved Gen Ed Distributive courses (i.e., Arts, Sciences, Humanities, and Behavioral & Social Sciences) will need to be reviewed and approved to qualify as a General Education courses in Fall 2019. To see which courses are currently approved as Gen Ed Distributives, please visit the catalog. At this point, we ask that you please forward this message to faculty in your department that are teaching Gen Ed Distributive courses or are interested in proposing new ones. Important instructions from Andrea Grinwis are pasted at the bottom of this message.

A critical aspect of this approval process is that the course syllabus will need to specify the appropriate Gen Ed Goals, the anticipated outcomes of these goals (i.e., the SLOs), and describe the way these outcomes are measured. These goals and outcomes are provided in the approved General Education proposal on the CAPC website, in addition, you can download the proposal document . The CIM forms will ask you to copy/paste this information from your syllabus and enter it on the form specifying how the student learning outcomes are measured.

Please note that other Gen Ed attributes (I, J, W) will be reviewed in a second round of approvals, not at the current time. Once criteria for Speaking Emphasis and Ethics courses are approved, we will welcome submissions for those designations as well.

Please see below for instructions on the new forms compiled by Andrea Grinwis. Of critical importance: When you are submitted an existing course for its continued status as a Gen Ed Distributive (e.g., PSY 100 as a Behavioral & Social Science), do NOT uncheck the box next to General education 2014-2016, you just have to check the box next to General Education 2019.

If there are any questions, please let me know!

Navigating the New CAPC/CIM-Course Form to Seek Revalidation for a Current Gen Ed Distribute, I, J, or W Course

If you are seeking revalidation of a current Gen Ed Distribute, I, J, or W course, please keep these things in mind as you navigate the new form:

Review Type

The first question on the form is regarding review type. A proposal of this nature must go through Full CAPC Review, so be sure to select "Full CAPC Review".

Screenshot of submit form with Full CAPC Review Checked.

Purpose of Course

If your course is currently approved as a Gen Ed Distributive, I, J, or W, the current purpose of course will already be checked. In this example, we are using BIO 110, which is a Gen Ed Distributive Science.

DO NOT DESELECT THE CURRENT 2014-2016 PURPOSE. Simply add an additional check beside the new 2019 option. For a General Education Distributive, check “General Education 2019.” For an I, J, or W course, select “Additional Baccalaureate Requirement 2019.”

Screenshot of Purpose of Course section of form with General Education 2019 and General Education 2014-2016 checked.

General Education and Additional Baccalaureate Requirement Information

Once again, we’re using BIO 110 as an example. Further on down the form, you will notice that “Science Distributive” is already checked in the first set of “Define Purpose” options. In the second set of “Define Purpose” options, you’ll want to select the 2019 version of the Gen Ed or Additional Bacc. Req. In this example, of course, we would select “Science Distributive 2019.” This will automatically check the appropriate Goals and Student Learning Outcomes. You will need to complete the “Artifacts” field and upload a course narrative.

Screenshot of General Education Information section of form with Science Distributive 2019 checked in the Define Purpose section. In the General Education Goals Section - Students will be able to: Communicate effectively, think critically and analytically, employ quantitative analysis and mathematical methods are checked. In the Communicate Effectively section the following areas are checked: express oneself effectively in common college-level written forms; revise and improve written and/or presentations; express oneself effectively in presentations; and demonstrate comprehension of and ability to explain information and ideas accessed through reading. In the think critically and analytically section the following areas are checked: use relevant evidence gathered through accepted scholarly methods, and properly acknowledge sources of information to support and idea; construct and/or analyze arguments in terms of their premises, assumptions, contexts, conclusions and anticipated counterarguments, reach sound conclusions based on logical analysis of evidence; develop creative or innovative approaches to assignments or projects. In the Employ quantitative concepts and mathematical methods section the following items are checked: employ quantitative methods to examine a problem in the natural or physical world; apply the basic methods and thought processes of the scientific method for natural/physical science in a particular discipline.

Department Chair Checkboxes

Department chairs and program directors, you’ll notice that you have an additional checkbox to complete before approving at your step in workflow. Now, you will indicate whether or not the proposal comes forward with the support of the dept/program faculty and whether it comes forward with yours.

Screenshot of department chair section. Proposal comes forward with the support of the department/program faculty, is answered yes. Proposal comes forward with the support of the chairperson/program director is answered no.

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