University of Michigan - Flint

General Education Renewal

The proposals received in response to the initial RFP for Pilot Interdisciplinary Suites for Winter, 2008

Humanities, Society and Culture. The General Education Design Team invites a second round of

• Economics, Finance and Quantitative Reasoning (suites of 6 credits)

• Health and Well-Being (suites of 6 credits)

Two or three Suites will be selected from those submitted for implementation in the Pilot Phase, but all

proposals that satisfy General Education outcomes may eventually be implemented as the Learning

Communities and Effective Citizenship plan unfolds for all incoming students.

Faculty developing the suites selected for the Spring/Summer Pilot will each receive a stipend of $1000.

ask faculty to build meaningful linkages between learning and application of knowledge. While both

Single Discipline and Interdisciplinary Suites are called for, our initial pilot is focusing on the latter type

that consciously assist students in their ability to see the interconnectedness of knowledge by bringing the

methodologies and perspectives of more than one discipline to bear on concrete issues and problems.

Various groups on campus (the Academic Assessment Committee, the HLC Assessment Academy Team,

the General Education Design Team) are working to develop General Education Learning Outcomes and

a rigorous, practical plan for assessing those outcomes which will be brought to the faculty for discussion

and approval. The current draft of desirable outcomes include the following categories:

1. Disciplinary Perspectives and the Interconnectedness of Knowledge

2. Critical and Creative Thinking

3. Engaged Citizenship

4. Communication Skills

5. Learning Skills

While these categories and language may shift somewhat as campus conversations grow wider and

deeper, we are confident that outcomes in these areas will remain part of the plan.

Each student who participates in one of our pilot General Education Components, be it a First Year

Experience course or an Interdisciplinary Suite of Courses, must be assured that that course credit will

count toward accruing credit in our current General Education Program. In the Pilot Suites, all courses

will retain their current GE designations.

Submit to Sandra Alberto: TCLT 366 FH

Deadline: November 16, 2007

Submit to Sandra Alberto: TCLT 366 FH

Title of Suite:

1. Course #_____________ Course Title____________________________________________

________________________________________ ____________________________________

Instructor Name (printed) Signature

2. Course #_____________ Course Title____________________________________________

________________________________________ ____________________________________

Instructor Name (printed) Signature

3. Course #_____________ Course Title____________________________________________

________________________________________ ____________________________________

Instructor Name (printed) Signature

expected of students who take the entire suite beyond that which is expected of students who take

only one component of the suite? [We already have certain models of instances in which multiple

audiences participate in a course, i.e., Honors students enrolled in a non-Honors course, graduate

students enrolled in an undergraduate course for graduate credit.]

• How does the suite address the draft General Education Goals? (See appended list.)

• Provide an across suite assignment that addresses the suite-level student learning outcome of

General Education student learning outcomes.

than taking the courses individually.

Preferred time and days for suite components:

Room preference/s:

Resource requirements (human, financial, other):

__________________________________ ________________________ ___________

NAME (printed) Signature Date

__________________________________ ________________________ ___________

NAME (printed) Signature Date

Students will be able to:

in one or more of the following domains:

Humanities, Culture, Society

Economics, Finance & Quantitative Reasoning

Health & Well-Being

Science & Technology

Students will be able to:

• express and substantiate their thoughts and opinions in a variety of written formats.

communication (speaking and listening).

• recognize and articulate the role of visual communication in human experience.

Students will be able to:

their academic and personal success.

university education.

utilizing library resources.

Students will be able to:

• distinguish among facts, inferences, opinions, and the assertion of values.

appropriately.

• recognize alternative approaches and conflicting viewpoints.

• evaluate the use of evidence and quality of arguments.

Students will be able to:

• articulate and examine personal and societal ethical issues, values, and responsibilities.

own cultural contexts influence the ways in which they perceive others.

to develop a potential action plan that addresses the problem.