The General Education Advisory Council (GEAC) reports to the provost to make recommendations concerning the structure of the bachelor’s degree general education program. In doing so, they will consult with program directors to frame that structure to support student success in achieving Oregon Tech’s Institutional Student Learning Outcomes (ISLOs). The provost will support the committee’s work and provide appropriate resources in achieving these ends.
Membership of the committee is determined by the provost, based on recommendations of the associate vice provost of Academic Excellence. The committee is composed of representatives of each ISLO committee, the associate vice provost of Academic Excellence, a representative from the Faculty Senate Academic Standards Committee, and other members as needed to ensure adequate representation. The committee shall include representation from all Oregon Tech colleges and primary campuses. The provost shall appoint one faculty member to serve as chair for a two-year term (may be reappointed). Faculty members shall serve on GEAC for terms of three years and may be reappointed. A vice chair may be appointed from the membership of GEAC to support continuity of leadership, particularly during the last year of a chair’s term.
Beginning in 2013, Oregon Tech began a process of comprehensive reconsideration of its general education program. The General Education Review Task Force (GERTF) was constituted to lead this effort from Spring 2013 through Spring 2016. The proposed model, Essential Studies, was shifted to an implementation phase beginning in 2016, with GEAC providing guidance to the implementation process.
As challenges emerged in the implementation process, a short-term group, the General Education Reform Ad Hoc Committee (GERAC), was formed during the summer of 2018 to offer additional input into the path forward before implementation activity was handed back to GEAC in the 2018-2019 academic year.
An archive of key documents from this process is included below. Particularly seminal or comprehensive documents are emphasized in bold and starred.**
GERTF Phase: 2013-2016
- Convocation 2013 Survey (September 2013)
- Faculty Forum Results (~November 2013)
- A Draft Rationale for General Education at Oregon Tech (March 2014)
- National Trends in General Education (~April 2014)
- Convocation Mapping Exercise (September 2014)
- ISLO Forum (December 2014)
- Faculty-Administrator Meeting Presentation (May 2015)
- Essential Studies Conceptual Model (May 2015)
- Convocation Update (September 2015)
- Mapping Workshop (October 2015)
- Overview of Essential Studies Program (October 2015)
- The Essential Studies Program Defined (April 2016)
- Report of the General Education Task Force (June 2016)**
GEAC Implementation Phase (2016-2017)
- Convocation ESSE Presentation (September 2016)
- Implementation Update (September 2016)
- Curriculum Mapping Exercise (November 2016)
- Transfer Impact Analysis (May 2017)
- GEAC Annual Report (June 2017)
- Pilot ESSE Proposal Process (January 2018)
GERAC and Post-GERAC Phase (2018-2019)
- Recommendations of the General Education Reform Ad-Hoc Committee (October 2018)**
- Preliminary Analysis of GERAC Recommendations (October 2018)
- Analysis of Paths Forward for General Education Reform (January 2019)**
- Curriculum Maps Referenced in Analysis of Paths Forward (Excel Spreadsheet) (January 2019)
- GERTF Response to GERAC Recommendations (January 2019)
- M. Schnackenberg Response to GERTF Letter (January 2019)
- R. Paul Response to GERTF Letter (January 2019)
- GEAC Annual Report and "Post Mortem" (July 2019)**