Two town halls and an online survey will provide opportunities for campus input on a proposed revision to the general education curriculum.
A committee of faculty and staff have been working since fall 2019 to review and revise Illinois State University’s general education curriculum. Ideas and feedback were solicited from faculty and staff via the executive committee, work groups, surveys, focus groups, and college- and university-level curriculum committees. This input was used to develop proposed revisions to the current general education curriculum. Chris Horvath, co-chair of the executive committee, stated “faculty, staff, and students will see the foundation of the existing curriculum remains, but there are changes that will help our students better understand why general education is so important.”
The executive committee is now seeking broad input on the new structure for general education it has prepared. The proposed summary document, consistent with the Academic Senate-approved process for changes to general education, will be available on the general education website in early September, along with a survey to collect feedback. The executive committee hopes to refine and finalize the proposal in October.
In addition to the online opportunity, two town halls will be held:
Friday, September 15, 9-11 a.m.
Bone Student Center, Circus Room
Friday, September 29, 1-3 p.m.
Honors Program Building
The town halls are informal sessions where faculty, staff, and students can drop in and engage directly with executive committee members. They will not be organized as presentations, but as tables where various aspects of the proposal can be perused, discussed, and commented upon. Cheri Simonds, executive committee co-chair, stated “the town halls will allow the committee to talk directly with faculty, staff, and students to hear their concerns and answer questions. The feedback will be used to finalize a proposal that will continue through the shared governance process.” Opportunities for written feedback will be available at the tables.
After the feedback is analyzed, a final proposal will be submitted to the Council for General Education to continue the process of consideration and adoption.
