Information & Initiatives for Faculty
University College does not have its own faculty; but it does have a crucial role in providing support and structure to faculty in the academic colleges who teach General Education and Freshman Seminar courses.
Support
One of the roles of University College is to provide support to faculty teaching general education courses. The following list is subject to change since the college is still exploring different options for supporting faculty, but it provides a starting point for discussion. Please feel free to contact John Smail, Dean of University College, if you have thoughts or ideas.
1) Undergraduate Teaching Assistants
Borrowing shamelessly from the models developed in a number of units, University College has piloted a program in conjunction with the University Center for Academic Excellence to provide undergraduate teaching assistants to faculty teaching large sections of LBST courses. The idea is that this teaching assistant will both provide support to the faculty member and help connect students to the services offered in UCAE.
2) Course Clusters
One of the most promising ideas to come out of the University College Working Group that met during Fall 2007 was the concept of linking two courses whose curriculum overlapped to a degree to make a ‘conversation’ between them possible. This idea holds out the potential for a more rewarding learning experience for students and a more rewarding teaching experience for you. Examples might be a lab science course paired with a section of LBST 2213; a section of LBST 2102 paired with an LBST 1102 that looked at global issues; or a section of a required social science class such as Sociology that was paired to an LBST 2101 that took a historical perspective on issues of class, race and gender.
Currently, there are no active plans to create course clusters during the coming academic year (2008-09). By the time the working group finalized these recommendation, there was not enough time to create the intellectual partnerships between faculty or resolve a host of scheduling questions. However, this concept remains on the drawing board, and I would be interested in talking with any faculty who are interested in exploring this idea.
3) Enhanced Seminars
A variation on the course cluster idea is to pair a large lecture class (one meeting a Gen Ed requirement) with sections of freshman seminar. In this model, the freshman seminar functions as a hybrid:
- As a discussion section in which students would discuss additional material relating to the lecture class or do activities to enhance their understanding.
- As a transition seminar covering some of the key areas in which students need to make adjustments in order to be successful in college.
In many instances, the purposes of these two aspects to the seminar overlap. A workshop on note taking and studying offered as part of the transition experience could be tied directly to the lecture that is delivered in class the following week. Similarly, the workshops on library research and time management offered as part of a transition experience could become the basis for a step by step introduction to writing a short paper about a topic for the lecture course.
Thanks to the interest of seven intrepid souls, we will be piloting seven courses in Fall 2008 that will have seminars attached to them from several departments. Based on the results from these pilots, we will be exploring the possibility of expanding such links in the future. If you’re interested, get in touch.
4) Writing Across the Curriculum
An effort initiated by Meg Morgan that combines the standing faculty committees on Academic Planning and Budget and General Education is looking into the question of reviving a Writing Across the Curriculum program at UNC Charlotte. University College is involved in these discussions and seeks to support whatever recommendations the group develops.
General Education
As the university office responsible for the General Education Program; University College provides certain basic structures that relate to courses taught in that program.
1) New Preparations of Gen Ed Courses
Any faculty member thinking of developing a section of a General Education class is encouraged to contact University College to get help in understanding the course objectives and information about how other faculty have approached the challenge.
Please note that no formal approval process exists faculty seeking to teach sections of LBST courses. University College relies upon the professionalism of the faculty and the oversight of department chairs to ensure that all sections conform – in both content and structure – to expectations.
2) Writing Intensive (W) and Oral Communications (O) Courses
Any faculty member who wishes to have a course designated as meeting the Writing Intensive and/or Oral Communications requirements within the General Education program must submit the class for approval to University College. Once a course is approved it does not need reapproval even if a faculty member different from the person who originally got approval is teaching it. However, faculty are encouraged to seek support from their department and/or University College in they event that they are called upon to teach a W or O course.
3) Assessment
University College is responsible for coordinating the assessment of all aspects of the General Education Program. In some instances, where the Gen Ed requirements are taught by means of courses offered out of specific departments, the assessment is undertaken in the unit: for example, the English Composition, Math, Science, and Social Science requirements. In other instances, particularly the LBST curriculum, assessment is done by University College working with instructors for those classes. Assessment runs on a three year cycle: English and Math in one year; science and social science in the next; LBST in the next. In 2007-08, we are doing the assessment of LBST courses.
4) Faculty Meetings
In order to provide opportunities for faculty teaching in the general education program to get to know one another and to discuss the courses they are teaching University College hopes to hold periodic meetings during the year (once or twice a semester). Announcements of meetings will be sent via email to instructors active in a given semester, but all are welcome.
