General Education at RIT

1. General Education at RIT September 2008

2. Briefing Agenda • Project Description: Two Phases • Phase I: Draft White Paper Phase I: Conceptualization of RIT General Education; Learning Outcomes & Assessment • Phase I: Draft White Paper: Review • Phase II: Concept Implementation: An Agenda for Action • The Next Steps • Acknowledgements: The Team

3. Project Description • Phase I: “… carried out largely at a philosophical level to articulate the desired educational outcomes.” • Phase II: “… hammer out a General Education mask that achieved the educational outcomes with plenty of choice and self-determination for the students.” • Stan McKenzie, November 2004

4. Project Chronology • Winter 2004 - 2005: Stan McKenzie initiates review • Spring 2005: Project Exploration/Definition • Summer 2005: Academic Council project review/endorsement • Fall 2005: Faculty (CLA, COS, NTID) team recruited • Fall 2005 - Summer 2006: Phase I: RIT General Education Conceptualization • General Education Learning Outcomes • Assessment Criteria • October - December 2006: Community review of Phase I Draft White Paper • Spring 2007: Faculty Team review, assessment, incorporation of community feedback • Summer 2007 - Spring 2008 Phase II: Concept Implementation: An Agenda for Action • August 2008: Draft White Paper to Jeremy Haefner

5. Phase I: The Key Questions • What do we expect RIT graduates to know (knowledge base) and to be able to do (skill set)? -- general education learning outcomes? • How do we determine whether RIT graduates have acquired the knowledge base and mastered the skill set? -- general education assessment tools?

6. Phase I: The Key Boundary Conditions • Regulations of the Commissioner, New York State Education Department • RIT Strategic Plan: Category of One University: Uniquely Blending Academic Programs with Experiential Learning for Student Success.

7. Learning Outcome I • “The problem with communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished”, • George Bernard Shaw • Communication - communicate effectively in both individual and group settings through effective written, oral, visual & multimedia expression and comprehension

8. Learning Outcome II • “Not being known doesn't stop the truth from being true.”, Richard Bach • Intellectual Inquiry - acquire, assess, organize, interpret, analyze, synthesize, archive and apply qualitative/quantitative data; connect, interrelate, integrate and apply knowledge and principles in different modes of intellectual inquiry; construct logical and reasonable arguments, hypotheses, theories and theses

9. Learning Outcome III • “A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both.”, • Dwight David Eisenhower • Ethics, Values & Social Responsibility - identify, describe and analyze ethical issues in social, political, environmental, economic, and scientific/technological situations across different cultures and diverse populations in the global society and apply in personal, professional and community settings

10. Learning Outcome IV • “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.”, Carl Sagan • Scientific, Mathematical & Technological Literacy - basic concepts, principles, and methodologies of mathematics and the physical, life, and social sciences applied to personal and professional situations; critical science/pseudo-science assessment; impact of technology on society and the environment

11. Learning Outcome V • "Art is the Queen of all sciences communicating knowledge to all the generations of the world.”, Leonardo da Vinci • Artistic Literacy - appreciate, interpret, and evaluate creative/artistic expression in different media relative to the cultures of their creation/cultivation; describe how issues in multiple disciplines may be addressed through creative expression and innovative practice

12. President Destler’s Vision for RIT Imagine an R•I•T Communication Scientific,Mathematical & Technological Literacy Artistic Literacy Creativity Innovation Imagine An R•I•T Ethics, Values & Social Responsibility Intellectual Inquiry Integration in which General Education is characterized by Creativity, Innovation & Integration

13. Phase II: Implementation Strategies Three Key Drivers • RIT Community feedback on Phase I White Paper • Decadal MSA reaccreditation visit & team report • President Destler’s vision for RIT programs; Creativity, Innovation & Integration

14. Phase II: An Agenda for Action 1 • “…move rapidly to define explicit learning outcomes for all its programs, including most particularly general education…”*: • Inventory current general education offerings against the General Education Learning Outcomes * Report to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees, and Students of the ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

15. Phase II: An Agenda for Action 2 • “Imagine an RIT where creativity, innovation and integration pervades all that we do.” • Explore a general education integrative learning experience.

16. Phase II: An Agenda for Action 3 • “…sufficient resources be allocated to provide sustainable progress in the development of a student learning assessment model…”* • Develop phased approach to assessment of student learning for General Education Learning Outcomes • * Report to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees, and Students of the • ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

17. Phase II: An Agenda for Action 4 • “…institutionalize assessment responsibility and expertise in an Institute-wide administrative organization that can and will support and encourage the development and application of assessment tools by all of RIT’s colleges…”*: • Develop a system of collecting, archiving, and managing assessment data (the e-portfolio) • * Report to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees, and Students of the • ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

18. Phase II: An Agenda for Action 5 • “… approaching some critical junctures that will be important for institution-wide understanding of [general education] goals and objectives. … is on an informed pathway, and the team recognized this, lauds it, and encourages continued progress.” • Explore opportunities to ensure coherency and integration of general education across the curriculum and across RIT. • * Report to the Faculty, Administration, Trustees, and Students of the • ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

19. The Next Steps • “working with the ICC and the Academic Senate to seek approval of the conceptual framework of student learning outcomes and an assessment strategy to measure those outcomes” (Fall 2008) • “a phase 1 pilot of the recommendations from the task force … will encompass a select number of current general education courses and will develop an assessment approach to measure student learning outcomes … data and analysis from this pilot program will also be included in the Middle States letter.” (2008 - 09 academic year) • “far reaching discussion across the faculty about the results of the pilot and how we will incorporate what we have learned into a new approach to general education that we will be proud to call an ‘RIT Innovation’” (2008 )

20. Leadership Team Jeremy Haefner, Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Chris Licata, Senior Associate Provost Stan McKenzie, Provost Emeritus Andrew Moore, College of Liberal Arts Glenn Kist, College of Liberal Arts Robert Ulin, College of Liberal Arts Ian Gatley, College of Science Laurie Brewer, NTID Faculty Working Team Anne Coon, College of Liberal Arts Lisa Hermsen, College of Liberal Arts Marianne Gustafson, NTID Ron Jodoin, College of Science Joel Kastner, College of Science Marilu Raman, NTID Pat Scanlon, College of Liberal Arts Katie Schmitz, NTID J. Matt Searls, NTID Sean Sutton, College of Liberal Arts Kristen Waterstram-Rich, College of Science Bob Clark, Project Facilitator Acknowledgements: The Players