This message was shared with the faculty of the 10-campus University of Hawaiʻi system on March 12, 2021.
Aloha to our UH Faculty across our campuses,
The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa last revised its general education curriculum in 1999 and after more than 15 years, that curriculum has now been adopted systemwide. With one exception (the transition to quantitative reasoning), little has changed in either the structure or content of the curriculum. Meanwhile, the state of the world as well as higher education has substantially evolved. It is now time to envision a new general education curriculum for the entire University of Hawaiʻi System to prepare our graduates for the world in which they will live.
UH Mānoa commissioned an external review of general education (PDF) that provides valuable insights and recommendations. And all 10 UH campuses have agreed to participate in the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) Interstate Passport program, a multi-state faculty-developed approach to base general education transfer on learning outcomes and proficiencies rather than specific courses and credits.
These both provide valuable background, and the UH Mānoa General Education Committee has begun work on recommendations for reform. It is clear to all today that this work has implications across the UH system.
With the support of faculty governance groups, I will therefore charge a systemwide working group to develop a plan for the redesign of general education at UH both substantively, the skills, competencies and knowledge that comprise general education, as well as structurally, how general education is organized and the curriculum is maintained. The working group will also consider any applicable accreditation standards.
The starting assumption for a new general education curriculum must be how best to prepare our students for the uncertain future they will face. We must identify and articulate what our students need to know, be able to do, and value so they can be knowledgeable and contributing citizens in the complex, diverse, information-driven and interconnected world within which they will live and work. UH needs a general education curriculum that will prepare them for this world’s challenges, and the many careers, not just jobs, and life experiences they will face. Issues of civic engagement, community, sustainability, resilience, data analytics, critical thinking, effective communication, teamwork and more must be considered. We need to create a general education curriculum that prepares our students to flourish and lead here in Hawaiʻi and in the wide range of possible worlds before them.
To initiate this redesign, I will convene a working group (the UH General Education Curriculum Design Team) composed of 10–12 faculty from all 10 UH campuses and three undergraduate students to develop a proposal for a new general education curriculum. (Editor’s note: The design team was chosen in May 2021.) That proposal will be the basis of consultation and discussion during the 2021–22 academic year across all campuses and with constituencies throughout the UH System, beginning with an all faculty congress meeting in Fall 2021 to share the proposal. Our goal will be to begin implementation of the new general education curriculum after consultation concludes at the end of the Spring 2022 semester.
Each campus Faculty Senate will then select 3–5 names to put forward for consideration from among the applicants from their campus. Undergraduate student representation opportunities will be offered through the UH Systemwide Student Caucus. A final team of 13–15 will be selected by the Office for the Vice President for Academic Strategy (OVPAS) to balance across areas of competency, campuses and diversity of participants across the system.
Faculty participants in the working group will be offered stipends equivalent to one 3-credit course overload during summer 2021 in consideration of the significant time investment required for participation in the Summer Institute and in the systemwide consultations that will follow in AY 2021–22. Undergraduate student participants will also be compensated.
Visit the General Education Redesign webpage for more information.
Mahalo nui loa for your time and consideration,
David Lassner
UH President
