Major changes made in undergrad education requirements

3:22 p.m., May 5, 2004--The University Faculty Senate made several major changes to undergraduate education at the University on Monday, May 3, as part of the General Education Initiative.

Senators approved two specific changes to the University’s existing undergraduate requirements and recommended ongoing development of other goals first introduced in 1998 by the senate’s initial ad hoc committee on general education [www.udel.edu/facsen/Executive/TenGoalsGenEdProgram.htm].

The new requirements include:

Beginning in September 2005, all first-year students will be required to participate in at least one first-year experience. These can be either participation in a LIFE learning community made up of students with similar academic interests; enrollment in a Pathways interdisciplinary thematic course; or attendance in a first-year seminar or a University Honors Program colloquium.
All undergraduate students entering in September 2005 or later will be required to take at least three credits of discovery-based or experiential learning. These can include an internship, a service learning course, independent study or participation in an undergraduate research program or a Study Abroad program to fulfill degree requirements.

In addition, two additional resolutions put forth by the senate’s Undergraduate Studies Committee were passed. All departments and academic programs were urged to develop capstone courses, “wherever appropriate and feasible,” for their majors, minors, concentrators and certificate students. These academic units also were asked to “make every effort to incorporate the goals concerning written and oral communication, quantitative reasoning and instructional technology within courses across the entire range of undergraduate offerings.”

Procedural issues also were addressed as the senate approved a resolution making a standing General Education Committee that will work with the Center for Teaching Effectiveness and the Office of Undergraduate Studies to develop new general education initiatives and review their implementation. The resolution also called for each academic unit to report every three years to the committee on its progress toward achieving the approved undergraduate education goals.

“Full implementation of the general education initiatives approved by the Faculty Senate will greatly benefit UD students and strengthen the signature of a UD education,” Provost Dan Rich said after the vote. He said that the Provost’s office will assist with the support needed for successful implementation.

“UD continues to be an innovative leader in undergraduate education,” Rich said. “Harvard University recently announced that it would begin consideration of many of the improvements that were approved by the University of Delaware Faculty Senate on Monday.”

Details of the general education resolutions passed by the senate can be found at [www.udel.edu/facsen/Executive/TomLeitchGenEdResolutions.htm].

In other business, a report on grade inflation at the University from 1987 through 2002 was presented along with a recommendation to amend the Faculty Handbook to state what each of the letter grades means.

Donald Lehman, chairman of the ad hoc committee, told the senators that students with stronger SAT scores now entering the University do not account for the grade inflation and that grade inflation and grade compression are a national problem. The UD report concludes that, “In all class sizes, at all course levels, for all SAT groups, and in virtually all departments, there has been a marked shift in grades from C’s to B’s and from B’s to A’s since 1987.”

Klaus Theopold, professor of chemistry and biochemistry, noted that “this resolution is not a step forward” and urged some accountability by departments. After discussion, an amendment was offered by Mark Huddleston, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, suggesting that the committee meet during 2004-05 to consider additional means of addressing grade inflation.

In senate elections, Avron Abraham, associate professor of health and exercise sciences, was chosen president-elect for the academic year 2005-06. Joann Browning, professor of theatre, was elected vice president, and Carmine Balascio, associate professor of bioresources engineering, was elected chairperson of the Committee on Committees.

Charles Boncelet, professor of computer and electrical engineering, will serve as president for the 2004-05 academic year.

Article by Cornelia Weil

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