Baker University Faculty Senate approved the slate of nominees for the ad hoc committee on general education review.
“They’re going to kind of lead the faculty through the process,” Vice Chair Martha Harris said. “They may call meetings or have programs … and kind of set the timetable for how we’re going to move toward getting our gen-ed requirements revised if, indeed, it turns out that they need to be revised.”
Chair of Faculty Senate Tracy Floreani said alternative models to the general education requirements in place now were proposed last year, but the process stalled because faculty couldn’t agree on which model was best.
“The idea is how do we proceed with these new ideas for gen ed and meeting the goals of gen ed and keeping the good things we already have,” Floreani said.
The ad hoc committee consists of sophomores Brett Woods and Rachel Kilian, Assistant Dean of the School of Nursing Kay Osinski, Associate Professor of Education Merrie Skaggs, Assistant Dean for Institutional Effectiveness Judy Smrha, Associate Professor of Music Susan Buehler, Professor of Philosophy Donald Hatcher, Associate Professor of Political Science Ryan Beasley, Assistant Professor of Psychology Marc Carter, Associate Professor of Biology Charmaine Henry, Professor of Physics Mahmoud Al-Kofahi and Professor of Physical Education Wayne Osness.
Co-chair of the ad hoc committee Judy Smrha said the committee plans to review general education requirements in place at Baker and other universities.
“We’ve done a little bit of work on it to see how big of thing it is and maybe sort of where we want to go,” Smrha said. “Everyone has a picture in their mind of where that eventual outcome might be. It’s such a significant task and requires so much input from everyone, faculty and students alike, that we need to be a little bit more eventful in terms of how we’re proceeding, and that’s the purpose of this particular group … to try to set forth the process.”
Smrha said she wants students and faculty who aren’t on the committee to be comfortable voicing their opinions to the committee.
“We want to make sure students feel as if their concerns, be they the concerns of somebody only one semester away from graduation, are as relevant as those six semesters away from graduation,” Smrha said.
Smrha said students need to understand the revisions of general education will be a slow procedure.