The agenda included a first reading of a proposal to create a BFC International Affairs Committee and a general education report.
Co-Chairs of the General Education Committee Dennis Groth, vice provost for undergraduate education, and Jonathan Michaelsen gave the general education report.
The report provided background on the number of undergraduates, the sources of credit upon entry and the top 15 courses prior to fall 2015 that students received credit for upon coming to IU.
It also showed evidence of students coming into their first year with more credits during the past four years.
This brought up questions among the council about whether this affected students’ education at IU because students might not be receiving the same curriculum in a high school course as those who take the course at IU.
However, many council members said this could give students more opportunities to have a richer education by taking different credits and adding different minors and majors.
“Even though students are bringing in sufficient credit, they don’t tend to take less credit,” Groth said.
Provost Lauren Robel agreed, saying this creates opportunities for faculty and students.
“We might be able to aim a little higher of ourselves,” Robel said.
The council also discussed the general education assessment, which is the way the general education curriculum is assessed.
Every year since the 2011-2012 academic year, a new portion of general education is assessed.
During the 2015-2016 academic year, the social and historical studies will be assessed.
The process for assessing involves choosing one general education class and picking one assignment to use to provide assessment data.
The general education committee consists of 65 voting faculty who review and approve new course proposals.
Of 70 courses proposed last year, the committee approved 55 of them. There were 964 general education courses approved for the 2015-16 year.
Professors Alex Tanford and Bryan McCormick, co-chairs of the Long Range Planning Committee, also led the first reading of the proposed creation of the International Affairs Committee.
The Long Range Planning Committee began discussing this proposal last year after looking at both the IU and IU-Bloomington bicentennial strategic plans.
Tanford said the word “international” showed up on almost every page of both documents. Because of this, the committee felt an International Affairs Committee should be created.
“It is clearly a long-term focus of the University in the next phase of what we do,” Tanford added.
The International Affairs Committee will review and propose policies and engage in a collaborative dialogue with administrators about international matters affecting faculty on the Bloomington campus, according to the agenda.
Such matters include study abroad programs, dual degree programs, admission of international students and the campus climate for international students and faculty, among others.
Tanford stressed that this committee will be a coordinating structure and work many with other committees.
“This recommendation really comes from the idea that if this is really part of the strategic plan ... we really need to have some sort of coordinated, identified faculty governance structure that has responsibility for making recommendations and dealing with issues,” McCormick said.
Because this was the first reading of this proposal, the council will vote on whether to pass it at its next meeting Jan. 19.
