LIBERAL STUDIES AT IUP

REPORT OF THE
GENERAL EDUCATION TASK FORCE

MAY 1987

including revisions of the Senate
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee
and the University Senate
and approved by
the University Senate
May 5, 1987

General Education Task Force

Arlo Davis, Chairperson, 1985-86
Charles D. Cashdollar, Chairperson, 1987
Lorrie J. Bright
Ruth A. Browning
David G. Concannon
Cynthia A. Cronk
Oliver J. Ford
Sandra L. Garyotis
Ronald A. Juliette
Sherrill A. Kuckuck
Eugene E. Lepley
Charles W. Ryan
Stanford L. Tackett
Carol A. Teti
Dennis D. Tiger
Cyril J. Zenisek

CURRICULUM REFORM AT IUP -- SOME HIGHLIGHTS

WHY CURRICULUM REFORM NOW?

For the last several years, there has been widespread discussion throughout the United States about the quality and content of undergraduate education. Since at least the late 1970s, faculty on many campuses have expressed concern and urged reforms--in some cases with success, in others not. Within the last two years, however, three major national reports have given focus and impetus to the emerging debate: the National Institute of Education's Involvement in Learning: Realizing the Potential of American Higher Education (1984); the National Endowment for the Humanities' To Reclaim a Legacy: A Report on the Humanities in Higher Education (1984), written by William J. Bennett; and the Association of American Colleges' Integrity in the College Curriculum: A Report to the Academic Community (1985). Just a few weeks ago, Ernest L. Boyer, president of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, released preliminary findings of another major study on college education; the full report, College: The Undergraduate Experience in America, is due to be published early in 1987. All of these reports focus on the necessity of strengthening the core of liberal studies which pertains to every educated person regardless of major or career preparation. The essence of these reports as adapted to the needs of students at IUP is reflected in the section entitled Goals for Liberal Studies. A large number of colleges and universities have already responded to the challenge laid down by these national reports; others are considering how they might do so. Nearly all of the 13 other SSHE institutions either have recently adjusted their curriculums or are taking steps in that direction.

IUP's basic university curriculum requirements are just about twenty years old; it is important that they be modified to meet today's needs. This is essential, first and foremost, from the standpoint of academic integrity. Simply put, we must do the very best job that we can, but there is another reason, too. In the next few years, as more and more universities modify their university requirements, curriculum reform will become an important factor in helping IUP attract those students who can be most selective in choosing a college. That may be a less lofty and a somewhat more self-serving reason, but it is not an unimportant one.

IS ANYTHING WRONG WITH WHAT WE HAVE NOW?

Actually, there is a lot that is right with what we are doing now, but that doesn't mean that we can't strengthen ourselves and do some things better. Our current curriculum places much reliance on choice and chance. It's possible for a student to put together a good program, and many students do; it's also possible to end up with an unbalanced one. It's possible, for instance, for students to take all introductory level courses, or to have no writing experiences outside their English classes, or to avoid entirely broad areas of study such as philosophy or history, or to leave IUP without any exposure to a culture other than their own. It is also true that some things are not always labeled so that students see them for what they are, or understand the reasons for taking them. In short, we think that what we are doing is good, but we can do better.

WHAT ARE WE HOPING TO ACCOMPLISH?

Let's be certain of one thing. We are not going to create utopia; no curricular change can do that at any university. But we can make significant improvements in the quality of the undergraduate education we offer. We can promote better balanced choices; we can put more emphasis on writing and insure that it occurs in more places than the English department; we can design some non-introductory level experiences for students; we can encourage the exercise of synthetic as well as analytic skills; we can give the faculty some space and some incentive to be creative. We can make our expectations clear to students so that they are more likely to take seriously the Liberal Studies portion of the curriculum. And when we do those things, we are likely also to change some of the often negative attitudes which both faculty and students hold toward Liberal Studies courses.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MAIN FEATURES OF THE PROPOSED CHANGES?

* A curriculum outline to focus on learning skills, knowledge areas, and synthesis.

* A Writing Across the Curriculum program to spread the responsibility for promoting literacy beyond the English faculty, and to emphasize to students the seriousness with which the university regards the quality of written prose.

* A slightly modified distribution of credits and courses to insure that students touch each of the major knowledge areas--Humanities, Fine Arts, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Health and Wellness.

* A provision for a number of Liberal Studies Electives to allow students to explore and deepen their knowledge, and to give students and their advisors some flexibility to respond to individual needs and interests.

* A new university course emphasizing synthetic skills and designed to be taken by students in one of their final semesters on campus. It is a course which not only should meet certain academic objectives, but also should be personally satisfying to both students and faculty.

* A proposal for a faculty Director of Liberal Studies to administer the program and to be an advocate for Liberal Studies, and a Liberal Studies Committee, reporting to the Senate, to review new proposals and to recommend changes which become necessary over time.

WHY SHOULD WE CHANGE THE NAME TO "LIBERAL STUDIES"?

The suggestion for a new name came to us in the responses which we got to our Preliminary Report, and we think the proposal is a good idea. It should reduce the tendency of students, and sometimes of faculty, to respond, as occasionally they do now to "General Education," with a relaxed "Ah, that's just general stuff--not too important." It should help to erases the pejorative connotation which the word "general" sometimes picks up from its association with the lowest level, non-college-preparatory high school curriculum. Liberal Studies, on the other hand, conveys a more intellectual tone and calls for a more serious commitment to university-wide requirements. It should help in selling the program not only to currently enrolled students, but to prospective ones. Interestingly, liberal is the word which the IUP Senate used in the 1979 statement of our philosophy which appears at the beginning of each issue of the IUP Catalog. A "liberal education," the Senate wrote, "will allow our students to liberate themselves from narrow interests and prejudices, to broaden their intellectual horizons by increased cultural perspective, to develop the ability to think logically, critically, and creatively, and to communicate their judgments clearly and forcefully." It would be hard to write a much better definition than that.

WHAT ARE "PHASE I" AND "PHASE II"?

We are asking you to separate, for the time being, the basic outline and concept of a new curriculum from the issues involved in course design and implementation. We see the Senate's approval of the basic outline and concept to be "Phase I." More detailed criteria relating to course design and implementation will be submitted to the Senate as "Phase II." That is, let's talk now about whether we want a Writing Across the Curriculum program; let's worry later about whether that means ten pages of writing or fifty pages. Or, let's decide now whether we want each student to take a history course; let's worry later about whether that course is supposed to begin in 800 or 1600 or 1800 or whatever.

The curriculum proposal which you have before you is developed as far as categories and semester hours, and it provides a concept statement for each category so that you can understand clearly what we have in mind and the direction we want to go. This is our recommendation for "Phase I."

When the Senate has approved this much, "Phase II" will begin. In that phase, specific criteria will be written for each category of courses, i.e., one set for literature, one for history, one for health and wellness, one for the synthesis course, etc. Representatives from the relevant disciplines will be asked to help with the writing of these criteria. The criteria will then be submitted to the Senate for approval so that the Senators can be assured that the specific course objectives match the general conceptual understandings which were conveyed in "Phase I." Once the criteria are approved, they will become the guide by which the Liberal Studies Committee and the Senate can decide whether specific course proposal are appropriate for that Liberal Studies category.

WHEN WILL ALL OF THIS START TO HAPPEN?

Modifying the Liberal Studies curriculum of an entire university is not something which will happen rapidly; it will take time for the university to prepare for change, and even when the implementation starts, it will be phased in over a four-year period to accommodate students already in the midst of their studies.

If the Senate approves Phase I this Spring, the committees working on Phase II will begin their work later in the Spring semester and report to the Senate in the Fall of 1987. Once the Senate acts on those reports, a variety of things will begin to happen. Grant applications will be submitted to help pay for some of the costs of implementation. Departments will begin to make any modifications which are necessary in their current courses or propose new ones; various administrative offices will work on such things as adding the new information to the IUP Catalog. Workshops will be held to give guidance to faculty members teaching Writing Across the Curriculum courses, and seminars will be organized for those planning to teach sections of the synthesis course. The goal is to have the first year of studies in place for the entering freshmen in the Fall of 1989, with the remainder of the program phased over the next four years.

HOW SHOULD WE, AS A UNIVERSITY COMMUNITY, REACT TO CHANGE?

Change is not to everyone's liking, and there is something undeniably comfortable about an old pair of shoes, but a community of scholars ought to realize also that change is inescapable. The students at IUP now differ in preparation and in aspiration from the ones we taught in the mid-1960s--indeed some of today's faculty were the students of two decades ago. And we all, faculty and students alike, live in a remarkably different world than we did when we last modified our curriculum. The issue, then, is not whether we can keep things just as they were. The issue is whether we can take the modes of thinking and values that are forever part of a liberal education and adapt them wisely to ever new circumstances, and whether we can prepare ourselves and our students to continue doing that with some grace and skill in the future. In that sense, change can become an opportunity, not an irritation.

We believe that the new Liberal Studies curriculum which we are proposing for IUP carries a great deal of potential and much opportunity, and we encourage you to look at it in that light. The synthesis course is just one example of the possibilities--it can be as rich and diverse and creative as the imagination of the faculty and students will allow it to be. The Writing Across the Curriculum program, the elective area, the courses which faculty will choose to redesign and the new courses they will create, all open up exciting opportunities for excellence in learning. We are excited about the possibilities and we hope, indeed trust, that many of you are also.

GOALS FOR LIBERAL STUDIES

Presented below are the academic goals which we believe relevant to the Liberal Studies portion of an undergraduate education. They are divided into three sections--the first suggesting a set of skills and modes of thinking; the second, a body of knowledge essential to an educated person; the third, the knowledge and skills needed to enjoy well-being. We recognize that these academic goals are intrinsically interrelated. The skills listed in Part I spill over into each other and the separations suggested by our enumeration, though convenient, are admittedly somewhat artificial. We expect that the parts--the skills and the body of knowledge--will be taught and achieved concurrently. Indeed, we understand the parts as enjoying a reciprocal relationship, each enhancing the others. For example, a familiarity with important reference points in our Western heritage provides the cultural context for literacy; at the same time, the skills in Part I are the indispensable means by which students master any knowledge about their culture.

We expect, too, that in the pursuit of these basic academic goals, students will achieve an appropriate level of proficiency in certain collateral skills, such as the use of the library and computing technology. We also anticipate that as a result of their academic work, students will achieve a deeper level of self-understanding and maturity, and that they will learn how to learn so that they can pursue knowledge throughout their lives and assist those who follow them in the same quest.

I. Students should acquire the following intellectual skills and modes of thinking;

A. Inquiry, abstract logical thinking, critical analysis, synthesis, decision making and other aspects of the rational process.

B. Literacy--writing, reading, speaking, listening;

C. Understanding numerical data.

D. Historical consciousness;

E. Scientific inquiry;

F. Values (Ethical mode of thinking or the application of ethical perception)

G. Aesthetic mode of thinking.

II. Students should acquire a body of knowledge or understanding essential to an educated person;

Because our culture is primarily the product and we the inheritors of Western Civilization, students need an understanding of its origins and development, from its roots in antiquity to the present. This understanding should include a grasp of the major trends in society, religion, philosophy, the arts, literature, politics and law, economics, and science and technology, as well as a knowledge of basic chronology and geography and a comprehension of the roles of women and men and of ethnic sub-cultures within its midst.

Because our culture is not exclusively a product of Western Civilization but has benefited and been shaped by its interaction with other cultures, because we live in a world where contact between cultures has been and is regular, because there are things even about our own culture which we learn best through the effort to understand another, and because our world is growing progressively smaller, we also believe that students should be familiar with at least one non-Western culture or civilization.

III. Students should acquire an understanding of the physical, as well as the intellectual, nature of human beings;

Because we need to be healthy to operate efficiently and because "wellness" demands an understanding of the methods by which it may be achieved, students not only should have a knowledge of these latter, but ought to demonstrate that they can practice them.

LIBERAL STUDIES

THE NEW CURRICULUM

Liberal Studies--Some General Policies

* The members of the Task Fore were asked only to address university-wide Liberal Studies requirements, and our report is limited to those considerations. Colleges and Departments may propose through the Liberal Studies Committee to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee supplemental requirements for their students, so long as those actions do not violate the integrity of Liberal Studies. Such College or Department requirements that are already in place will continue in force after the approval of the new program unless removed by the appropriate governing bodies. For example, the current requirement by some Colleges of an intermediate sequence in a foreign language would remain in effect, and students could fulfill the requirement from their Liberal Studies electives or, if necessary, from their free electives.

* We assume that, as is now the case, a student may satisfy a Liberal Studies requirement by taking an approved higher-level course or courses which incorporate or presume the skills and knowledge taught in the Liberal Studies courses which incorporate or presume the skills and knowledge taught in the Liberal Studies course. For example, no one is going to make a student who completes Principles of Economics I and II go back and take Basic Economics.

* Students may not fulfill requirements in the knowledge areas with courses bearing their major prefix. This supercedes all specific knowledge area requirements to the contrary. Students may fulfill the knowledge area credit requirements for those specific courses by electing additional non-major prefix courses in any of the knowledge areas.

LIBERAL STUDIES - CURRICULUM OUTLINE

Learning Skills

Communication 7sh

Mathematics 3 sh

Knowledge Areas

Core courses in broad disciplinary areas

Humanities 9 sh

Fine Arts 3 sh

Natural Sciences 7-8 sh

Social Sciences 9 sh

Health and Wellness 3 sh

Liberal Studies Electives, for exploration and study in depth 9 sh

Synthesis 3 sh

total - 53-54 sh

*Students electing the 7-semester hour option must take an additional 3-semester hour non-lab natural science course which can be counted as one of the Liberal Studies Electives.

LIBERAL STUDIES - CONCEPT STATEMENTS & DESCRIPTION

LEARNING SKILLS - Communication - 7 sh

I. English Composition I - 4 sh

During their first semester, students will enroll in a 4 semester hour course emphasizing English composition skills.

II. Second English Composition Course - 3 sh

During a subsequent semester preferably no earlier than their third or fourth, students will enroll in a newly designed 3 sh course emphasizing advanced composition/research/report writing skills.

LEARNING SKILLS - Mathematics - 3 sh

Students will complete a mathematics course from a list of courses approved for Liberal Studies credit. It is recommended that this occur early in the students' careers, preferably in the freshman year. Since many majors build on certain mathematical skills, it is appropriate for major departments to specify which course or courses from the Liberal Studies list would provide the best preparation for their students.

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Humanities - 9 sh

The Liberal Studies requirement for the Humanities consists of one course in each of three areas: History, Philosophy and/or Religious Studies, and Literature. All courses here should acquaint students with the heritage of Western civilization in all its richness and diversity, and, where appropriate, with its relationships with non-Western cultures.

History - 3 sh
The course or courses listed here should examine as long a chronological portion of civilization as possible and should develop in the students a historical consciousness-that is, an understanding of the interrelationships of various aspects of culture at a given time, an ability to explore continuity and change among historical events and movements and to assess them critically, and an ability to keep one's own place and time in proper perspective.

Philosophy and/or Religious Studies - 3 sh
The course or courses listed here should introduce students to the great thinkers of civilization and to their writings, and should introduce students to the various forms of philosophical and/or religious thinking.

Literature - 3 sh
The course or courses listed here should emphasize major writers and enduring classics, should treat each of the major genres of literature, and should cover a significant chronological span.

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Fine Arts - 3 sh

Students will complete a 3 semester hour course exploring one or more of the fine arts. Courses listed in this category will address the aesthetic aspects of artistic works, for example how beauty is expressed and its inherent value, so that students will appreciate the creative natures of human beings. The courses should enable students to discriminate among various art forms, to make certain artistic judgments about the quality of particular art forms, and to enjoy the choices of art that they make. Students will be required to experience appropriate artistic events.

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Natural Sciences - 7-8 sh

Students will complete either Option I or Option II, depending on the requirements of their degree program or their interest.

Option I - A two-semester natural science sequence, with a laboratory course each semester (8 sh)

Option II - A one-semester course with laboratory (4 sh) followed by a one-semester, non-laboratory course (3 sh). The sequel may be a course in the same science which builds upon and enhances what was learned in the laboratory course, or it may be a course primarily in the same science though broadened somewhat to include related sciences, or it may be a still broader course addressing ideas and issues which cut across the natural sciences. Students electing this option must take an additional 3 sh natural science non-lab course which can be counted as one of the Liberal Studies Electives.

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Social Sciences - 9 sh

Students will complete nine semester hours from a list of courses in the following social sciences, with no two courses chosen from the same discipline: anthropology, criminology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, sociology.

Courses in this area should introduce students to the ways which one or more of these disciplines works to understand social institutions and processes. Students should learn the major ideas of whichever discipline is being studied, and they should understand the strengths and limitations of that discipline's methods of collecting and interpreting data.

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Health and Wellness - 3 sh

The course or courses to be created in this area will emphasize the positive-preventive aspects of health, the benefits of healthful behavior and stress management, and the use of health resources. The focus will be on the components of a healthy lifestyle. Physical activities or laboratory experiences will be included within the three semester hours so that students see the immediate and future benefits received by the inclusion of physical activity in a personal lifestyle. The correlation between the classroom work and the activity will encourage students to develop a lifestyle that includes an understanding of and concern for physical fitness and health.

[One year of ROTC/Military Science will continue to be an alternative method of fulfilling this requirement.]

KNOWLEDGE AREA - Liberal Studies Electives - 9 sh

Each department in the University may designate, with the consent of the Liberal Studies Committee, a number of courses, either newly created or currently offered, which will make up a pool of appropriate courses from which students may elect. The purpose of this part of the Liberal Studies curriculum is to allow students to explore and to deepen their knowledge. Courses listed here should be consistent with the established goals of Liberal Studies and not primarily intended for the professional training of majors.

Students must complete 9 semester hours of Liberal Studies electives. They may not fulfill this requirement with any course which has the same course prefix as their major, nor may they choose more than one course in any one department, except in the case of foreign language study where six semester hours may be chosen. At least one of the courses chosen must be beyond the introductory level.

Unless such a course is completed elsewhere in a student's curriculum, three semester hours must be chosen in a course devoted to the study of a non-Western culture or civilization, that is, a course which makes an effort to understand another culture on its own terms.

Students electing Natural Science Option II must select an additional 3 sh course from a list of approved natural science non-lab courses.

SYNTHESIS - 3 sh

We recommend the creation of a three semester hour course with a university-wide, nondepartmental prefix (UN 499 or 481). There will be various sections of the course, each of limited size. Each section will focus on a topic, problem, issue, or theme chosen by the instructor or instructors. Each instructor must insure that the topic is viewed from the perspectives of two or more disciplines-the more perspectives, the richer the course. [See attachment for samples.] The initial proposal for the course itself will be submitted for approval to the Senate Curriculum Committee. Some sections of the course may carry a "W" designation, indicating that this is a writing-intensive course.

Students will enroll in the course no earlier than the second semester of their junior year. (Ideally the course should be taken during the senior year, but we recognize the need for flexibility since many students are of necessity off campus for internships or student teaching during their final year.) There will be sufficient publicity to allow for informed student choice.

Three ideas motivate the proposal of this course. First, there is a theoretical consideration. The Task Force believes that the university does a good job teaching students to think analytically; that is, students become adept at taking things apart and studying them in terms of structure and function. Indeed, the increasing separation of faculty and students into discipline-specific departments is testimony to our tendency to think this way. There is, however, a complementary intellectual process called synthesis. Synthesis is the way in which well understood parts are combined into wholes; it is the capacity to weave many complex strands into a fabric, either recreating a pattern already known or imagining and designing new ones. Synthesis is an essential skill which contributes to our capacity to think effectively about the complex intellectual, social and political issues of the world. Hence, we want to place students in a course specifically designed to confront broad topics from multiple perspectives.

A second consideration for our proposal is structural. We believe that a solid, meaningful program of Liberal Studies should not be confined to introductory courses located in students' first and second years; rather, it should spread across and enrich all four years of study. Certain kinds of learning-especially learning of a synthetic nature-demand a maturity which beginning students do not have. Hence, we wish to create a course specifically designed for students nearing the end of their university education.

Lastly, both the students and faculty on the Task Force are motivated by another consideration which relates more personally to us as members of the university community. Simply and frankly, we believe this course will be exciting. For students, it will provide an opportunity to interact with students from a variety of major disciplines. They will be urged to apply their own disciplinary knowledge to the topic under consideration while learning to synthesize its substance and methodology with those of other disciplines. To be certain that we get a good mix of students and to discourage any tendency to stick to the familiar, students will be discouraged from enrolling in a section led by a professor from their major discipline and encouraged to choose professors outside their discipline. For faculty, it will be a chance to work with our more advanced students; it will be a chance to take a topic that truly interests them and expend it outward across disciplinary lines and explore it with a diverse group of students from across the university.

RECOMMENDATION: WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM

We recommend that IUP establish a program designed to integrate and, therefore, reinforce writing skills in courses beyond the customary composition requirement. Such a "Writing Across the Curriculum" Program, would have several objectives. It would extend the responsibility for promoting literacy throughout the university by increasing the level and amount of writing in all courses in the University, as appropriate. It would extend the responsibility for promoting literacy throughout the university by increasing the level and amount of writing in all courses in the University, as appropriate. It would emphasize to students the seriousness with which the university regards, and the importance which educated people place upon, the quality of written prose. This will be the case especially if the dedication to writing noticeably extends to courses in the major. Such a program would also help students to write better, to learn better by using writing as a learning tool, and to prepare for writing tasks in their careers.

The university should designate with a "W" those courses in the curriculum which either teach writing or which are writing-intensive. A "writing-intensive" course is not primarily a course in "how-to-write." It is expected that some writing instruction will occur there and that close attention will be paid to the quality of written prose, but the course can be a content-oriented course in any discipline, so long as the required writing is ample and serves as an integral part of the learning process. Specific criteria for writing-intensive courses will be developed in Phase II of the Liberal Studies reform. Normally English Departments play a central role in helping to define and administer such a program, and we expect that to be the case at IUP. We also expect workshops to be organized to help faculty to encourage and to evaluate good prose writing.

We recommend that students be required to enroll in 2 or 3 "W" courses, in addition to English Composition I and the newly designed second English Composition course (the exact number pending a decision on the specific design of the program in Phases II). Further we recommend that one of these writing-intensive courses be taken between the two composition courses. At least one of the writing-intensive courses must be taken in the major discipline.

A similar concept should be explored for a component of Oral Communication across the curriculum. The General Education Task Force should accomplish this during Phase II and report to the Curriculum Committee.

RECOMMENDATION: COMPUTER LITERACY

We recognize that computer literacy is an important goal for university-educated people and that there is wide spread interest within the university to consider some sort of requirement to assure that our students are computer literate. Although there has been considerable effort on the part of some departments to ensure that their students are computer literate (about 70% of IUP students now receive formal coursework in computers) and the recent plan to distribute the bond issue monies required departments to come up with a plan to use computer hardware and software in their programs to help with computer literacy, there is still no requirement for a significant number of our students and there is no required plan for ensuring that these students are computer literate. However, we do not recommend assigning the responsibility for computer literacy to the Liberal Studies Program at this time.

We recommend that departments which do not now require formal coursework in computers, move expeditiously to come up with a course requirement or some sort of academic requirement to assure computer literacy. We believe that this should be done in consultation with those individuals on campus who have expertise in such academic requirements, namely the faculty of the Computer Science Department and when appropriate with the Associate Vice President for Computer an the Director of Academic Computing. We also recommend that all departments continue to purchase computer hardware and software and to integrate its use into their academic programs. Further we encourage departments with special expertise in computing (Computer Science and MIS) to continue to provide appropriate courses, but also to lend their expertise in setting further direction.

We finally recommend that the Provost and Academic Vice President establish a committee to study the issue of computer literacy and to make recommendations to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee within a period of two years. This committee should be representative of the entire university and have special representation from those departments with expertise in computing. In addition the committee should have representation from the General Education Task Force and the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee. This committee should be charged with establishing a definition of computer literacy, monitoring what each department is doing to use computers in its curriculum and to assure that its students are computer literate, and making recommendations on whether there should be a component of computer literacy in the Liberal Studies Program and if so defining that component.

RECOMMENDATION: LIBERAL STUDIES ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

We recommend that the University establish a faculty Director of Liberal Studies and a faculty-student Liberal Studies Committee. The Director will administer the program and serve as an advocate for Liberal Studies. The Committee, which will report to the Senate, will review new proposals and make recommendations on Liberal Studies policy.

Two thoughts motivate this proposal. First, some parts of the new Liberal Studies curriculum, such as the synthesis course, will require organization and coordination on a university-wide basis; the Director and the Committee can provide this. Second, we want to allow orderly change to occur. If, in a few years, new needs emerge or parts of the program ought to be strengthened or altered, someone should be responsible to make recommendations to the Senate and to see that modifications are made. No Liberal Studies program is appropriate forever, and we think it is better to provide now for a continuing process of review, growth and assessment of outcomes than to wait twenty-five years for another ad hoc committee to be established. In sum, we believe that Liberal Studies deserves the same continuing attention and advocacy within the university which departmental committees are now able to give to major requirements.

DIRECTOR OF LIBERAL STUDIES

The Director of Liberal Studies will be appointed from the tenured faculty who are Associate Professors and Professors for a three-year, renewable term and will report directly to the Provost. The appointment will be made by the Provost, in consultation with the Senate Chairperson, the APSCUF President, and other appropriate university groups. The Director will receive three-quarters alternate work load and a summer contract; an office and secretarial support will be provided. A job description is attached.

LIBERAL STUDIES COMMITTEE

The Liberal Studies Committee will consist of twelve persons-the Director of Liberal Studies, who will chair the Committee; six faculty members; two academic administrators; and three students. Membership on the Liberal Studies Committee will be determined by appointment by the Provost of individuals interested in and committed to Liberal Studies, after consultation with the Senate Chairperson, the APSCUF President, the SGA President, and other appropriate university groups. The faculty will be appointed to staggered three-year terms, the administrators and the students to staggered two-year terms. The responsibilities of the Committee will be:

1. To review proposals for Liberal Studies courses, and to recommend to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee the inclusion of those which meet the criteria for Liberal Studies; to recommend to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee the deletion of courses which no longer meet such criteria.

2. To undertake periodic reviews of each part of the Liberal Studies program, and to recommend to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee such changes as may be necessary.

3. To approve proposals for individual sections of the synthesis courses, and to report its actions to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee for information.

4. To make any other recommendations, either to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee or to other university bodies, which it believes will improve the Liberal Studies program at IUP.

5. To encourage the steady growth of library skills; to encourage the meeting of competency skills through examination rather than through credits alone; and to encourage the investigation of values in our society.

Note on Procedural Relationships-

The Liberal Studies Committee will not supercede, but will supplement and assist, the university governing bodies which are now established. All curricular proposals presented to the Liberal Studies Committee will be submitted to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee with the Liberal Studies Committee recommendation for appropriate action by the University Senate. For instance, a proposal for a new course to the Liberal Studies program will go from the Department through the College to the Liberal Studies Committee, which will look to see if it meets the established criteria for a Liberal Studies course. If it does, then the Committee will send the proposal on to the Senate Undergraduate Curriculum Committee which will, in turn, put it before the Senate for action. If the course is not intended for Liberal Studies credit, then the Liberal Studies Committee will not be involved, and the procedure will continue to be as it is now.

JOB DESCRIPTION: DIRECTOR OF LIBERAL STUDIES

1. To chair the Liberal Studies Committee; to provide to the Committee the leadership, support and information which it needs to complete its work.

2. To serve as an advocate for the Liberal Studies program; to speak on behalf of the program to faculty, administrators, students, and prospective students

3. To develop brochures and materials to be used by the university to advertise the program.

4. To work with Chairpersons and Deans to insure that sufficient sections of Liberal Studies courses are offered to enable students to progress in a timely manner.

5. To provide adequate publicity, especially about sections of the synthesis course, so that students may make informed choices.

6. To serve as liaison between the Liberal Studies Committee and other university groups whose actions will affect the Liberal Studies program, such as the Learning Center, Writing Center, Computing Services Advisory Committee, Admissions Office, Long Range Planning Committee, etc.

7. To organize, in conjunction with appropriate academic units, workshops and seminars for faculty who are teaching Liberal Studies courses.

8. To seek external grant support for the Liberal Studies program.

9. To perform other tasks related to Liberal Studies as directed by the Provost or as necessary to implement the university's Liberal Studies policies.

ATTACHMENT: TENTATIVE TIME TABLE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

ATTACHMENT: SAMPLE SECTIONS OF SYNTHESIS COURSE

These descriptions are meant only to be suggestive. They represent some possibilities imagined by members of the Task Force, but the sixteen of us cannot, of course, match the inventiveness of the entire faculty. Some of these ideas may eventually be developed into synthesis sections, some may not. We do not pretend that they are the only ways of conceiving this course, nor are they necessarily the best. But we do hope that they will stimulate faculty to begin thinking about what they are able to create. The thing to remember is that whatever topic, problem, issue, or theme is selected must be examined from the perspective of more than one discipline.

LIVING WITH NATURE. Taught perhaps by a natural scientist. It could begin with the reading of Thoreau's Walden or Annie Dillard's Pulitzer-Prize-winning Pilgrim at Tinker Creek. It might turn next to Roderick Nash's historical study, Wilderness in the American Mind. Then, as a way of studying how scientists measure environmental impact, the class could study the EPA's assessment procedure and discuss its strengths and weaknesses. An analysis of the industrial and social costs of alternative environmental policies could add an economic dimension. There might also be a political analysis of the work of corporate and environmental lobbies.

WAR AND PEACE. Taught perhaps by a humanist or political scientist. The course might begin with an examination of various religious views on war-pacifism, just war, and crusade. Some readings, or a guest lecture, by an anthropologist could describe the role of war in primitive societies. The group might read Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms or Leon Uris's Trinity, or look at some episodes of the TV series M*A*S*H. For a historical case study, ti might read Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August on World War I. David Kennedy's Over Here would show how the same war affected women and minorities and the economy in the United States. The class might end by studying the involvement of Jimmy Carter, Menachem Begin, and Anwar Sadat in the events leading to the Camp David Agreement.

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL QUEST. Team-taught perhaps by psychology and literature professors. The class would read various autobiographical writings-by Augustine, Rousseau, Mill, Jung, Gandhi, Richard Wright, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, for example-and discuss them from the perspectives of psychology and literature. Those two perspectives would suffice, but, of course, depending on the autobiographies chosen, it would be hard to avoid adding others.

THE BUSINESS WORLD AND THE LITERARY WORLD. Taught perhaps by someone from the College of Business or from literature. This class would examine ways in which American business leaders have been portrayed in literature. It would use biographies or autobiographies (such as Livesay's Andrew Carnegie, or Iacocca) as well as fiction (such as The Rise of Silas Lapham or The Death of a Salesman). Supplemental readings would be added on the sociological and historical context of American business. It would also be possible to turn the question around and look at how marketing decisions influence what gets written and published.

THE CONSEQUENCES OF DISABILITY. Taught perhaps by a professor from Human Ecology or Education. This section would use a variety of readings, films, and guest speakers to examine the topics: The Scope and Nature of Disability, Medical Issues, Economic Issues, Legal Issues, Attitudes toward the disabled, The Individual Experience, and The Family Experience.

WOMEN IN MUSIC. Taught perhaps by a music professor. This section would look at women composers, conductors, jazz musicians and singers. It would begin with an examination of talented siblings (such as the Mozarts or Mendelssohns) and the effect of sex on success. In the process the group could appreciate the influence of the historical context and the contributions of psychology and sociology to the study of women's role. Each student would choose one woman musician for a detailed study.

THE WORLD OF ANCIENT GREECE. Taught perhaps by a professor from Fine Arts or the Humanities. This synthesis section would try to understand how various parts of culture function together as a complex whole. Students, depending on their own majors, would take responsibility for researching one aspect of the culture-art, drama, philosophy, religion, economy, medicine, science, politics, education, or whatever. The students would then share these perspectives in written and oral presentations and in class discussions. [A similar format would seem to work for other times and places, too-"India After Independence" or "Mexico Today" or "Victorian England."]