General Education Oversight Committee

Through the GEOC, departments, schools, colleges and University committees work together to facilitate the development of general education curriculum at Salisbury University.

General Education 2024 Curriculum

View the detailed curriculum

View General Education One Sheet

General Education Proposals Dashboard

	In Review	Approved
Current SU Courses	67	212
New Courses	59	42
TOTAL	126	254

Detailed Count of General Education Requirements

Data By General Education Categories
General Education Category	In Review	Approved
Civic and Community Engagement (Current SU Course)	2	4
Civic and Community Engagement (New Course)	1	1
Communicating Through Writing (Current SU Course)	0	2
Communicating Through Writing (New Course)	0	0
Diversity and Inclusion (Current SU Course)	9	19
Diversity and Inclusion (New Course)	2	4
Environmental Sustainability (Current SU Course)	5	10
Environmental Sustainability (New Course)	2	2
Experiential Learning (Current SU Course)	22	13
Experiential Learning (New Course)	3	0
First Year Seminar (Current SU Course)	0	1
First Year Seminar (New Course)	44	30
Hands-On Science (Current SU Course)	2	13
Hands-On Science (New Course)	0	0
Human Expression (Current SU Course)	13	48
Human Expression (New Course)	0	0
Humanity in Context (Current SU Course)	5	19
Humanity in Context (New Course)	2	2
Personal Health and Wellness (Current SU Course)	0	1
Personal Health and Wellness (New Course)	1	1
Quantitative Analysis (Current SU Course)	1	7
Quantitative Analysis (New Course)	0	0
Social Configurations (Current SU Course)	3	30
Social Configurations (New Course)	2	2
Social Issues (Current SU Course)	0	29
Social Issues (New Course)	0	0
Solutions Through Science (Current SU Course)	5	16
Solutions Through Science (New Course)	2	0

In April 2021, SU faculty voted to adopt new General Education requirements for all undergraduate students. Those requirements go into effect starting fall 2024.

Note: A detailed description of each Students Learning Outcome (SLO) can be found in Appendix C of the online catalog:

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SU Signature Outcomes: Must complete at least 3 credits in each of the following areas:

Civic and Community Engagement
Diversity and Inclusion
Environmental Sustainability

Approved courses in the above areas may also include General Education requirements below. Approved courses in the above areas may also include major coursework. If a student does not complete a course in all three areas above within their General Education or major coursework, an additional course(s) must be completed in order to fulfill these requirements.

First Year Seminar

Academic preparation, skills and expectations for educational and professional success through exploration of a topic or issue.

SLOs: Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Effective Reading, Information Literacy, Oral Communication, Written Communication, Intellectual Curiosity
Communicating Through Writing
Quantitative Analysis
Human Expression
Humanity in Context

Critical and comparative analysis of humanity, emphasizing the role of history, culture, and/or language in human issues.

SLOs: Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Understanding the Human World, Effective Reading, Knowledge of Human Experience, Intercultural Competence
Social Configurations
Social Issues
Hands-on Science
Solutions Through Science

Applied science, with an emphasis on understanding and solving problems in the natural, physical, and technological sciences (may or may not include a lab).

SLOs: Critical Thinking & Reasoning, Quantitative Reasoning, Scientific Reasoning, Knowledge of the Physical World
Personal Wellness
Experiential Learning

Apply knowledge and competencies from General Education through internship, study abroad/away, research, senior project, or other relevant experience.

SLOs: Critical Thinking and Reasoning, Information Literacy, Oral Communication, Written Communication, Ethical Reasoning, Intellectual Curiosity

Purpose and Membership of the Committee

Create, regularly review, and update guidelines and processes to be used for approving General Education courses.
Approve the alignment of undergraduate courses with specific General Education requirements.
Coordinate with all academic units to ensure appropriate distribution and offerings of General Education courses.
Evaluate, in coordination with the University Academic Assessment Committee, the General Education program’s effectiveness. Results shall be reported to the Senate annually.
Recommend modifications to the General Education program and its Student Learning Outcomes to the Senate. Recommendations must consider input from Faculty and the Office of Academic Affairs, and report on impact studies.
Recommend modifications to its own Advisory Subcommittees to the Senate.

GEOC Committee Standing Rules

The GEOC Committee has created a set of Standing Rules to guide its actions.

The Committee Has Seven Voting Members:

One faculty member elected by and from each Unit and one faculty member elected at-large: three retiring every year, two retiring every two years, two retiring every third year.

Currently:

College of Health & Human Services: 2023-2026 - Thomas Lamey
Fulton: 2023-2026 - Mike Lewis
Henson: 2021-2024 - Jennifer Nyland (Chair)
Libraries: 2021-2025 - Stephen Ford
Perdue: 2021-2025 - Kashi Khazeh
Seidel: 2021-2024 - Konstantine Kyriacopoulos
At-Large Member: 2022-2025 - Jose Juncosa

Ex Officio, Non-voting Members Include:

Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs: Melissa Boog
Associate Vice President for Planning and Assessment: Kara Raab
Registrar: Martin Hunter

The committee shall elect its chairperson annually.

General Education Advisory Subcommittees

The purposes of these subcommittees shall be to:

Recommend guidelines for the alignment of courses with their assigned General Education requirements to the General Education Oversight Committee.
Recommend the approval of specific courses for those requirements to the General Education Oversight Committee and, where courses are not recommended for approval, provide faculty with actionable advice for how they might be brought into alignment.
Provide support for evaluation and faculty development associated with those requirements as needed.

Subcommittees Members
Diversity and Inclusion Committee Members :
- Rebecca Anthony (2021-2024))
- Diana Wagner (2021-2024)
- Deneen Long-White (2023-2026)
- Rachel Steele (2022-2025)
Civic and Community Engagement Committee Members :
- Sarah Surak (2021-2024)
- Alexander Pope (2021-2024)
- Michele Schlehofer (2022-2025)
- Katherine Delezenski (2023-2026)
Environmental Sustainability Committee Members :
- Sarah Surak (2021-2024)
- Jill Caviglia-Harris (2021-2024)
- Shane Hall (Fall 2023)
- Mary Gunther (2022-2025)
- Emily Zerrenner (2023-2026)
- Ryan Sporer (2023-2026)
First-Year Seminar and Experiential Learning Committee Members :
- Erin Stutelberg (2021-2024)
- Timothy Stock (2021-2024)
- Yuki Okubo (2022-2025)
- David Gladden (2023-2026)
Quantitative Analysis, Hands-On Science, and Solutions Through Science Committee Members :
- Thomas Cawthern (2021-2024)
- Tami Ransom (2021-2024)
- Colleen Clark (2023-2026)
- Jeni Davis (2022-2025)
- Mike Bardzell (2023-2026)
Human Expression, Humanity in Context, and Communicating Through Writing Committee Members :
- Yujia Song (2021-2024)
- Aurelie Van de Wiele (2021-2024)
- Louise Anderson (2022-2025)
- John Raley (Fall 2023)
- John Mosher (2023-2026)
Social Configuration and Social Issues Committee Members :
- Mark de Socio (2021-2024)
- Brittany Foutz (2021-2024)
- Shawn McEntee (2023-2026)
- James Burton (Fall 2023)
- Daniel Green (2023-2026)
Personal Wellness Committee Members :
- Herman Manakyan (2021-2024)
- Timothy Werner (2021-2024)
- Heidi Fritz (2022-2025)
- Erin Weber (Fall 2023)
- Kwonchan Jeon (2023-2026)

Implementation Resources

FAQs
Q: During the transition to the new general education program, which students will follow the new curriculum?

A:
- Students who matriculate into SU prior to fall 2024 can stay in their original catalog year and will be responsible for completing the “old” gen ed.
- Students who matriculate in fall 2024 or after will be enter into that catalog year and will be responsible for completing the “new” gen ed.
- Current students who drop or choose a new major, minor, track, etc. during or after fall 2024 will automatically move to the catalog year that coincides with their change. If they stay in that catalog, they will be responsible for completing the “new” gen ed as well as the updated major, minor, track, etc. requirements. However, if the updated major, minor, track, etc. existed in their previous catalog year, they can request to move back to that year and complete the “old” gen ed as well as the major, minor, track, etc. requirements associated with that catalog year.
- Beginning with the fall 2024 online course catalog, both the “old” and “new” gen ed designations will be listed in the course descriptions. The “old” gen ed designations will remain for a period of seven years.
- Beginning with the fall 2024 online catalog, an appendix will list all approved gen ed courses (under the requirement). This is a new practice, essential now that we can’t point to specific disciplines in any category.
Q: Who will make up the General Education Oversight Committee (GEOC), and how will they be chosen?

A: The committee will consist of seven voting members: one faculty member elected by and from each Unit and one faculty member elected at-large. A Unit is defined as ... Ex officio members will include a representative from the following offices: Provost and Registrar.

Q: Who will make up the General Education Advisory Subcommittees, and how will they be chosen?

A: Each committee will consist of five voting members. Each faculty “member will win their seat through an all-faculty vote conducted by Faculty Senate’s Membership and Election Committee.

Q: How will courses be approved for the new model?

A: (See above for approval process)

Q: Will current students have an opportunity to choose the new model?

A: The new General Education curriculum is slated to go into effect for fall 2024. Students entering the university for that term and beyond will be required to complete the new General Education curriculum. Current students may opt to change their catalog year to fall 2024 at that time. If they choose to do so, they will also follow the major and minor curriculum that has been approved for that term.

Q: Can any academic department offer a General Education course?

A: Yes. General Education requirements are based on the general description of the requirement as well as the fulfillment of the assigned Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs).

Q: Can a department offer courses in more than one General Education requirement?

A: Yes. The same department can offer some courses under one requirement and other courses under another. They will choose the appropriate requirement based on the requirement descriptor and the ability to teach to/asses the assigned SLOs.

Q: Can courses be approved for more than one requirement?

A: Courses may be approved for one of the themed areas (i.e: civic and community engagement; diversity and inclusion; and environmental sustainability) as well as another requirement in the General Education listing as long as the SLOs have been met for both requirements.

Q: Do courses have to meet all the SLOs assigned to that requirement to be approved for General Education?

A: Yes. Faculty must teach to and asses all SLOs assigned to the specific General Education requirement.

Q: Will Special Topics courses be approved for General Education?

A: It depends. If the course is a shared syllabus course where every instructor would use shared elements (assignments, readings, etc.) to meet the SLOs required for General Education, then as long as all course sections keep to the shared syllabus elements, different sections do not need to be evaluated by the General Education committees, and oversight is done at the department level. If the course is a shell course where all sections are focused on a general topic with a shared approach but different faculty have the freedom to approach different topics within this framework as they desire. However, each new syllabus (dealing with a new topic, but still meeting the required General Education SLOs) will be submitted to the appropriate subcommittee for expedited review. GEOC proposes that these topics require only department chair and GEOC Advisory Subcommittee approval since the Shell course would have already received full curriculum review.

Q: How will students know whether a course will fulfill a General Education requirement?

A: Much like it is now, the General Education designation will be listed in the course description in both the online catalog and in GullNet; students will be able to search for courses based on requirements; and the Academic Requirements Report will show when an enrolled course fulfills a General Education requirement.

Q: What will the subcommittees use to evaluate course proposals?

A: The rubrics that will be used to evaluate the General Education proposals can be found in MyClasses in the General Education Revision: Ongoing Work course under April 5, 2022 Rules and Rubrics.
General Education Proposal Forms
Training Videos
- Curriculog for Current Courses
- Curriculog for New Courses

General Education Course Approval Process

The vetting process for potential General Education courses will take place in Curriculog, SU’s online curriculum management tool. That includes:

Current courses that were not previously a part of General Education
Current General Education courses that are seeking a new designation
New courses to the University's curriculum

All course proposals will be originated by the department/program offering the course.

Course proposals will work their way through the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) only if they are new or substantially modified courses. All courses will be vetted by the appropriate subcommittees and will then be sent to the GEOC for approval. In addition to showing how the course will meet all assigned SLOs, the appropriate subcommittees will determine what is required for a course to be approved; this may vary slightly among General Education requirements.

Approval of Current SU Courses (Subject to Change per GEOG):

Originator Launches Proposal in Curriculog
Academic Chair (1 week)
Dean (1 week)
Appropriate General Education Subcommittee (1 – 4 weeks)
GEOC (1-4 weeks)
Provost (1-2 weeks)
University Editor (1 week)
Registrar’s Office to be built in GullNet (2 weeks-2 months*)
Appears in Catalog (September 15 for spring changes; February 15 for fall changes)

*Time varies depending on date of offerings and complexity of change.

Approval of Newly Created Courses or Those with Substantial Changes (Subject to Change per GEOC):

Originator Launches Proposal in Curriculog
Department Curriculum Committee, if applicable (1-2 weeks)
Academic Chair (1 week)
School College Committee (1-4 weeks)
Dean (1 week)
SCED/P12 and/or TEC, if applicable (1-4 weeks for each)
Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (1-4 weeks)
Appropriate General Education Subcommittee (1-4 weeks)
GEOC (1-4 weeks)
Provost (1-2 weeks)
University Editor (1 week)
Registrar’s Office to be built in GullNet (2 weeks-2 months*)
Appears in Catalog (September 15 for spring changes; February 15 for fall changes)

*Time varies depending on date of offerings and complexity of change.

If you would like to request individual or group training, please contact Jennifer Ellis:jeellis@salisbury.edu. Please include a brief description of the type of training you are looking for (new user, creating a new program, general education, etc.).

General Education Curriculum Approval Timeline

View a detailed roll-out plan for Fall 2024 implementation

For the Fall 2024 General Education Rollout:

Proposals due by March 1, 2023 – Communicating Through Writing; Hands-on Science; Human Expression; Humanity in Context; Personal Wellness; Quantitative Analysis; Social Configurations; Social Issues; Solutions Through Science
Proposals due by September 1, 2023 – Civic and Community Engagement; Diversity and Inclusion; Environmental Sustainability; Experiential Learning; First Year Seminar