Invitation to provide feedback: Proposed framework for undergraduate education

The General Education Subcommittee of the University Curriculum Committee will be holding open forums for faculty, staff, students, and administrators to review the proposed new framework for undergraduate education at the University of Georgia. The proposed framework is attached and can be reviewed on the Office of the Registrar website.

The dates and locations of the open forums are below:

• Monday, Sept. 16, 4-5 p.m., Science Learning Center Room 1035
• Thursday, Sept. 19, 4-5 p.m., Miller Learning Center Room 248

Feedback may be provided at either of the open forums or by emailing Curriculum Systems. The deadline to submit feedback is Friday, Oct. 11.

For background, the 2017 Task Force on Student Learning and Success recommended that the organization of the general education curriculum be updated. The Task Force stated that “relevance and intentionality were foundational to a robust general education curriculum” and “believed that steps to highlight the relevancy of general education coursework would be beneficial to students’ long-term success.” Specifically, the Task Force wanted students to move away from a “check box” model of general education to something that allowed students to be more purposeful and intentional in selecting general education courses. The changes being proposed by the General Education Subcommittee are meant to establish such a framework.

Undergraduate education at UGA

Undergraduate education at UGA focuses on two overlapping spheres: general education and the major, with opportunities to expand beyond those areas, and includes the acquisition of a broad set of fundamental competencies (Academic Affairs Policy Statement No. 24, Institutional Competencies) that are applicable to an ever-changing world. General education represents the broadest aspect of the educational experience, giving students an intellectual foundation that enables them to meaningfully engage with each other and the communities they will join and shape after graduation.

Fully half of the courses students complete to earn an undergraduate degree rest in the major, where students immerse themselves into an intellectual area of the student’s choice. Within the major, a capstone serves as an opportunity for students to integrate educational experiences. Students in many programs are also allowed to explore intellectual interests that lie outside the boundaries of the major through general electives. The First-Year Odyssey Seminar introduces students to the academic life of the University and experiential learning enables students to connect their academic work to the world beyond the classroom.