Trends in General Education:

1
Trends in General Education

• West Coast Religious Colleges General
  Education Requirements in relation to The
  FIPSE/Mellon Project Trends in the Liberal Arts
  Core A Vision for the 21st Century
• Now, an ACTC Project

2
Average Percentage of Baccalaureate Credits
Devoted to General Education is Increasing
1978-1998

• Average Percentage 1978 31.4
• Average Percentage 1998 48.5
• Year 1998 WCRCs General Education Core
  requirements occupy 51 of the credits devoted to
  the BA. This figure compares to 43 in 1978.

3
Comparison of WCRCs Gen Ed to Religious
Institutions

• The median percentage of credits devoted to
  general education in religious institutions is
  47
• Institutions at 47 and above
• Birmingham-Southern, Furman University, Samford
  University, Freed-Hardeman, Fordham University,
  Augustana College, Assumption University, Rhodes
  College, University of Dallas, Baylor University.

4
Overall Picture Traditions of West Coast
Religious College

• Central to WCRCs General Education Program is
  the Universitys Mission, its Religious
  orientation, and the WCRC Idea.
• WCRCs organization into Divisions, not
  departments, of Religious and Theological
  Studies, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social
  Sciences, Humanities, and Interdisciplinary
  Studies
• West Coast has strengthened its Liberal Arts and
  its Religious educational traditions.
• The Stories and Focus series have expanded the
  breadth of Interdisciplinary, Religious,
  Artistic, Civilization, and Service concerns of
  the curriculum. These series focus on reading
  important and serious texts.
• The traditional liberal arts concerns with skills
  have been maintained, while the importance of
  languages has been strengthened.
• Introductory courses to the disciplines, to the
  sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities
  have been crafted for general education.

5
General Education Trends and Innovations which
Might Be of Interest to West Coast Religious
College

• Seamless Administration of gen ed
• Student Enculturation through integration of gen
  ed and student support services
• Curricular Developments and Use of Portfolios
• Examinations and Capstones
• Co-curricular Activities based in gen ed
• Core as Faculty Enculturation.
• Most Important Trend Fusion of curricular reform
  with co-curricular supports and curricular
  assessments.
• Combining periodic general/liberal education
  review with real liberal learning outcomes
  assessment

6
For Further Discussion, Information or Referral
to Other Institutions

• J. Scott Lee, Ph.D. Executive Director,
  Association for Core Texts and Courses Principal
  Investigator, FIPSE/Mellon/AALE/ACTC project,
  Trends in the Liberal Arts Core A Vision for
  the 21st Century.jscottlee_at_prodigy.net(908)
  359 7560