General Education Assessment & Innovation Committee

About GE | Course Proposals | Annual Assessment | 5-Year Impact Reports | Resources

About General Education

Mission & Goals

The General Education Requirements (GER) establish a broad-based common educational experience designed to enhance students’ abilities to describe, interpret, and analyze their world. In addition to building awareness of a wide range of material and enriching the academic experience, the GER promote intellectual inquiry through basic content and methodology and contribute to the graduate’s ability to communicate effectively in oral and written English.

The General Education program is organized around six student learning goals:

1. Students will effectively and intelligently communicate in writing in a variety of contexts.
2. Students will demonstrate mathematical and analytical reasoning skills.
3. Students will engage in theoretical and empirical study within the natural sciences while gaining an understanding of the nature of science and scientific inquiry.
4. Students will learn to respond critically and imaginatively to how the humanities disciplines have shaped thought and represented the world in the past, and how these disciplines continue to offer perspectives on diverse cultures in the present.
5. Students will understand human agency and behavior, the development and structure of social systems, and the impact of culture on human interaction by learning social scientific analytical perspectives and research methodologies.
6. Students will explore and value aesthetic creation and form as an essential means of conceiving and expressing the human experience through the fine arts.

Committee Charge

The GEA&I Committee is a standing university committee charged with overseeing the creation, implementation, assessment, and improvement of the general education component of all university curricula. Committee responsibilities include:

1. Ensuring students are exposed to real-world relevant concepts and competencies in GE courses
2. Reviewing and approving course proposals for the GE Requirement Course List
3. Evaluating course effectiveness through annual assessment reports and periodic impact reports
4. Maintaining long-term oversight of GE quality and assessment data
5. Interpreting and reviewing GE philosophy and requirements, recommending restructuring when appropriate
6. Coordinating with academic and advising units to keep students informed about GE requirements

Proposing a GE Course

What Makes a GE Course?

A course must meet all of the following criteria to qualify for the General Education Requirement Course List:

• Available to most or all students (enrollment may not be restricted to a specific major)
• Addresses the learning outcomes for a specific GE area
• Provides a broad-based common educational experience
• Promotes intellectual inquiry through basic content and methodology
• Introduces a discipline or creative field

Additional eligibility considerations:

• Courses are typically 1000–2000 level with minimal prerequisites; 3000-level courses may qualify if open to all majors
• Courses must be offered at least once per academic year
• A course may only be listed in one Louisiana Board of Regents area (Honors seminar courses are exempt)
• The course must facilitate achievement of NACE core competencies
• The course must include an assessment tool aligned to GE learning outcomes

How to Submit a Proposal

Proposals must be submitted at least one month prior to the relevant University Curriculum Committee (UCC) meeting.

1. Submit the curriculum proposal through Modern Campus Curriculum (Curriculog). Your department chair and curriculum coordinator can assist with Curriculog access.
2. Complete the GEA&I General Education Course Proposal Form and submit it to the committee.

The proposal form requests the following information:

• Course prefix, number, and title
• Whether this is a new or existing GE designation
• Catalog description and credit hours
• Delivery modalities (face-to-face, online, hybrid)
• GE category being requested
• NACE competencies addressed by the course
• Assignments and instruments used to assess each GE learning outcome
• Common topics and assessments used across all sections
• Name and contact information for the course Assessment Coordinator

Review Process

Submitted proposals are assigned to committee members for review. Reviewers assess whether the course’s content, pedagogy, and assessment protocols align with GE goals. The assigned committee member presents the proposal at a GEA&I meeting; Department Heads are welcome to attend. The committee votes on one of the following outcomes:

• Approve — Proposal is forwarded to the University Curriculum Committee for final review.
• Disapprove — Proposal is returned to the department with a written explanation.
• Return for Revision — Proposal is sent back for clarification or improvement before re-review.

Proposals requiring significant clarification may be tabled pending additional information from the submitting department.

GE Learning Outcomes by Category

Proposed courses must address the designated outcomes for their GE area. Full outcome descriptions are available in the GE Resource Manual and the university catalog.

Annual Assessment

Departments offering courses on the GE Requirement Course List are expected to fulfill the following responsibilities every academic year:

• Collect assessment data every time the course is taught, using the approved assessment instrument
• Submit aggregated data annually to WEAVE, the university’s assessment management system
• Implement appropriate improvement plans based on assessment results and document those plans in WEAVE

The GEA&I Committee reviews aggregate GE assessment data each year and monitors each major GE area on a five-year review cycle. Courses that have not been taught at least once per academic year, or that show insufficient contribution to GE learning outcomes, may be recommended to the University Curriculum Committee for removal from the GE Course List.

NACE Core Competencies

All GE courses must facilitate achievement of the NACE Career Readiness Core Competencies. Proposals and assessment instruments should reflect how the course supports students in developing one or more of the following:

Critical Thinking | Communication | Teamwork | Equity & Inclusion | Professionalism | Technology | Career & Self-Development | Leadership

5-Year Impact Reports

Purpose

Every five years, faculty from all departments offering courses in a given GE core area convene to reflect on what is working, identify challenges, and commit to specific improvements that will enhance student learning. The five-year impact report provides a structured opportunity for cross-departmental dialogue and accountability.

Review Schedule

Meeting Format

The Dean convenes a single meeting with faculty representatives from all relevant departments in the review year. Before the meeting, faculty should review five years of enrollment data, grade distributions, and assessment results from WEAVE.

During the meeting, the group discusses:

• Strengths — what has been working well across sections and departments
• Challenges — common student obstacles and outcomes that need additional attention
• Improvement ideas — evidence-informed strategies to address identified challenges
• Action commitments — 2–3 specific items with named owners and timelines

Report Format (3 pages maximum)

WEAVE Entry: Improvement commitments from the impact report are entered as Action Plans in the GE WEAVE report during the cycle following the impact report. For example, commitments from a 2026 impact report are entered into WEAVE in February 2027.

Submission

The Dean submits the completed impact report to the GEA&I Committee by February 15 of the review year.

Resources

• GEA&I Course Proposal Form — Submit the required course proposal form when proposing a new or existing course for GE designation.
• Modern Campus Curriculum (Curriculog) — Submit the formal curriculum proposal through the university’s curriculum management system.
• WEAVE Assessment Portal — Submit annual GE assessment data and enter improvement action plans.
• GE Resource Manual — Full learning outcome descriptions and assessment guidance for all GE areas.
• NACE Career Readiness Competencies — Full definitions of the eight NACE core competencies referenced in GE course requirements.

For questions about the GEA&I Committee, course proposals, or assessment requirements, contact the College of Honors & Excellence, which provides administrative support for the committee.