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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:

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

9:00 Jim Highsmith, Moderator; Presentations of Exemplar Activities on CSU Campuses 10:30 Discussion Groups including all audience
  1. Using Technology in Undergraduate Education
  2. Integrating Breadth and Depth
  3. Assessing Student Learning
  4. Readiness and Remediation
  5. General Education Outcomes
Discussion leaders/facilitators for the 5 groups.
  1. Adalien, Stewart
  2. McEnerny, Holder
  3. Keane, Donath
  4. Heisch, Spear
  5. Boyum, Morgan