Plans to implement a new General Education Program ceased before winter break due to a petition submitted to Faculty Senate by nearly 130 faculty members.
The petition called for Faculty Senate to revise the program's policies and demanded more faculty participation in its development. Participating faculty also requested a faculty-wide vote to accept or reject the program after revisions were made.
Educational Policies and Student Affairs Committee Chair David Ingram said the committee met during winter break and made significant changes to the program, which he hopes the faculty will accept.
We've ultimately condensed some of the more confusing categories in order to make the program less complicated and strengthened the Foundational Skills (Tier I)
Ingram said.
For nearly eight years, Faculty Senate has produced various revisions of the General Education program. Many faculty members believe the addition and subtraction of policies over the years created a program that is cumbersome and confusing.
When you get to a point when something that has been planned for so long is never implemented people start to question it said Phyllis Bernt, chair of senate.
If faculty vote to reject the program, the Tier system will continue to be enforced, and any new ideas for such a program will have to start from scratch, Bernt said.
She said there was never an official analysis stating the problems with the Tier system or why OU even needs a new General Education program, which may have contributed to the faculty outcry.
General Education Council Chairman Bill Owens said the problem is that faculty members are unaware of the new program's overall goals.
One of the goals is to create more challenging and rewarding classes for freshmen, Owens said. But, he said he fears the revisions focus too much on the number of classes a student takes rather than the actual quality of the class.
Overall, he said, Once the faculty incorporate these goals into their individual departments they will better accept the
