General Education Council
Minutes
10.9.06 

Council Present:
E. Morrison-Health Professions
K. Morris-Student Rep.
A. Krejci-Student Rep.
T. Mottet-Fine Arts and Communication
E. Blankmeyer-McCoy Business Administration
S. Beebe-Liberal Arts
V. Luizzi-Chair Rep.
C. Hazlewood-Science
T. Hindson-Liberal Arts-Alternate
B. Stone-Applied Arts
I. Davidson-Fine Arts and Communication
M. Johnson-Education
L. Lloyd-Education
V. Sriraman-Science
S. Ogletree-Liberal Arts
S. Beebe-Chair Rep.
J. Charles-McCoy Business Administration
Council Absent:
E. Blunk Applied Arts
D. Yarbrough-Health Professions 

Meeting convened at 3:30 p.m. 

Motion:

R. Brown asks for a motion to approve the minutes from October 2^nd.  B. Stone so moves.  M. Johnson seconds the motion.  The October 2^nd minutes are approved as prepared. 

The Council ended the last meeting with an attempted motion to reconsider the last approved motion (1^st preference no cuts and eliminate 2 hours in 090) 

Provost told Chairs he wanted a 4-hour cut in general education and 4 hours from the majors. 

Discussion:
-Still have the Ellis recommendation to combine Phil and Eng
-PFW-US cuts will effect departments—if US is not protected by being in the core then it is not protected
-Don’t understand the logic for cutting 2 hours—need to cut 4/4 from core and major
-Many programs need to go from 128 to 120
-Incompatible to have a wild card for choosing 

Motion: 
S. Ogletree recommended an addition to the motion that already exists.  1^st preference is no cuts from general education.  2^nd preference is move the 1-hour lab in natural science into the 090 category and have students the option to pick which 2 hours out of the how 4 hours in 090 category they want to take.  B. Stone seconds the motion. 

Discussion:
-Could cut both
-Most science requirements are 7-8
-This will not help Health Professions and they don’t like this—it won’t work for them
-Don’t mess with science labs
-This would defuse some loss for PFW
-Few students’ affected-Astronomy-Physics
-C&I have to meet mandates for certification expectations
-This will reduce core to 44 hours 

For: 10  Against:  6  Abstained: 1
Motion Passed. 

The Councils recommendation is 1^st preference no cuts in general education core curriculum.  The 2^nd preference is to move the 1-hour science lab into the 090 category and have the students choice which 2-hours they want to take.  This reduces the core to 44 hours.
--R. Brown tells the Council that he can not endorse a recommendation that doesn’t keep US 1100 (losing US 1100 is a retention issue) 

What about having a 3-hour cut and moving speech into the Phil and Eng category and have the students choose which ones they want to take.  The problem with moving speech into 040 is that the criteria for speech , Phil and Eng are different.  This would be the most unusual move and solution.   

PHIL is a signature course and it is very valuable 

Motion:
C. Hazlewood recommended that 1^st preference was no cuts.  The 2^nd preference is move the 1-hour lab in natural science into the 090 category and have students the option to pick which 2 hours out of the how 4 hours in 090 category they want to take.  The 3^rd option is a possible 3-hour cut from Comm 1310, Phil 1305 and Eng Lit.  after you combine Comm in the 040 category.  The student can take 2 out of the 3, they choose.  M. Johnson seconds the motion. 

Discussion:
-This is a wild card strategy or similar to that strategy
-The more revisions we give the weaker we look.  Early on the Council said they wanted no cuts, but if a cut was made they wanted to have a say in what that cut would be.  We are not prepared to have the Provost cut at will because we didn’t give any guidance. 
-Speech is a life course necessity
-We need to have a single voice for what cuts we want—against just picking what to take 

Motion:
Call for the question. 

For:  15 Against: Abstained: 2 

Motion:
Provide 3^rd option of combining speech with Phil and Eng Lit. 

For:  4  Against: 11 Abstained: 2
Motion did not pass. 

Some chairs have more to remove and would like some idea of alternatives and there are some considerations on the table. 

Councils Recommendation:
1^st-No cuts
2^nd-2-hours consolidating science lab into 090 

Next Mtg. 10/23 

R. Brown will meet with those whose courses could be considered for cuts before he makes his final recommendation. 

Next week College of Science may speak about the labs. 

4:35 p.m meeting adjourned.