Subcommittee on Core Curriculum Minutes 2014-05-12

Call to Order

The organizational meeting for the Subcommittee on Core Curriculum was called to order by Stephen Wills at 12:00 p.m. in Kilpatrick 221.

Attendance

Voting Members Present: Nancy Beasley, Roberta Gorham, Yi Kathy Liu, Mary Magoulick, Cara Meade, Julia Metzker, Brandon Samples, Amy Sumpter, Dana Wood
Non-Voting Member Present: Kay Anderson
Regrets: Ruth Carter, Joe Mocnik, Sheryl Winn
Guests: Stephen Wills

Election of Committee Officers

CAPC Chair Stephen Wills led the election of committee officers. Julia Metzker was elected as committee chair. Amy Sumpter was elected as vice-chair. Kay Anderson was elected to serve as committee secretary.

Discussion Items

History of Committee. Julia Metzker asked committee members who had served on SoCC in previous years to provide a summary of the committee’s work, successes, and challenges.

Function of the Committee. Julia Metzker provided information from the SoCC bylaws regarding the committee’s role and function. SoCC is a subcommittee of CAPC, and it is responsible for reviewing and advising CAPC on all matters concerning the core curriculum. This includes ensuring that our core is consistent with University System of Georgia rules regarding the core curriculum, reviewing and approving new core courses, and ensuring existing courses are assessed for effectiveness and student learning.

Goals for 2014-2015. The committee developed several goals based on the previous two discussion items. These included:
• Providing information to campus on the course approval process
• Developing a procedure for reviewing existing core courses
• Investigate alternatives to the current global overlay requirements
• Address issues related to leadership and management of the core, including faculty load for 2Y courses, class sizes, best 4th hour practices for 2Y courses, and consistency among core sections
• Address issues of distinctiveness in the core. Look for opportunities to create innovative or unique experiences consistent with our liberal arts mission.
• Make committee work and processes more transparent to the larger GC community, including establishing a web presence with easy access to forms and information and consistently communicating approval processes with faculty and departments
• Focus on core assessment

Schedule for 2014-2015. The committee decided that it might be more effective by focusing on specific topics at each meeting and developed the following tentative schedule for the Fall semester:

Week 1: 8/22 Review Course Proposals
Week 2: 8/29 Issue: Global Overlay Options
Week 3: 9/5 Assessment
Week 4: 9/12 Tentative: Assessment
Week 5: 9/19 Review Course Proposals
Week 6: 9/26 Issue: accessibility of information/process
Week 7: 10/3 Assessment
Week 8: 10/10 Tentative: Assessment
Week 9: 10/17 Review Course Proposals
Week 10: 10/24 GC1Y/GC2Y issues (get faculty input through survey)
Week 11: 10/31 Assessment
Week 12: 11/7 Tentative: Assessment
Week 13: 11/14 Review Course Proposals
Week 14: 11/21 CORE leadership
Week 15: 11/28 Assessment (Addendum: This date will be rescheduled; this is Thanksgiving week.)

Next Meeting

The committee’s next meeting will be Friday, August 22, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. Julia Metzker will send the location prior to the meeting.

Adjournment

The committee adjourned at 1:45 p.m.