General Education | Faculty Senate (2024)

The NDSU General Education program is aligned with North Dakota University System (NDUS) requirements, which values seamless transfer between ND institutions. The NDUS General Education Requirements Transfer Agreement (GERTA) was established by the State Board of Higher Education to ease student transfers within the system. NDSU's General Education program is focused on helping students acquire knowledge, perspectives, and skills basic to a university education. The program is designed so that students will be able to adapt to and anticipate changes in their professions and in society. Students also will be able to integrate and use the knowledge and perspectives they have gained to live productive, intellectually rewarding, and meaningful lives.

To submit a course request for a General Education designation to the General Education Committee, follow this process:

1. Complete the self-assessment questionnaire: Is my course a good fit for general education designation?
2. Review the General Education Learning Outcomes and the description of each General Education category. Consider your course focus, disciplinary home, and emphasis. After carefully reviewing the learning outcomes, select the appropriate General Education category and an additional designator (either Global Perspectives or Cultural Diversity, if appropriate) for your proposal.
3. Download the General Education Course Syllabus Template and provide the required information about the course.
4. Download and complete the General Education Course Proposal Form in which you (a) identify the General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs) aligned to the category, (b) describe how the course will help students learn the knowledge or skills associated with a learning outcome (opportunity to learn), (c) describe the student task that will be used to generate evidence of student learning related to the learning outcome (assessment method), and (d) describe how the student task will be reviewed to determine the degree to which students have achieved the learning outcome (assessment measure). An example of the table format included in this proposal form is available HERE.
5. Prior to submitting your material, please resolve or delete the comments in the template documents. These are intended to provide you with direction about how to complete the forms but should not be in the final submitted version.
6. Requests for courses, existing or new, should be submitted through CourseLeaf. The syllabus should be uploaded to the 'Syllabus' link, and the proposal form should be uploaded to 'Supporting Documents'.

Examples of successful proposals that demonstrate reasonable alignment between the GELOs and the assessment approach are available HERE.

Revalidation of courses approved for General Education happens approximately every five years. See the course revalidation schedule. To revalidate a course, departments submit course proposals through CourseLeaf. The proposal requires a syllabus. More information on the approval process is described HERE.

The committee also reviews student appeals for exceptions to General Education Requirements. Submission deadlines are November 15 (fall semester) and April 15 (spring semester).

Currently, the committee is collaborating with the University Assessment Committee for coordinating periodic assessment of student achievement of general education learning outcomes.

The committee does not meet over the summer.

• The GEC maintains a Frequently Asked Questions document related to course proposals and re-validation.
• The GEC hosted a workshop on the global perspectives GELOs in September 2022 (presentation | recording )
• The GEC hosted a workshop on the cultural diversity GELOs in October 2021 (presentation | recording | resource list)
• The GEC hosted a workshop on 'Aligning Outcomes with Assessment' in January 2020 (presentation | recording)
• Members of the GE committee host regular support sessions (presentation).
• Historical information can be found on the General Education Archive.

Faculty Senate Reports

• 2021

For member list, see Standing Committees.

The General Education Committee is a standing committee of the Faculty Senate with the following responsibilities:

1. Review new general education courses to ensure and validate that the general education outcomes are being met.
2. Complete the revalidation of courses and experiences on a periodic, five-year timeline to ensure that general education outcomes are being met. The course revalidation should be staggered to review approximately 20% of the general education courses each year.
3. Review General Education Appeal petitions.
4. Develop and maintain a plan for assessment of General Education Program-level learning outcomes.
5. Conduct periodic assessment of students’ attainment of general education learning outcomes.
6. Develop a university policy governing the policy and procedures for general education revalidation.
7. Perform other appropriate duties as assigned by the Faculty Senate.
8. Selecting two representatives and one alternate for the North Dakota General Education Council.