This URL is http://www.edcenter.sdsu.edu/AAHE/preconference.html
Baccalaureate Education in the California
State University
AAHE CSU Preconference, January 22, 1999, San Diego Sheraton
Organized by Prof. James Highsmith (jamesh@csufresno.edu)
In fall 1995, the Academic Senate CSU began an examination
of baccalaureate education in the CSU. The Cornerstones project, initiated in
late spring 1996, paralleled the baccalaureate study with one of its four task
force's topics being "Learning for the 21st Century." The Senate's two-year study
was informed initially by the results of a CSU Academic Conference in February
1996 where campus faculty and academic administrators, together with student and
alumni/ae representatives, identified key topics upon which to focus.
In fall 1996, Senate committees met in special
sessions examining the effectiveness of baccalaureate education from the perspectives
of students, parents, employers, alumni/ae, state policy makers, senior citizens,
and the public in general. Following intense debates and a drafting process,
further extensive consultation occurred with campus senates and faculty throughout
the CSU, especially through special presentations and small group discussions
at the February 1997 Academic Conference in Monterey attended by over 500 faculty
leaders. Issues debated during the report's development included the needs of
students, the changing environment of undergraduate instruction, assessment
of learning, integration of technology into instruction, precollegiate instruction
and remediation, and organizational changes associated with the new modes of
education. The discussions of these topics informed participants in the Cornerstones
project and its task forces as well.
The resulting Academic Senate report, Baccalaureate
Education in the California State University, describes the Senate's vision
of the baccalaureate for the graduates in the year 2005, although many aspects
of the vision are already in place. The content of the report enunciates the
purposes and scope of the baccalaureate degree. It is written to provide guidance
to the Academic Senate, to the chancellor's staff and to campus senates and
faculty as baccalaureate education evolves.
Prominent themes in the report
are the importance of:
- better integration of general education and major coursework;
- working with high schools and community colleges to assure students are
prepared for baccalaureate education;
- using varied methods of assessing student learning before, during, and
at the end of the baccalaureate;
- effective use of new teaching approaches and of technology;
- examining systems of values and ethics relevant to a graduate's use of
knowledge and skills; and
- ensuring quality and commitment to faculty who assure the diversity of
CSU degree programs.
Baccalaureate
Education in the California State University is written to provide
guidance to the Academic Senate, to campus senates and faculty, and to chancellor's
staff as baccalaureate education evolves.
Session Schedule 8am-1130am
8:00 Marshelle Thobaben, Moderator; Panel: Jim
Highsmith, Allsion Heisch, Paul Spear, Dorothy Keane
- Thobaben (5 min.) Introduction
- Highsmith (8 min.) Background and Purposes of Baccalaureate
- Heisch (12 min.) Readiness and Remediation
- Spear (12 min.) Readiness and Content
- Keane (12min.) Assessing Student Learning
9:00 Jim Highsmith, Moderator; Presentations of Exemplar
Activities on CSU Campuses
- Highsmith (2 min.) Introduction
- Jim Morgan, Chico (12 min.) Multicampus project on math and English GE
- outcomes (Chico, San Francisco, Sacramento)
- Keith Boyum, Fullerton (8 min.) General education learning outcomes
- Paul Adalien, SLO (12 min.) Information competence and general education
- Kathleen McEnerny, DH (8 min.) Integration of breadth and depth in
clinical science
- Jackie Donath, Sacramento (8 min.) learning communities
- Kris Stewart, San Diego (8 min.) Using
supercomputing in undergraduate education
- Carole Holder, Pomona, ITL (12 min.) Faculty development and quality of
instruction
10:30 Discussion Groups including all audience
- Using Technology in Undergraduate Education
- Integrating Breadth and Depth
- Assessing Student Learning
- Readiness and Remediation
- General Education Outcomes
Discussion leaders/facilitators for the 5 groups.
- Adalien, Stewart
- McEnerny, Holder
- Keane, Donath
- Heisch, Spear
- Boyum, Morgan