The Next Step:  The General Education Course Review Process  

All courses in the General Education Program will undergo a re-application process for General Education Status in the next 18 months, beginning in September, 2008, regardless of the Vote in May to approve or disapprove of the General Education Committee's Recommended Updates. This review, the first since 1996, will use either the new Recommended Guidelines or our current standards.  It is an important part of maintaining the quality of a dynamic General Education Program.  The Middle States team sought evidence that our General Education Program has a review cycle in place, and commended us for demonstrating an active process of considering updates to the program.  Whether we use standards from the Current Program (five State-mandated Competencies) or the Recommended Updates (Competencies and Areas of Proficiency), we must examine courses to determine whether General Education Competency outcomes are being met in general education courses. 

• See a full description of the Course Review Process 

General Education Appeals 

Occasionally, students may make an individual appeal to the General Education Committee to allow the substitution of course credit to satisfy General Education requirements in associate’s degrees awarded by the College. In its decisions, the Committee is bound by Code of Maryland Academic Regulations (COMAR) and by General Education course substitution criteria and procedures approved by the College faculty.

Academic Appeals are separate and distinct from General Education and provide for decisions regarding certain College academic regulations. 

The following page has forms outlining Steps for General Education Appeals, Procedures & Criteria, and a General Education Appeal Application Form.

Membership and Responsibilities of the General Education Committee 

 The General Education Committee is a subcommittee of the Collegewide Curriculum Committee. 

Members:  No more than 2 faculty members from any one discipline, with a distribution to ensure representation from a range of academic areas and from all campuses; 4 faculty members per campus 

• English faculty member  - Professor Sean Smith, G

• 1 math faculty member - Professor Margaret Latimer, Mathematics, G

• 1 arts or humanities faculty member - Professor Sharon Fechter, World Languages, R

• 1 social or behavioral sciences faculty member - Professor Vicky Dorworth, Criminal Justice, R

• 1 biological or physical sciences faculty member - Professor Linda Mona, Chemistry, TP/SS

• 1 counselor with a background in transfer - Professor Anne Schleicher, Counseling, G (Chair)

• 6 at-large faculty members from any discipline

  • Art - Professor Michael Farrell, Rockville

  • Health - Professor Maureen Edwards, R

  • Speech - Professor David Rothman, TP/SS

  • At-Large, Professor Phil Ringeisen - Business, G

  • At-Large, Professor Nora Ryan - Computer Applications, TP/SS

  • At-Large, Professor Rita Kranidis, TP/SS

•  Resource members—members from the college community who may be called upon to lend their expertise to committee discussions, including but not limited to a Disability Support Services counselor, assessment experts, and other faculty, deans, and VPPs. 
  - Professor Janet Merrick, DSS, R, General Education Appeals Subgroup

 Appointments

•  The chairperson is elected by the full General Education Committee.  The term of service is 3 years.

•  The members of the General Education Committee are appointed for 3-year, renewable terms, to be staggered to maintain continuity so that no more than 4 faculty members are changed in one year.

•  To fill vacancies, the General Education Committee requests nominations from the faculty councils.
  Faculty councils each submit four names, with no more than one faculty member from the same discipline and campus.  The CCC chairperson works with the faculty council chairpersons to ensure that discipline areas and campuses are adequately represented.

• General education appeals are heard by the chairperson of the General Education Committee and 4 committee members.

     The General Education Committee meets twice a month during the fall and spring semesters. The General Education Committee is responsible for:

The State of Maryland sought to unify general education policies with recommendations in the early 1990's.  In 1996, Montgomery College, along with other Maryland community colleges and universities, adopted the general education transfer policy that in essence, guarantees the smooth transfer of general education courses between all MD public schools.  From the MHEC Student Guide to Transfer:

• Courses taken at a Maryland community college as part of a recommended transfer program will ordinarily be applicable to related programs at a Maryland public institution granting the baccalaureate degree.
• The General Education Program a student takes at one public college or university will transfer without further review to another public institution without the need for a course-to-course match. That is, courses that are designated as general education by a sending institution will transfer as general education even if the receiving institution does not offer that specific course or has not designated that course as general education.
• Courses designated as meeting the general education requirements at any Maryland public college shall be applicable to the general education requirements at any other Maryland public college or university.

This transfer policy allowed students at community colleges greater flexibility in transfer - no longer did students need to take courses at MC geared to the specific program at one transfer school.  The policy remains in effect today, allowing  students to transfer with fewer complications to Maryland public institutions.  This policy does not, however, extend to private or out-of-state schools, with the notable exception of Hood College, MD.  Hood College's progressive transfer policy states that students who complete an AA degree at MC will have met all of the Core Curriculum lower level course requirements at Hood without a need for a course-by-course review.

The General Education Committee expanded from 5 to 12 members in 2005.  Their retreat in May 2005 marked their decision to suggest updates to the program.  In February 2007, when they presented their General Education "Draft Proposal" to the Faculty.  Recommended changes were based on the increasing number of transfer students who attend Montgomery College.  It launched a thoughtful, exciting year-long debate among faculty about what elements should contribute to a generally educated student.  Information sessions were held on all three campuses in May 2007, and 18 two-hour Discussion Forums and Roundtables were held from throughout the Fall 2008 semester.  A highlight in the process was the January 2008 Opening Meeting, when faculty presented opinions on the issues (see issues and speeches here). 

Although discussions about potential changes were complex and thoughtful, the issues narrowed down to three questions.  Full-time faculty cast votes in March 2008, with these results:

The faculty of Montgomery College voted in May 2008 to approve updates to the program that appear here:

• Overview/Description of the Program
• General Education Competencies &
  Areas of Proficiency
• Distribution Areas - Descriptions & Outcomes
• Global and Cultural Awareness Designation

Once the Course Review Process is completed in 2009, the Updated Program will first appear in the 2010-11 Catalog, five years after the General Education Committee decided in 2005 to suggest changes to the program.