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General Education Oversight Committee

Through the GEOC, departments, schools, colleges and University committees work together to facilitate the development of general education curriculum at Salisbury University.

General Education Proposals Dashboard

In Review Approved
Current SU Courses 50 239
New Courses 45 63
TOTAL 95 302

In April 2021, SU faculty voted to adopt new General Education requirements for all undergraduate students. Those requirements go into effect starting fall 2024.

SU Signature Outcomes: Must complete at least 3 credits in each of the following areas:

  • Civic and Community Engagement
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Environmental Sustainability

Approved courses in the above areas may also include General Education requirements below. Approved courses in the above areas may also include major coursework. If a student does not complete a course in all three areas above within their General Education or major coursework, an additional course(s) must be completed in order to fulfill these requirements.

Purpose and Membership of the Committee

  • Create, regularly review, and update guidelines and processes to be used for approving General Education courses.
  • Approve the alignment of undergraduate courses with specific General Education requirements.
  • Coordinate with all academic units to ensure appropriate distribution and offerings of General Education courses.
  • Evaluate, in coordination with the University Academic Assessment Committee, the General Education program’s effectiveness. Results shall be reported to the Senate annually.
  • Recommend modifications to the General Education program and its Student Learning Outcomes to the Senate. Recommendations must consider input from Faculty and the Office of Academic Affairs, and report on impact studies.
  • Recommend modifications to its own Advisory Subcommittees to the Senate.

GEOC Committee Standing Rules

The GEOC Committee has created a set of Standing Rules to guide its actions.

The Committee Has Seven Voting Members:

One Faculty member elected by and from each Unit and one Faculty member elected at-large.

Currently:

  • College of Health & Human Services: 2023-2026 - Thomas Lamey
  • Fulton: 2023-2026 - Mike Lewis
  • Henson: 2024-2027 - Jennifer Nyland (Chair)
  • Libraries: 2021-2025 - Stephen Ford
  • Perdue: 2021-2025 - Kashi Khazeh
  • Seidel: 2024-2027 - Konstantine Kyriacopoulos
  • At-Large Member: 2024-2025 - Michele Schlehofer

Ex Officio, Non-voting Members Include:

  • Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs: Melissa Granger
  • Associate Vice President for Planning and Assessment: Kara Raab
  • Registrar: Martin Hunter

The committee shall elect its chairperson annually.

General Education Advisory Subcommittees

The purposes of these subcommittees shall be to:

  1. Recommend guidelines for the alignment of courses with their assigned General Education requirements to the General Education Oversight Committee.
  2. Recommend the approval of specific courses for those requirements to the General Education Oversight Committee and, where courses are not recommended for approval, provide faculty with actionable advice for how they might be brought into alignment.
  3. Provide support for evaluation and faculty development associated with those requirements as needed.

View current Subcommittees

Implementation Resources

General Education Course Approval Process

The vetting process for potential General Education courses will take place in Curriculog, SU’s online curriculum management tool. That includes:

  • Current courses that were not previously a part of General Education
  • Current General Education courses that are seeking a new designation
  • New courses to the University's curriculum

All course proposals will be originated by the department/program offering the course.

Course proposals will work their way through the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) only if they are new or substantially modified courses. All courses will be vetted by the appropriate subcommittees and will then be sent to the GEOC for approval. In addition to showing how the course will meet all assigned SLOs, the appropriate subcommittees will determine what is required for a course to be approved; this may vary slightly among General Education requirements.

Approval of Current SU Courses (Subject to Change per GEOG):

  • Originator Launches Proposal in Curriculog
  • Academic Chair (1 week)
  • Dean (1 week)
  • Appropriate General Education Subcommittee (1 – 4 weeks)
  • GEOC (1-4 weeks)
  • Provost (1-2 weeks)
  • University Editor (1 week)
  • Registrar’s Office to be built in GullNet (2 weeks-2 months*)
  • Appears in Catalog (September 15 for spring changes; February 15 for fall changes)

*Time varies depending on date of offerings and complexity of change.

Approval of Newly Created Courses or Those with Substantial Changes (Subject to Change per GEOC):

  • Originator Launches Proposal in Curriculog
  • Department Curriculum Committee, if applicable (1-2 weeks)
  • Academic Chair (1 week)
  • School College Committee (1-4 weeks)
  • Dean (1 week)
  • SCED/P12 and/or TEC, if applicable (1-4 weeks for each)
  • Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (1-4 weeks)
  • Appropriate General Education Subcommittee (1-4 weeks)
  • GEOC (1-4 weeks)
  • Provost (1-2 weeks)
  • University Editor (1 week)
  • Registrar’s Office to be built in GullNet (2 weeks-2 months*)
  • Appears in Catalog (September 15 for spring changes; February 15 for fall changes)

*Time varies depending on date of offerings and complexity of change.

If you would like to request individual or group training, please contact Jennifer Ellis:jeellis@salisbury.edu. Please include a brief description of the type of training you are looking for (new user, creating a new program, general education, etc.).

General Education Curriculum Approval Timeline

View a detailed roll-out plan for Fall 2024 implementation