Additions are highlighted.  Deletions have strikethrough

Motion Three: Assessment System (to be placed on the floor for debate and vote first)

The Faculty Senate requests that the faculty of Wichita State University approve during its next general faculty meeting the following change in the academic requirements for associate or baccalaureate degrees from Wichita State University.

"Wichita State University will begin gathering student assessment data during the 2003-4 academic year. One instrument to be used during this trial period will be the CollegeBASE national general education examination.  Since CollegeBASE does not assess all aspects of General Education,  additional assessment procedures may be developed by the WSU community or appropriate assessment instruments or procedures developed outside the university may be recommended for use by the university. Recommendations for the use of additional assessment instruments or procedures will be submitted to the Faculty Senate Executive committee, who may bring forward recommendations for additions to the "prototype assessment system". The General Education committee, the General Education coordinator, the College of Fine Arts and the Elliott School are specifically urged to consider this opportunity. Any additions to the "prototype assessment system" must be approved by the Faculty Senate. Approved additions shall be used during the semesters in which CollegeBASE is used.

During the fall semester of 2003 and the spring semesters of 2004 and 2005, the university will use the CollegeBASE national general education examination as one component of a "prototype assessment system" for General Education., including Basic Skills.

        (i) In the fall of 2003, WSU will use CollegeBASE to test samples of approximately 200 students in each of the following groups:

(a) incoming freshmen;
(b) students starting their junior year (defined as students who have completed between 48 and 60 hours) who have taken all their Basic Skills courses at WSU; and
(c) students about to graduate.

Students who have taken some or all of their Basic Skills courses in high school as "concurrent enrollment" will not be included in the samples if they would constitute more than ten percent of the total sample in a category.  Appropriate sampling to assure randomness will be the responsibility of the administrator.

(ii) In the spring of 2004, the university will use CollegeBASE to test a sample of approximately one fourth of all the students who are have completed between 48 and 90 credit hours.

(iii) In the spring of 2005, the University will use CollegeBASE to test a sample of approximately one half of all the students who are have completed  at least 48 credit hours.

By February 1, 2006. the University will adopt by vote of the faculty a comprehensive assessment system for assessing the General Education program,  including Basic Skills. This system will consist of some or all of the following components:

(i) a nationally normed examination,
(ii) interviews with students,
(iii) student portfolio assessment,
(iv) other assessment procedures together with established criteria for satisfying each component of the assessment system. The criteria for successful completion of the assessment system shall also be determined by the faculty of Wichita State University.

Beginning in the 2006-7 academic year, this assessment system will be used by all Wichita State University undergraduate students who have completed at least 48 hours in university credit (including transfer credit) and have not successful completed this assessment. Beginning with the 2007-8 academic year, any student who was required to use the university assessment system in the previous academic year but failed to do so will not be allowed to enroll in courses at WSU until the student has used the assessment system.

Beginning with the 2007-8 academic year, successful completion of the university assessment system will be a requirement for receiving any undergraduate degree from Wichita State University."

Motion One B: General Education Assessment Committee (paragraph to be taken from the original Motion One: Addition of Capstone Course with modifications as noted and placed on the floor for debate and vote second).

A new Faculty Senate standing committee shall be created. The committee shall consist of 9 faculty members, chosen from each of the Faculty Senate divisions, and one student. The Faculty Senate Assessment Committee shall be responsible for evaluating and approving capstone course proposals, periodically reviewing capstone courses, and overseeing the administration of the university General Education assessment system. proposed in Motion Three below if this is approved.

Motion Four: Completion of Basic Skills (to be placed on the floor for debate and vote third)

The Faculty Senate requests that the faculty of Wichita State University approve during its next general faculty meeting the following change in the academic requirements for associate or baccalaureate degrees from Wichita State University.

"All Basic Skills requirements of the General Education program must be met by undergraduates enrolled in a Wichita State University bachelors or associate degree program within their completion of the first 48 credits toward the degree. Students who do not meet this requirement will be allowed to complete the Basic Skills requirement in the first Fall or Spring semester of enrollment subsequent to their having reached the 48 credit plateau. Students who transfer to the University with at least 48 credit hours earned from an accredited institution but who have not completed the Wichita State University's Basic Skills requirements shall have two semesters of enrollment from their first enrollment to pass Basic Skills classes with the required C-or-better grade. Students who fail to pass Basic Skills classes in a timely fashion as defined above shall not be permitted further enrollment at the
University except for enrollment in the Basic Skills courses."

Motion Two: Reduction of Number of Courses in General Education Program (to be placed on the floor for debate and vote fourth)

The Faculty Senate requests that the faculty of Wichita State University approve during its next general faculty meeting the following change in the academic requirements for baccalaureate degrees from Wichita State University.

"In order to achieve a broad-based general education program with depth and focus, a reduction in the number of courses approved as Introductory or Further Studies courses is required. The numbers and distribution of Introductory and Further Studies courses required of students shall remain unchanged. Each discipline which currently offers Introductory courses shall be limited to offering one Introductory course per College or LAS Division in which it offers credit. (Notice, as illustrations, that Anthropology offers Introductory courses in the Humanities and Social Sciences Divisions of LAS and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics contains two distinct disciplines). Exceptions to this numerical limit may be considered by the General Education committee but no department may be approved to offer more than two distinct Introductory courses. The maximum number of Further Study courses allowed in each department shall be three and each of of these courses shall have an Introductory course offered by that department as prerequisite. The General Education committee shall not have the authority to allow exceptions to this numerical limit.

Definition of the requirements to be an Introductory course:
Each Introductory course must:

        (i) provide an overview of the multiple facets of a discipline,
        (ii) meet one general education goal,
        (iii) provide students with at least one outcome of the general education program,
        (iv) include the across-the-curriculum components (e.g. math, reading, speech) of the general education program and
        (v) incorporate the general education goal and outcome(s) noted in (ii) &  (iii) in the course assessment (e.g. grading) process.

Definition of the requirements to be an Further Studies course:
Each Further Studies course shall

        (i) have an Introductory course in the same discipline as a prerequisite,
        (ii) use this Introductory course as the basis for an in depth study of one aspect of the discipline,
        (iii) meet one general education goal,
        (iv) provide students with at least one outcome of the general education program,
        (v) include the across-the-curriculum components (e.g. math, reading, speech) of the general education program and
        (vi) incorporate the general education goal and outcome(s) noted in (iii) & (iv) in the course assessment (e.g. grading) process.

The I&P course requirement stays the same.

    (a) the first model stays within disciplinary boundaries, encourages students to obtain a broad perspective of the discipline and prepares students to use skills obtained through the general education program to communicate ideas from the discipline to a wide audience and

    (b) the second model offers intellectual perspectives obtained by following a common theme or concept across disciplinary boundaries and prepares students to use skills obtained through the general education program to communicate to a wide audience the perspective(s) obtained through crossing disciplinary boundaries and working creatively and productively as part of a team."

Motion Five: Basic Skills Speech Requirement (to be placed on the floor for vote fifth)

The Faculty Senate requests that the faculty of Wichita State University approve during its next general faculty meeting the following change in the academic requirements for associate or baccalaureate degrees from Wichita State University.

"The Basic Skills requirement shall consist of one Math course and two English courses as now plus one additional course. A substantial portion of this fourth course shall deal with oral communication skills. The faculty of each College (each Division of LAS) shall decide on an appropriate course for its students or shall allow each department in the College (Division of LAS) to select a course for its majors. This course should normally be a course offered by the Elliott School or a new course developed in consultation with
the Elliott School; a course which is not offered by the Elliott school shall require the approval of the General Education Committee.

Beginning with the 2006-7 academic year, each Basic Skills course shall be assessed by the university assessment system in a manner which can be fairly applied to all undergraduate students, including transfer students; course grades may not be the sole element of the assessment procedure. Courses which cannot meet this assessment requirement may not be approved or listed as Basic Skills courses."


Motion One A:  Eliminate I&P Course Requirement and Add a Capstone (to be placed on the floor for debate and vote fifth)

The Faculty Senate requests that the faculty of Wichita State University approve during its next general faculty meeting the following change in the academic requirements for baccalaureate degrees from Wichita State University.

"The Issues and Perspectives course requirement shall be eliminated and the total number of credit hours required for the general education program shall be reduced by three. Students shall instead be required to take a three, four or five credit hour "Capstone" course; this graduation requirement would apply to all students, independent of where they took their general education courses, and this requirement would apply to all students entering WSU under the Fall, 2006 catalog. Two types of Capstone courses are possible, as indicated in the requirements listed later. An example of the one type ((viii)-(a) below) might be a departmental seminar with appropriate requirements of students; several of our existing Issues and Perspectives courses might serve as examples of the other type ((viii)-(b)). One department might wish to designate a specific course as a required departmental capstone course while another department might accept any university capstone course or any cross-disciplinary capstone course. In order for a course to be listed as a capstone course, the Faculty Senate Academic Affairs Committee would need to evaluate the course and agree to this designation."