Dear Faculty and Staff:
The General Education Implementation Task Force (GE Task Force) has been charged with helping SUNY New Paltz transition from GE 3 and GE 4 to the new GE program approved by the Faculty Senate on March 2, 2022, and aligned with the SUNY GE Framework approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees on November 9, 2021. Because our new GE program does not yet have an official name, we will refer to it by the unofficial name of “GE 5.”
These principles are central to the work of the GE Task Force:
- GE 5 must be in place for new first-time students entering fall 2023.
- We must be able to offer enough GE courses to meet enrollment needs.
- We are committed to creating as little unnecessary work as possible in the face of this arduous task.
- We will respect and use existing processes for curricular revision, consistent with the Bylaws of the College Faculty. We will consider slight modifications in process if they align with faculty governance and will make our GE transition easier and more efficient.
- We must document the process of building the curriculum for GE 5.
Following broad consultation with the Interim Provost, Academic Deans, GE Board, Curriculum Committee, Records & Registration, Undergraduate Admission, and others, we have identified the following processes for transitioning to GE 5:
(1) Recertification - for courses in the five GE Knowledge and Skills areas where minimal changes are needed (see details below);
(2) Major Revision - for courses in the remaining Knowledge and Skills areas where more substantial changes are needed, including courses 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;
(3) Course Proposal - for new courses proposed for approval in any GE 5 Knowledge and Skills area; and
(4) Curricular Map Revision – for aligning, or realigning, specific courses with GE 5 Core Competencies at the Introductory, Intermediate (Developing), and Advanced (Mastery) levels.
Our initial focus will be on the first of these processes, Recertification. The five Knowledge and Skills areas to which recertification applies are:
- Mathematics (and Quantitative Reasoning), currently Mathematics
- Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning), currently Natural Sciences
- Social Sciences
- The Arts
- World Languages, currently Foreign Language
Chairs will organize the recertification work in their departments. They will receive the current and new GE student learning outcomes (SLOs) for these five Knowledge and Skills areas and a spreadsheet that lists their department’s GE 3/GE 4 courses. Chairs will complete the checklist that accompanies the course list and attach updated syllabi for the courses they want to recertify for GE 5. Additional minor revisions may be requested as part of the recertification process. All materials (checklist and required updated syllabi) will be emailed to GEimplementation@newpaltz.edu by May 1, 2022. Associate Provost Laurel M. Garrick Duhaney will review the information and forward approved submissions to Records & Registration for processing.
The recertification process outlined here is consistent with a resolution passed by the Curriculum Committee on February 23, 2022: “If a course which is being revised for the New GE5 requirements retains the same GE category and the SLOs have not changed and any other changes meet the requirement for a minor revision, the proposal will be considered a minor revision.” As per the Bylaws of the College Faculty, “All minor course revisions are the responsibility of each of the divisions in close consultation with the Provost’s Office” and do not require Curriculum Committee review.
Closing
We have prioritized course recertification to transition a significant number of courses to GE 5 quickly and efficiently during the busy spring semester. Detailed guidance on the remaining processes – major course revision, new course proposals, and curricular map revision – will follow.
It will require substantial collective effort to modify and develop new GE courses to meet the needs of students, especially first-time-in-college students arriving fall 2023. This work comes when we are already exhausted from COVID-related events of the past two years. However, we seek your help to accomplish this important work and thank you in advance for your dedicated and unstinting efforts.
Laurel M. Garrick Duhaney
Associate Provost & Co-chair of the GE Implementation Task Force
Bruce Milem
Associate Professor of Philosophy & Co-chair of the GE Implementation Task Force
