Changes to General Education Defining Criteria

The defining criteria of a general education attribute are the features on the competency websites, namely:

1. The Operational Definition, which describes what the competency is striving toward.
2. The Hallmark of a Bulldog, which describes what we hope our graduates will achieve (in broad terms).
3. The Relevance, which justifies why the competency is part of the Ferris General Education program.
4. The Ferris Learning Outcomes (FLOs), which are measurable student learning outcomes used to assess the program.

Proposals to revise any of the defining criteria must originate in the subcommittee for the competency. Members of the university community who would like to make such changes should contact the chair of the relevant subcommittee.

A proposal to revise any of the defining criteria must include:

1. A statement of the current defining criteria
2. A statement of the proposed changes
3. A rationale for making the change.

Changes to an Operational Definition, Hallmark of a Bulldog, or Relevance, once approved by a subcommittee, must go through the following approval steps:

STEP 1: The proposal will be posted on the General Education website and the university community will be given two weeks (14 calendar days) to provide public comments.  The public comment period will begin the day it is announced through University-Wide Notices.

STEP 2: The subcommittee must review the public comments, revise their proposal as they see fit based on the comments. They must also write a written response to the public comments, indicating which comments they accepted and which they did not (with a rationale).  

STEP 3: The subcommittee sends the full proposal, original and revised, together with the public comments and the written response, to the University General Education Committee.

STEP 4: The University General Education Committee will review the proposal and either approve or reject the proposal.  If approved, changes will go into effect the following Fall Semester and the Director of General Education will send out a University-Wide Notice informing the university community of the approved change.  If rejected, the Director of General Education will send a rejection notice along with a written rationale to the subcommittee chair.

Changes to any FLOs, once approved by a subcommittee, must go through the following approval steps:

STEP 1: The proposal will be posted on the General Education website and the university community will be given two weeks (14 calendar days) to provide public comments.  The public comment period will begin the day it is announced through University-Wide Notices.  The Director of General Education will inform the chairs of the University Assessment Committee and the University Curriculum Committee of the proposal.

STEP 2: The subcommittee will send the proposal (unrevised) together with the public comments to the chairs of the University Assessment Committee and the University Curriculum Committee.  The University Assessment Committee and the University Curriculum Committee will be given two weeks from the date the proposal is sent to provide feedback and comments on the proposal.

STEP 3: The subcommittee must review the public comments and feedback from the University Assessment Committee and the University Curriculum Committee, and revise their proposal as they see fit based on the comments and feedback. They must also write a written response to the comments and feedback, indicating which they accepted and which they did not (with a rationale).  

STEP 3: The subcommittee sends the full proposal, original and revised, together with the public comments, feedback from the University Assessment Committee and University Curriculum Committee, and the written response, to the University General Education Committee.

STEP 4: The University General Education Committee will review the proposal and either approve or reject the proposal.  

If rejected, the Director of General Education will send a rejection notice along with a written rationale to the subcommittee chair, and the process ends.

If approved, the Director of General Education will send the full proposal (original, revised, public comments, and committee feedback) to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee for further action.

STEP 5:  The Senate Executive Committee will determine whether or not the proposal requires Academic Senate approval.  The Senate Executive Committee should, but are not required to, base their determination on whether or not the proposed change is substantive or for clarification purposes.

If the proposal does not require Academic Senate approval, the proposal is deemed approved.  Changes will go into effect the following Fall Semester and the Director of General Education will send out a University-Wide Notice informing the university community of the approved change, and will be added to the Senate agenda as “information only.”

If the proposal does require Academic Senate approval, the Senate Executive Committee will put the proposal on the agenda for the Academic Senate as soon as reasonably practicable.

STEP 6:  The Senate will either approve or reject the proposal.  If approved, changes will go into effect the following Fall Semester and the Director of General Education will send out a University-Wide Notice informing the university community of the approved change.  If rejected, the Director of General Education will send a rejection notice along with a written rationale to the subcommittee chair.