From: dkdavis@monm.edu
Cc: raj@monm.edu, don@monm.edu, george@monm.edu, jackiec@monm.edu, marybeth@monm.edu, rgiese@monm.edu, dick@monm.edu
Date: 2001-05-03 12:50:00+00:00
Subject: Attachment to Curricular Review Task Force Report 3

A Summary of the Written Comments from our Members and
A Couple of Faculty Members
General Education
Structure: The four-year program with its existing rubric-scheme seems to
make sense, as long as it is an integrated, coherent and distinctive
program. The relation between the general education and majors needs to be
examined and an authoritative body should be charged with the responsibility
of continuously reviewing all programs and the curriculum. There is a
suggestion that Sophomore and Junior level Seminars should be introduced.

According to our catalog (p. 16), the requirements of a Monmouth College
degree involves:
1. Four years of academic work earning at least 124 semester hours.
2. Completion of Freshman Seminar
3. Completion of a major program, and
  4. Completion of the five components of the general
education program:  Language, The Physical Universe and its Life Forms,
Beauty and Meaning in the Works of Art, Human Societies, and Issues and
Ideas.
One comment is that the present rubric scheme is woefully inadequate to the
understanding of the Self for which we need to address metaphysical issues,
epistemological questions, and issues of God, spirit and man.

Freshman Seminar
Monmouth College introduced this course in the early eighties and several
schools have added similar courses to their curriculum in subsequent years.
There seems to be a strong commitment among the faculty and administration
to continue to develop and teach this course. The following are some of the
comments and suggestions:
1.  It is very resource intensive, is trying to do too many things in one
semester, and is quite regimented in its organization and delivery.
Instructors need some flexibility after establishment of clear, limited and
common goals for the course.
2.  We should commit more resources to this venture and a greater proportion
of senior faculty should teach this course.
3.  More stipends and/or release times are needed for the faculty to
continue the development of this course and to provide shadowing experience
to new faculty members who are interested in teaching it.

Language
This component generally makes sense - keep, strengthen and change it. There
is a suggestion to reduce the foreign language requirement and to introduce
more courses on foreign cultures and traditions.
There is an almost universal agreement that our graduates need more
experience in writing, in its several forms, composition, creative writing,
technical writing etc. We think our task force needs to examine carefully
(possibly with a consultant) the concept of Awriting across the curriculum@
and find ways of incorporating it in our academic program.  There is also a
suggestion that we should require composition courses at the Junior and
Senior levels.

Beauty and Meaning in the Works of Art
This component seems to work well. There is a call for a wider range of
choice of courses in this rubric. Perhaps, we should consider some courses
on aesthetics.

Physical Universe and its Life Forms
This component also seems to be working well. The assessment of this rubric
last semester did not call for any radical changes. The Assessment Committee
is satisfied with the goals, concept and delivery of this component. Some
questions were raised on the understanding of the scientific method by our
students.

Scientific literacy is very important in this technological age. Do students
understand the relation between science and technology? There is a call for
courses on History or Philosophy of Science and Science & Society offered by
HT folks.

Human Societies
There is much dissatisfaction with the menu of courses offered beyond
Comparative Societies. This smorgasbord of courses can be replaced by a
slate of 5 to 7 courses, with multiple sections, which address spirituality
in different ways. Another suggestion is to limit this menu to a set of
Introduction to Social Sciences courses and to make Comparative Societies
value-based. It should be noted that our assessment program indicates that
our fifth purpose of exploring Athe spiritual dimension of human existence
and the relationship between faith and knowledge@ is not being addressed by
our academic curriculum.

Issues and Ideas
This course is supposed to provide the culminating experience in our general
education program. It seems to be working well. Can we develop some common
goals for the 15 to 20 courses offered under this rubric? Should we go back
to the two-course Systems of Thought and Belief mode?

Majors
We should plan to review all the current majors. We should strive to provide
a state of the art emphasis in most majors (eg. Molecular Biology,
Computational Dimension in Natural Sciences, Media Concentration, Public
Relations, Sports Management etc.) According to AAC&U, there is a Amuddle in
the middle@ in most major programs. Is there coherence and integration
within the disciplines? How do the majors relate to the general education?
We are expected to make recommendations for adding, modifying, and
eliminating course offerings and programs. May be, when more majors become
attractive and cutting edge, they will stem the tide towards Business and
Education!

Further Suggestions
1.  There is wide support for introducing a Quantitative Reasoning
requirement in our curriculum. There is a relevant article in our red
folder. We may have to look at Abest practices@ in peer institutions and
work with a regional consultant to see how this can be implemented.
2.  How do we educate our students to make value-based decisions in this
fast-changing and complex world? Many schools have introduced Ethical
Inquiry/Moral Reasoning requirement in their curriculum. There are two
relevant articles in our red folder. Again, we may want to look at Abest
practices@ in peer institutions or work with a regional consultant to see
how this can be implemented.
3. We need to introduce course requirements under the broad category of
Internationalization, Globalization and Cultural Diversity in our
curriculum.
4. Do we need to develop courses that explicitly deal with Modes of Inquiry,
Critical Thinking, Logical Reasoning, Problem Solving etc.?

Other General Considerations Related to Curricular Review
1.  The six questions Dean Arnold has raised on the articulation of our
curricular goals, understanding the needs of our students and the world they
are entering into and the allocation of resources.
2.  The implications of the Teagle grant - Adoing nothing is not a viable
option@ and if we come up with strong initiatives, management support may be
forthcoming.
3.  Simplify the process for curricular initiatives, streamline the budget
process and review our style of management.
4.  There is no ongoing support for Instruction Technology and our current
policies and procedures continue to frustrate folks, especially some of our
newer faculty.
5. Our semester schedule is anathema to aims of a serious, liberal arts
education: the semester system breeds fragmentation, superficiality,
freneticism, hyperactivity and resentment.
5.  We need to continue to address the work load issue.