Continuing to hedge a path toward a new Baker University general education program, the General Education Taskforce, GET2, has created breakfast and dinner open discussions.
These chat-and-chew sessions offer the campus community the chance to discuss particular aspects of Baker’s general education curriculum.
“We want to find out what the faculty and the students think is important in a gen ed program,” GET2 co-chair Marc Carter said. “And we also ask them, ‘How important are different aspects of gen ed?'”
Sophomore Jonathan Vaughn said he has attended each of the Wednesday morning sessions.
“At first, I was hesitant about going to a committee meeting, but with a roomful of Ph.D.s, you can get a lot done,” Vaughn said. “It’s going to be an arduous, thorough process but hopefully more effectual because of that.”
The sessions will continue through the semester and into next year, Carter said.
“There’s all kinds of things people want to talk about, and that’s exactly what we’re supposed to be doing,” GET2 co-chair Judy Smrha said.
At the beginning of this school year, faculty senate charged the current taskforce, the second one to be created for the goal of general education reform, with two main responsibilities: mapping out a process for general education reform and facilitating discussions about the goal of Baker’s general education program.
Carter said the process should be outlined by the end of the summer. The taskforce charged with creating the general education program, termed GET3, will be elected in the fall.
Through the Faculty Growth and Enrichment Committee, GET2 worked on a mission statement of the college during a faculty inservice day, Smrha said.
GET2 has also been looking at the established student learning objectives of the school and deciding what knowledge, skills and experiences Baker should subsequently strive to teach.
The process takes dedicated time that isn’t available during the semester, Smrha said. She hopes to use some of the money from the Hall Grant, a three-year, $600,000 grant, to pay for faculty to sit in over the summer and finalize plans for GET3.
GET2 meets at 3:30 p.m. today in Collins Library 218 to discuss the role of local and international community in education.
Upcoming topics
8 a.m. & 3:30 p.m.
April 25: Civil engagement and global learning
May 2: Requiring a foreign language