The Arch Program: Notes and ClarificationsGeneral Education Task Force IIFaculty Assembly PresentationApril 8, 2015

Proposed Curriculum MapOUTCOMES FYS

CRWT 102 RIAH History Lang SSI Math Science

Mid-Career

Exper Cluster Sen. Pres.

Critically interpret the products of culture and creative expression. X X

Critically interpret history and society. X X Apply methods of scientific inquiry effectively. X Apply mathematical concepts effectively. X X Demonstrate logic and reasoning skills. X X X

Write effectively in scholarly and creative contexts. X X X X X

Speak effectively in scholarly and creative contexts X X X X XDevelop the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and employ information. X X X X

Use traditional and emerging technologies appropriately and competently. X

Apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to address complex problems. X

X

Practice reflective inter/intra-personal skills. X Demonstrate curiosity and initiative to independently pursue knowledge, skills, and experience.

X X X X

Engage cooperatively and compassionately with diverse communities locally, nationally and globally. X X X

X

Produce or explore work in the creative arts. X Analyze ethical implications of the global distribution of power and resources. X X

Question assumptions about individual and group identity. X X X X

Demonstrate skill in a language other than English, while also gaining an understanding of other cultures. X

Conceptual Framework Ramapo, New Jersey’s Public Liberal Arts College, invites you to reimagine the world you’ve known and to prepare for the rest of your life. Here, you will be challenged by a variety of educational experiences: our school cores, minors, concentrations, study abroad, and more. You’ll pursue a major, one suited to your particular interests; you will also complete our GE Curriculum. Together, these programs ask you to become a citizen of our college community and to prepare for citizenship in new communities, wherever your passions take you.

Drawing on the rich traditions of the liberal arts, Ramapo’s general education program prepares you for the specific challenges of your major and encourages you to see the connections—intellectual, social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and empirical—we all share in our increasingly linked, global world. Today, news, ideas, and wealth circle the globe at the tap of a screen. The products in our homes, the books on our shelves and screens, the knowledge in our minds increasingly link us to hundreds of thousands of others. Seeing those connections means you can make a difference by grappling with problems of inequality and injustice. Being connected means seeing both the apparent benefits of globalization and technology and their impact on local economies and environments.

A liberal arts education asks you to cherish your curiosity, embrace today’s challenges, and transform yourself and your world by pursuing a broad education, one that looks inward as well as outward. Ramapo students honor their homes and understand that no individual and no community stands alone—or stands still. The student who navigates the channels between Ramapo’s many educational experiences sees the web of ideas, histories, financial links, political bonds, natural systems, and cultural exchange that forms the modern world and links that world to civilizations past.

You will need to respond quickly to political, technological, and cultural change, be ready to shift careers, or reimagine yourself in an evolving field. More than that, Ramapo students will be ready to create those new fields. A lifetime of learning is the passport to a productive, fulfilling future. The student who takes that path is ready to meet and shape tomorrow.

An Integrated Program• The conceptual framework and goals describe

a general education program “Draw[s] on [the] liberal arts [and] encourages [students] to see the connections—intellectual, social, economic, cultural, aesthetic, and empirical—we all share in our increasingly linked, increasingly global world [ . . . ].” This integrated program (Keystone, cluster, experiences, etc.) asks students to make those connections.

Goals and OutcomesExplore the world: Investigate human cultures and the natural world.•Critically interpret the products of culture and creative expression. •Critically interpret history and society. •Apply methods of scientific inquiry effectively.•Apply mathematical concepts effectively. Engage the world: think critically and convey new understanding.•Demonstrate logic and reasoning skills.•Write effectively in scholarly and creative contexts. •Speak effectively in scholarly and creative contexts. •Develop the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and employ information effectively.•Use traditional and emerging technologies appropriately and competently.

Goals and Outcomes, con’tExperience your world: integrate and apply your new learning.•Apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to address complex problems. •Practice reflective inter/intra-personal skills. •Demonstrate curiosity and initiative to independently pursue knowledge, skills, and experience.

Expand our world: develop compassion and ethical understanding across cultures and become an engaged global citizen.•Engage cooperatively and compassionately with diverse communities locally, nationally and globally.•Analyze ethical implications of the global distribution of power and resources.•Question assumptions about individual and group identity. •Demonstrate skill in a language other than English, while also gaining an understanding of other cultures.

Keystone Courses & Clusters• Structure

– 4 Credits First Year Seminar (Distinct course—revised)– 4 Credits Critical Reading and Writing (Distinct course—revised)– 4 Credits Science (category—revised)– 4 Credits Mathematical Reasoning (category—revised)– 4 Credits Readings in the Arts and Humanities (Distinct course—

revised)– 4 Credits in Social Science Inquiry (Distinct course—new)– 4 Credits Language (category)– 4 Credits Historical Thought (category—revised)– 12 Credits Cluster Courses (category, allowing double counting)

Cluster Courses• With the Cluster requirement, we hope to accomplish:– Narrower, more coherent, closely supervised distribution

categories.– Encourage students to take 3 courses with some thematic

coherence (broadly conceived).– Encourage students to double count part or all of a cluster

into a minor.– Allow at least one cluster course to double count into the

major or school core.– Define clusters in keeping with college mission, values,

pillars, and general education’s conceptual framework (i.e., international, intercultural, experiential, sustainability / citizenship).

Exceptions to the Cluster Requirement

• Exceptions: The cluster might not be the right option for all students. Therefore, we would let any of the following fulfill the cluster requirement:– Complete a second major outside his/her home

school.– Complete a minor outside his/her school.– Credit bearing certificates (like Business Essentials)– A “contract” cluster, where a student (working with

faculty) puts together a cluster not currently offered (perhaps including experiential—non-course—learning).

Example of Cluster

Course fulfilling International goal

• ECON 323 - Comparative Economic Systems

• ENST 209 - World Sustainability

• CNTP 308 - The Social Documentary & Human Rights Issues

• COMM 214 - Contemporary British media

Course fulfilling Intercultural Goal

• COMM 347 - New TV Criticism

• ENST 312 - Ecological Anthropology

• AMER 250 - Pursuing The American Dream

• Intl 317 - Contemporary Eastern Europe

• THEA 209 - British Theater

Course fulfilling Sustainability /citizenship goal

• EDUC 211 - Student Literacy Corps

• ENST 207 - Public Policy• INTD 210 - Theory And

Practices Of Peer Facilitation

• LAWS 224 - Constitutional Law

• POLI 206 - Political Theory

Sample Cluster: “Sustainability and Society.”Students: Choose 3 of the following, one from each category. [Note: specific courses below were pulled more or less randomly from current GE offerings.]

A student following the above could double count two or three courses into a minor. For instance, there are two COMM courses and two ENST courses.

Proposed Curriculum MapOUTCOMES FYS

CRWT 102 RIAH History Lang SSI Math Science

Mid-Career Exper Cluster

Sen. Pres.

Critically interpret the products of culture and creative expression. X X

Critically interpret history and society. X X Apply methods of scientific inquiry effectively. X Apply mathematical concepts effectively. X X Demonstrate logic and reasoning skills. X X X

Write effectively in scholarly and creative contexts. X X X X X

Speak effectively in scholarly and creative contexts X X X X XDevelop the skills necessary to locate, evaluate, and employ information. X X X X

Use traditional and emerging technologies appropriately and competently. X

Apply disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge and skills to address complex problems. X

X

Practice reflective inter/intra-personal skills. X Demonstrate curiosity and initiative to independently pursue knowledge, skills, and experience.

X X X X

Engage cooperatively and compassionately with diverse communities locally, nationally and globally. X X X

X

Produce or explore work in the creative arts. X Analyze ethical implications of the global distribution of power and resources. X X

Question assumptions about individual and group identity. X X X X

Demonstrate skill in a language other than English, while also gaining an understanding of other cultures. X

Task Force Members

Next Steps

• March/APRIL 2015: ARC reviews the curriculum

• April/May 2015: ARC presents the curriculum to the faculty for a vote at the Faculty Assembly meeting

Comments? Questions?

•Contact your rep!

•Contact the committee chair, Ed Shannon (eshannon@ramapo.edu)

•Email the Task Force: gened2@ramapo.edu

We appreciate your feedback!