REPORT OF THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON GENERAL EDUCATION

5. M.

March,

1968.

INTRODUCTION

Presented in this report are the suggested terms

of reference of the Senate Committee on General Education,

an extract from the preliminary Proposal on General Education

(Paper

S13,

June

1967),

a review of General Education as it

presently exists at SFU, and finally the Committee's recommendations

regarding the implementation of a General Education program.

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The terms of reference which the Committee understands

as its functions are the following:

To recommend the implementation of some aspects

of the Preliminary Proposal.

To guide with participating faculty members those

portions of the Preliminary Proposal that Senate

implements.

To recommend other aspects of General Education not

contained in the Preliminary Proposal.

To transfer its complete responsibilities to the

new Academic Vice President within the first semester

of his arrival on Campus.

THE GENERAL EDUCATION PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL APPROVED BY SENATE.

In January

1968

(Minute 3-H) Senate approved the

Preliminary Proposal brought to it by the Committee on General

Education chaired by Professor Wasserman. This approval provided

for General Education to be mounted in four types of courses:

(1)

'Large-enrollment credit courses graded on a

pass-fail basis.

(2)

Courses with or without credit but with an

interdisciplinary approach.

(3)

Technical instruction 'courses carried without credit.

(Li.)

Seminars, workshops, and related activities carried

without credit.

2....

-2 -

GENERAL EDUCATION AS IT PRESENTLY EXISTS AT SFIJ.

In considering the implementation of the Preliminary

Proposal the Committee began by reviewing courses listed in the'

Calendar. that are explicitly designated as General Education

courses, or that fall under the rubric of General Education in

relation to the general comments in the Preliminary Report.

The only General Education courses now being offered

by academic departments are English 001 and. a Creative Writing

Workshop. English 002 was offered but had to be cancelled. owing

to low enrollment. In the summer only English 001 will be

offered; this and Biological Science 001 are the only General

Education courses that we know to be planned. for Fall

1968.

Although not explicitly listed as General Education,

the courses Communications 100 and 200 would appear to serve

the purpose of General Education; these are large-enrollment

courses that depend to some extent on outside lecturers and,

do not form a part of any degree program. They are three-unit

courses for which credit is given.

Modern Languages courses 100, 101, 105, 201 and 202,

although forming part of a degree program for some students,

appear in general to comply with the form and. function of the

Technical Instruction courses mentioned. in the Preliminary

Proposal, as do English 001 and Reading and Comprehension 001.

The Committee found a number of seminars, workshops,

theatre and special events activities, most of which are not

listed in the Calendar, but many of which could be classified

as General Education as defined in the Preliminary Proposal.

The Physical Development Center offers a number of

non-credit, non-compulsory coursescovering a wide variety of

skills.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF THIS COMMITTEE

After defining the range of activities in the

Preliminary Proposal that Senate has approved, and after

comparing these with courses presently being offered., the

Committee submits the following recommendations. It is

recommended that:

Senate ask each Faculty for a report on what General

Education courses it will offer in Semesters 68-2

and

68-3,

and what courses it will develop and

budget for in subsequent semesters;

. 2) Senate ask each Faculty to make fuller use of English

001 and Reading 001 where deficiencies in these areas

are identified.

- 3 -

i-///( V

Senate ask the Faculty of Education for its

opinion on offering Conrn'unications 100 and 200 on

an exclusive pass-fail basis.

Senate encourage the very commendabl noon-hour

concerts, theatre programs and special events by

directing the Registrà.r to not schedule lectures,

laboratory periods or tutorials during the period

12.

3 0

- 1.30.

Senate leave the guidance of the non-credit non-

compulsory courses offered in the Physical Development

Center in the hands of the Center itself rather than

this Committee.

Students who have a minimum of

semester hours of

-credit and a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher should

be permitted to take a certain number of free elective

courses on a pass-fail basis. Senate should ask

departments to re-examine their degree programs and

to stipulate the maximum number of pass-fail courses

that their major and honors students may take as

electives, with the proviso that no such course could

count toward the fulfillment of specific course

requirements for a degree.

"Pass-fail" in this connection means that the instructor

•

would grade the students on the same basis and in the

same manner as everyone else; students receiving a "C"

or better would be designated by the Registrar as

having passed; those with a "C-

' or below would fail.

Successful completion of a pass-fail course would give

the student

semester hours of credit (or whatever

credit is assigned by Senate and the Department to the

course) toward the total number required for the degree.

These units would not be counted in figuring the GPA.

E. Gibson

Lower

Mallinson