September 2022 Consultation Update
The revised proposal for a new General Education Program is available on this page. Members of the Revisions Team carefully considered the extensive feedback and recommendations that were submitted in AY 2021-22, and took the approach of proposing an updated Gen Ed core for our ten campus system, and suite of reinforcement-level requirements for students in four-year programs. The proposal also includes a discussion of implementation considerations, and a recommended timeline for implementation.
We will hold four open Town Halls for the UH community to come discuss the proposal on:
- Friday, September 23 from 3:00-4:30 pm
- Monday, October 3 from 9:00-10:30 am
- Tuesday, October 11 from 12:00-1:30 pm
- Thursday, October 13 from 1:30-3:00 pm
Please use your hawaii.edu email address to register here for one or more Town Halls. The zoom link will be emailed to all registrants.
Rather than collecting feedback and revising the proposal again, we are asking each campus’ Gen Ed Committee/Board to take up the mantle of curriculum design in AY 2022-23 by considering the addition of institutional values and/or high-impact educational practices on top of the proposed baseline curriculum (or minimum set of requirements). Each campus’ faculty senate or congress should aim to hold a vote by the end of this academic year.
June 2022 Consultation Update
All feedback was collected from October 2021-May 2022. Feedback from town halls, email correspondence through gedesign@hawaii.edu, and anonymous feedback forms has been recorded and compiled here: General Education Redesign Feedback Form
Feedback from committee and Senate reports can be found here: Committee and Senate Reports. All campus-level Gen Ed committees and boards can continue to submit campus level proposals for curriculum and implementation to gedesign@hawaii.edu.
Updated Timeline
- June-August 2022: The Revisions Team will be working to revise the current proposal (see topics and Revisions Team schedule here)
- Fall 2022: A revised proposal will be available for consultation and feedback
February 2022 Consultation Update
The first four open town halls to discuss the General Education redesign drew faculty, staff, administrators, and students from across the UH system, and saw robust discussions of various components of the draft proposal.
We would like to announce four more open town halls for the UH community. These will be more focused on specific parts of the draft proposal in order to help participants dive a bit deeper into each level. The next set of town hall meetings hosted on zoom will include:
- Thursday, February 17, 3:00-4:00 pm: focused on the Foundations level
- Tuesday, March 8, 3:00-4:00 pm: focused on the Reinforcement level
- Monday, April 4, 3:00-4:00 pm: focused on the proposed Capstone
- Wednesday, April 13, 3:00-5:00 pm: to collect Recommendations for revision
You can register using your hawaii.edu email address for any or all of these town halls.
The GenEd Design Team released the draft proposal for system-wide conversation in October of 2021 and the consultation process has begun. While originally we had planned to provide feedback and recommendations by spring 2022 semester, the complexity of the issues and proposal requires more time to unfold. Our revised tentative timeline is:
Revised Timeline
- October 2021-May 2022: Feedback and recommendations will now be collected through the remaining months of this academic year.
- Spring 2022: A Revisions Team will be formed through an open call for self-nominations and faculty senate vetting process.
- Summer 2022: Comments and recommendations for revisions will be used to revise the proposal in the context of an implementation plan by the Revisions Team.
- Fall 2022: A revised proposal will be released for system-wide consultation.
- Fall 2022 or Spring 2023: A vote in all ten faculty senates/congresses on the proposal.
Feedback Mechanisms
In addition to formal consultation through our ten campus-wide faculty senates, committees and individuals may submit feedback and recommendations directly to gedesign@hawaii.edu. Any group may also request a conversation with members of the design team by completing this meeting request form. Finally, feedback is being collected through this anonymous feedback form, which individuals can submit multiple times as the conversations about General Education evolve. Please submit all feedback by April 30, 2022.
Our UH General Education Curriculum Design Team has been assembled, and we have a wonderful group of faculty representatives with an array of experience that will be part of the summer design work. We intend for the process to be transparent and interactive. Redesigning the general education curriculum will require extensive consultation and faculty approval. As a result, we plan to take the following steps once the design team has completed its summer work.
We anticipate this collaborative process to take the entire academic year. When the design team’s initial proposal is released, it will be transmitted to the ten campus-wide faculty senates in accordance with both the letter and spirit of relevant policies (RP 1.210, RP 5.213, and section R-20 of the 2017-2021 UHPA-BOR contract). Each campus faculty senate will have the opportunity to provide feedback and suggestions on the initial proposed design for the design team to take into consideration for the final proposal. All campus faculty senates are encouraged to facilitate review, discussion, and feedback from the entire faculty of their respective campuses. For example, the Mānoa Senate Executive Committee intends to host a Mānoa Faculty Congress meeting on this issue.
Beginning in the Fall semester, Curriculum Design Team members will visit every College or Division on each campus. Members of the Curriculum Design Team will also meet with all Departments that express an interest in a meeting to hear the presentation and discuss the proposal. Departments can choose not to meet with the Curriculum Design Team, but an opportunity will be provided to do so. All general education committees/boards, including our four system-wide general education committees (Systemwide Foundations Committee, Systemwide Hawaiian, Asia/Pacific Issues Committee, Systemwide Committee on Written Communication, UH Systemwide Composition/Rhetoric Director’s Meetings) will also be consulted. At any time, faculty with comments or suggestions can email gedesign@hawaii.edu to provide direct input to the Curriculum Design Team. Based upon the department/division level consultation and feedback collected from consultations with the ten campus-wide faculty senates, the Curriculum Design Team will discuss and revise the proposal.
Once a revised proposal has been developed, it will be again submitted to each campus-wide faculty senate for discussion and debate. Faculty senates will follow their own campus procedures (e.g. referral to their general education and/or curriculum committees, motions or resolutions, and voting) for final vote.
Leading up to and during the summer institute:
- Each campus faculty senate played a central role in choosing design team delegates from their campus.
- We established an email address, gedesign@hawaii.edu, where any questions or suggestions regarding the general education design process or the summer institute can be sent.
- We issued a survey to all faculty and current undergraduate students, asking them to rank the top competencies they would like to see in a general education curriculum. The results of this survey will be posted on the website.
- We have sought out additional faculty expertise as potential speakers for the design team work during July.
- We will publish daily updates on the design team work over the month of July.
