General Education 5 Implementation Advances
The General Education Implementation Task Force (GE Task Force) has been working diligently to simplify the process of transitioning GE 4 to the new SUNY GE Framework. The GE Task Force’s plans to convert to “GE 5” include curricular considerations and modifications described below.
Process for Transitioning to GE 5
The GE Task Force has identified the following processes for transitioning to GE 5:
(1) Recertification – There are minimal changes in the five areas of The Arts, Mathematics (and Quantitative Reasoning), Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning), Social Sciences, and World Languages in converting from GE 4 to GE 5. Consequently, the GE Task Force created a process of recertification whereby courses in these five Knowledge and Skill areas can have their GE 4 courses approved for the same areas in GE 5. Please refer to the all-fs email of March 14 for more details.
(2) Major Revision – Courses in the remaining five Knowledge and Skills areas where student learning outcomes (SLOs) differ from the same or similar areas in GE 4 will require major revisions in order to be approved for GE 5. Such courses include those that presently satisfy the College’s Diversity requirement, current GE courses proposed for approval in a different Knowledge and Skills area, and existing non-GE courses proposed for GE 5. The five Knowledge and Skills areas where it will be necessary for courses to be significantly modified to show that they meet the SLOs in GE 5 include Communication-Written and Oral; Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice; Humanities; US History and Civic Engagement; and World History and Global Awareness (which replaces Western Civilization and World Civilizations).
(3) New Course Proposal – New courses proposed for approval in any GE 5 Knowledge and Skills area will require submission of new course proposals.
(4) Core Competencies – GE 5 has two Core Competencies, Critical Thinking and Reasoning and Information Literacy. Consistent with current practice, these competencies will be satisfied by courses in majors.
In mid-March, the GE Task Force issued detailed guidance on Recertification, the first of the processes described above. In a March 30 memo to the campus, the Task Force promised comprehensive guidance on major course revisions and new course proposals in early April. I am happy to report that on the very first day, that is, April 1, Implementation Guidance for departments was distributed to all department chairs.
I remain deeply grateful to the GE Task Force for its efforts and to faculty and staff for your participation in this highly consequential curricular work.
Faculty Action Needed for Transition from Blackboard to D2L Brightspace
Faculty can find all the information they need about migration from Blackboard to the Brightspace Digital Learning Environment (DLE) by visiting the DLE webpage. The website includes:
- General information about the new Brightspace DLE
- Migration information, including a detailed and comprehensive Faculty FAQ
- Faculty training Information, including links to the new on demand training
- Guidance about access to information needed to manage incomplete grades
Action Required by All Faculty if Teaching Remotely in Fall
If you will be teaching remotely in fall 2022, it is essential that you complete your DLE Core Training. You are also strongly encouraged to complete the Core Pedagogy Training. Both trainings are available on demand and are fully asynchronous.
Action Required by Faculty Needing Provisional Certification for Online Teaching
We are no longer requiring applications for provisional certification. Faculty who need provisional certification for online teaching must simply complete the DLE Core Training and Core Pedagogy Training and they will be provisionally certified.
All Faculty - Attention Needed to FAQs and Emails from the “Office of Instructional Technology”
Please review the Faculty FAQ and read all Office of Instructional Technology (OIT) emails about the DLE migration so that you are aware of any actions you may need to take to preserve certain kinds of information or to prepare for critical changes. OIT expects to migrate 6 years’ worth of course content automatically from Blackboard to Brightspace but there may be older courses or other important records, such as student data, that will require your attention in order to successfully access them in Brightspace.
Recent Recognitions
As usual, you will find recent recognitions of faculty and staff accomplishments at the following link: https://sites.newpaltz.edu/news/category/research/. Please submit news of your awards and honors, publications/creative works, or other recognitions of your accomplishments to the Office of Communication & Marketing. News of faculty accomplishments also often appears in the Daily Digest.
In this report, I want to recognize the faculty whose leadership placed SUNY New Paltz in the inaugural cohort of institutions comprising the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) Learning Community (https://www.hhmi.org/ie3). The faculty of our SUNY New Paltz IE3 Leadership Team include:
- Jennifer Waldo
- Lydia Bright
- Nancy Campos
- Megan Ferguson
- Catherine Herne
Over the past year and a half, they have been working with teams from 108 finalist schools selected from 354 applicants, on projects to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in academic science. From three possible project areas, New Paltz faculty chose the challenge of “Effective partnerships between 2- and 4-year institutions, which grow from existing relationships.”
As members of their Learning Community Cluster, our faculty colleagues are in good company and these institutions are likewise in good company collaborating with New Paltz’s faculty team:
Clemson University
Florida International University
Florida State University
Howard University
King University
Michigan State University
Monmouth College
Montana State University
Rowan University
State University of New York at New Paltz
University of Colorado Boulder
University of Nevada-Reno
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
University of Wyoming
Washington State University-Vancouver
The work continues as each Cluster grapples with their selected challenge, identifies roadblocks, and designs ways of dismantling barriers. The Teams are now developing collaborative projects leading to a six‐year grant to be awarded to each of the participating institutions for projects launching as early as fall 2022. Congratulations to the SUNY New Paltz IE3 Leadership Team and we look forward to hearing more as their collaboration in the HHMI Inclusive Excellence 3 (IE3) Learning Community moves into the next stages.
Closing
It is never too late to create an individual account from our National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD) institutional membership, as you seek to improve work-life balance at the stretch of the semester when it can be hardest to maintain. Faculty have been joining continually since this opportunity opened late last fall, with the numbers increasing every month. To create your own account, please visit https://www.facultydiversity.org/join.
As the semester advances to its conclusion, I hope you will take advantage of the multiplicity of opportunities to witness the amazing work that your own and other New Paltz students have accomplished this spring, thanks to the faculty, and to all who all contribute to the conditions for students to learn and thrive.
Best regards,
Barbara
Barbara G. Lyman
Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs