(Re)Imagining the Future of General Education Together
Our goal is to engage the campus community in a comprehensive general education review and reform process to envision and implement a program that considers these guiding principles:
- We envision a student-centered general education program that rejuvenates and inspires students, faculty, and the entire campus community
- We believe that general education must prepare ODU graduates for academic, professional, and civic life
- We assert that everyone at ODU has a stake in general education
- We know that inclusion, collaboration, and transparency are essential to the success of the reform initiative and ultimately of the program
- We maintain that this initiative is an opportunity to celebrate what we do, be creative about what is possible, and establish a distinctive identity for general education at ODU
Additional Information
- The current general education program is a distributive model foregrounding disciplines/classes. It requires 50 credits and an upper-level Option outside the major.
- The last revisions to general education were made in 2010
- General education curriculum must meet SCHEV and SACSCOC requirements
- SCHEV: 4 Core Competencies - Critical thinking, Written communication, Quantitative reasoning, and Civic engagement, plus 2 of the institution's choice
- SACSCOC: Be based on a "coherent rationale," be "a substantial component of each undergraduate degree with min 30 credit hours," and "ensure breadth of knowledge"
- The decision to reform general education is based on:
- Assessments of student learning – General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC)
- Feedback from faculty via GEAC, Faculty Senate
- Feedback from students via Senior Student Satisfaction Survey (SSSS) and National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
- External review – Jan-Feb. 2024
- General education is a field of study similar to other disciplines with a long historiography, best practices, and peer-reviewed scholarship
Director Of Assessment & Accreditation
Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment
Master Lecturer & Gen Ed Proc & Pol Spec
Biological Sciences
Master Lecturer & Gen Ed Reform Lead
English
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Master Lecturer
College of Sciences
- Models/Structures
- Learning Goals and Competencies
- Faculty Development and Resources
- First-Year Experiences
- High-Impact Practices
- Purposes, Outcomes, and Assessment
Link here for the SharePoint.
January 2025 Events
- Student Committee Info Session: January 16, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. via Zoom
- Spring Reform Kickoff: January 23, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. Webb Center
- Reform Team Retreat: January 31, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Webb Center
Fall Recap & Survey
Click below to view our Fall 2024 recap PDF file. Interested in getting involved? Take our Fall 2024 Survey.