Academic Senate
Santa Barbara Division

January 22, 2003

TO: Harold Marcuse, Co-Chair
Claudine Michel, Co-Chair
Richard Hecht, L & S Executive Committee Representative
Jennifer Heinen, Graduate Student Association Representative
David Kohl, Undergraduate Council
Chrystine Lawson, President, Associated Students
Susan McLeod, Undergraduate Council, Writing Program
Dan Montello, L & S Executive Committee Representative
Al Wyner, Dean, Undergraduate Studies, L & S
Xiaojian Zhao, Undergraduate Council
Muriel Zimmerman, Undergraduate Council, GE Task Force Chair

FM: Denise A. Segura, Chair, Undergraduate Council

RE: General Education Workgroup

Thank you for accepting my invitation to serve on the General Education Workgroup. As the Chair of the Undergraduate Council, I was charged by Academic Senate Chair Walter Yuen to form a workgroup on General Education in consultation with the Executive Committee of the College of Letters & Science. This responsibility was given to the Undergraduate Council following the decision on December 5, 2002, by the Faculty Legislature, to rescind approval of the General Education proposal and refer it to the Undergraduate Council "for the purpose of setting up a small subcommittee that includes representatives from the executive committee of the College [of Letters and Science] to review the existing proposal, formulate a clear statement about the various points in it that have been debated, and amend it to ensure that the final language conforms to the intent of the original taskforce and the Undergraduate Council."

The Workgroup, co-chaired by the Vice-Chair of the Undergraduate Council, Claudine Michel along with the Chair of the Standing Committee on Undergraduate Academic Programs and Policy (CUAPP), Harold Marcuse, will draft a specific General Education program. To that end, the workgroup will discuss, consulting with faculty and students as necessary, the major issues that need to be resolved in order to implement as many of the taskforce recommendations as possible. We hope that the work group will be able to incorporate the task force report's larger campus vision of GE within the final proposal that it submits to the Undergraduate Council.

During Spring 2003, the final proposal will be sent to the executive committees of each college for review after which it will be submitted for approval to the full Undergraduate Council, which is charged with formulating educational policy on undergraduate education. The Council will consider the comments, finalize the proposal, and submit it to the Faculty Legislature for final action.

I cannot thank you enough for agreeing to undertake this critical service to our campus. Please be assured that I greatly value your insight, advice and participation in the crucial work of this workgroup. Your collective experience will help bring us together to formulate a truly meaningful general education program that will contribute to the excellence and diversity of the undergraduate experience at UCSB.

Cc:Walter Yuen, Chair, Academic Senate
Harry Nelson, Vice Chair, Academic Senate
Stephen Weatherford, Chair, Executive Committee of the College of Letters & Science
Undergraduate Council Members

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