The General Education Council is the Faculty body that oversees the implementation of the general education requirements and works to encourage the development of the general education program. The Council is responsible to the Curriculum Committee, and through it, to the Faculty.

1: Membership, Election, Tenure

1.1: The Council's membership consists of (1) one elected Faculty member from each of the four curricular divisions: arts, humanities, natural sciences (including engineering and mathematics), and social sciences; (2) two Faculty members elected at large; (3) the Director of the Allan K. Smith Center for Writing and Rhetoric and the Dean or Director of the First Year program as members ex officio; (4) the Dean of the Faculty and an Associate Academic Dean; and (5) two undergraduate students. The Council shall have no more than one elected Faculty member from any department.

1.2: The elected Faculty members of the Council serve staggered three-year terms and are eligible to succeed themselves.

2: Jurisdiction, Obligations, Procedures

2.1: The General Education Council's responsibilities include:

2.1.a: To determine which courses, including first-year seminars, are applicable to the distribution requirement and in which distribution category they will be classified.

2.1.b: To determine which courses, integrated internships, and independent studies may be counted toward satisfaction of the Hartford and global engagement requirement. [Note: The Hartford component of this requirement was not adopted.];

2.1.c: To implement the policy on the counting of courses toward multiple requirements and to resolve any questions that arise about the interpretation of the policy;

2.1.d: To adopt guidelines defining the essential characteristics of writing-intensive courses; approve the designation of particular courses as writing intensive; and hear petitions from students who wish to take their second writing-intensive course outside of their major field;

2.1.e: To assist the Office of the Dean in securing the necessary support for and contributions to the general education program from the academic departments and programs, and to consult, as necessary, with individual chairpersons and program directors, or with groups of them, about issues of mutual concern;

2.1.f: To monitor the implementation and development of the various components of the general education curriculum for the purpose of identifying problems or special needs, recommending modifications, and taking other initiatives that the Council believes will maximize the educational effectiveness of the non-major requirements;

2.1.g: To study policy questions affecting the non-major requirements that are identified by the Council or by others, and either to resolve them or, as necessary, to refer them to the Curriculum Committee or other pertinent committees or offices;

2.1.h: To develop, when needed, additional information or guidelines on the general education requirements and to distribute them, as appropriate, to Faculty advisers, the Faculty as a whole, and students;

2.1.i: To serve as an advisory body to the Office of the Dean of Faculty with respect to the first-year seminar program;

2.1.j: To resolve, in consultation with the Curriculum Committee, any issues that arise with respect to the application of general education requirements to IDP and transfer students;

2.1.k: To review and approve proposals for interdisciplinary minors, as well as substantive changes in established interdisciplinary minors;

2.1.l: To resolve, with respect to interdisciplinary minors, any ambiguities about the field to which multiply-listed courses belong; and when a College Course or first-year seminar is included as part of an interdisciplinary minor, to determine its field, taking into account such factors as the subject matter of the course and the instructor’s area of expertise;

2.1.m: To maintain guidelines for individually tailored interdisciplinary minors and to consider student proposals for such minors. (The Curriculum Committee is responsible for evaluating all proposals for individually tailored interdisciplinary majors, and also for departmental minors.)

2.1.n: To review Faculty requests for course- and program- development funds in the non-major area and to advise the Dean of the Faculty about the allocation of such funds.

2.1.o: To decide petitions and appeals from students regarding the non-major requirements. (N.B. The Council’s authority to act on student appeals does not extend to the waiving of any non-major requirement; while the Council may, at its discretion, hear appeals for waivers and make recommendations to the Faculty, only the Faculty has the authority to grant a waiver.)

2.1.p: To oversee the preparation of catalogue statements and other published materials on the non-major requirements.

2.2: The Council may also undertake, from time to time, such comprehensive study of the general education requirements as it thinks advisable; and it may recommend substantive changes in them to the Curriculum Committee and, through that Committee, to the Faculty.

2.3: In the interests of an effective working relationship between itself and the Curriculum Committee, the Council shall send a copy of all minutes of its meetings to the chairperson of the Committee; and at the conclusion of each academic year it shall furnish the Committee with a written report summarizing its main activities for the year. All minutes and the year-end report shall also be sent to the Educational Policy Committee. The designated Associate Academic Dean shall provide additional liaison with the Curriculum Committee, as the Dean of the Faculty shall with the EPC. N.B. The Council will cease to function at the end of academic year 2009-10 unless the Faculty votes to extend its authorization. (Passed May 1, 2007)