2001-02: 

The Provost supported a team to attend the AAHE's Summer Academy to develop a model interdisciplinary first-year course to serve as a template for others; "Power, Profit, Pleasure" ("PPP") designed.

The Provost appointed an Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education; Faculty Senate endorsed her to lead Core Curriculum Council and charged it to review the Core (last review was1987).

Data collection and analysis of the existing Core revealed considerable mission "drift" and lack of institutional structure and ownership, fiscal sustainability, and assessment.

2002-03:

Four sections of "PPP" offered, fall 2002.

USM Project, General Education at USM: Achieving National Excellence, was funded by the Davis Educational Foundation ($92,200).  The successful proposal was written by the Director of the Honors Program, and supported with additional funding from Honors:

1. Thirty participants (faculty, staff and students) met in seven day-long workshops on:
2. Assessing Core Curriculum,
3. Interdisciplinarity,
4. Expected Outcomes of General Education,
5. Structures of Faculty Governance to Support General Education,            
6.  National Efforts to Reform General Education,
7. Assessment of Student Learning in General Education, and        
8. Implementation of the Maine Learning Results. 
9. Project participants met with USM department chairs and faculty from SMCC during the summer of 2003 to discuss the revitalization of general education at USM and coordination with MCCS.
10. Supported attendance of some faculty and staff at national conferences on general education.
11. Honors Program participated in the SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities) project, in conjunction with support from the Office of the Provost.
1. Honors Program connected the Davis Project with resources from the National Collegiate Honors Council and the Association for Core Text and Core Courses, two national resources that have also addressed the reform of general education.  

Core area ("letter") faculty discussions were facilitated by Core Council member volunteers.

The Office of Academic Assessment conducted a student survey and focus groups on the Core.

The Provost and Associate Provost held USM "Town Meetings" to discuss general education/Core.

The Provost convened a Technology Competency Committee; recommendations were submitted in February 2003.

USM participated in the Foundations of Excellence in the First Year of College Project and the National Survey of Student Engagement to evaluate and improve student experience, 2002-04.

Linked-course pilots were run (students in an introductory course co-registered in an English 100C).

Linked-course pilots and "PPP" were assessed by the Office of Academic Assessment.

The General Education Council, a standing committee of the Faculty Senate, was proposed jointly by the Core Curriculum Council and the Davis Project.  The structure and responsibilities of the GEC were approved by the Faculty Senate, May 2003

2003-04:

Members of the new General Education Council (GEC) were seated by the Faculty Senate and the GEC bylaws were approved (April 2004).

GEC Charge: to develop a set of goals and objectives for general education program(s) at USM, and develop and recommend to the Faculty Senate a process, policy, schedule and criteria for general education program review by May 2005.

GEC developed the Vision, Goals and Outcomes for General Education at USM statement, adopted by the Faculty Senate, April 2004.

A five-meeting faculty workshop on desired learning outcomes for Quantitative Competency (“D”) was held.

Honors Program continued its work begun with the SENCER Institute as a step in widening and broadening the Honors curriculum to provide a complete pathway through general education, in preparation for the creation of the USM Honors College.

The Provost appointed a coordinator of Writing across the Curriculum who held workshops to develop more writing instruction-intensive courses, May 2004.

Second Davis Educational Foundation proposal General Education at USM: Achieving Sustainable Excellence was granted ($100,000).  The proposal was submitted by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education.
      Funded activities:

1. LAC efforts to design its own general education path:
1. a team participated in the AAC&U General Education Institute, May 2004 
2. held a summer Writing across the Curriculum workshop
3. held a summer Assessment workshop.
2. Wide dissemination of the AAC&U report Greater Expectations: a New Vision for Learning as a common reference.
3. GEC held a university-wide conference on General Education, May 20, 2004, and invited area MCCs to attend:
1. Keynote by Carol Geary Schneider, President, AAC&U;
2. presentations and discussions facilitated by GEC member volunteers
3. over 75 faculty and staff attended.
4. GEC work group developed guidelines and criteria for development and review of general education program(s) at USM
5. The Honors Program developed a science sequence curriculum, “The Body”; a new course was developed using the Guidelines and Criteria for General Education at USM and also approved for a core “K”, April 2004.

The Dean of CAS held Town Meetings to disseminate and discuss the Vision, Goals, and Outcomes statement and general education.        

Summer 2004:

GEC work group developed draft guidelines and criteria for development and review of general education program(s) at USM for Faculty Senate action in fall 2004.

USM-LAC held a Writing across the Curriculum workshop in June and Assessment Workshop in July.

2004-05:

USM submitted a proposal to the MELMAC Education Foundation, which includes support for a First-Year Experience pilot ($225K/6 yrs).  Proposal accepted April, 2006.

The GEC completed its 2-year charge with submission to the Faculty Senate in November of the Guidelines and Criteria for General Education at USM (G&C). 

USM-LAC completed a draft proposal for a new general education program, also using the G&C.

USM-LAC was invited to present their work at the annual AAC&U conference in January, 2005.

CAS collected data on current core courses for use in determining available teaching resources.

CAS established a faculty group to begin curriculum design using the G&C.  The GEC recommended that this group be expanded by the Provost to constitute a university-wide committee to design a replacement for the Core. 

1. This is the current General Education Curriculum Planning Group (GECPG), with the charge to design a model to replace the current Core. 
2. The Provost has also agreed to support a subgroup to work through the summer, and provide the necessary institutional data.

Members of this group attended the AAC&U annual conference in January.

GEC held a second university-wide conference on General Education, May 18, 2005.

 USM sent a team from the GECG to participate the AAC&U General Education Institute, May 2005.

The Provost selected the next Gloria S. Duclos Convocation theme to be Liberal Education in the 21st Century Academy in order to support university-wide reflection on the general education initiative; it will span two years: 2005-07.

The Honors Program designed three new courses, each addressing the new goals and outcomes for general education, and guided by the G&C; and offered its new science sequence/“K” course in fall ’04.

The Faculty Senate approved the Guidelines and Criteria for General Education at USM on 3/4/05.

The Faculty Senate charged the GEC to design a process and criteria for the review of general education proposals by October 2005.

The GECPG worked during the summer to design, in accordance with the Guidelines and Criteria a model general education program for faculty feedback during fall.

2005-06:

A series of Convocation events were held that broadened the university conversation about liberal and general education.

The GEC Review Process for General Education Proposals was approved by the Faculty Senate on 11/18/05

GECPG continued to work on a general education pathway to replace the core curriculum; the co-chairs met with departments and colleges/schools to collect feedback on the work to date.

The GEC reviewed the LAC-USM's proposal and recommended final approval.

The LAC-USM Proposal for a New General Education was approved by the Faculty Senate on 4/14/06.

Nine sections of  four Entry Year Experience (EYE) courses will be offered to first-year students Fall 2006.

2006-07:

Professor Lee Knefelkamp (Senior Fellow at AAC&U and Professor, Columbia University), visiting Libra Scholar, provided on-going consultation, workshops, and two keynote addresses pertaining to general education reform at USM.

The General Education council granted provisional approval to the General Education Curriculum Planning Group’s proposal for a core-replacement curriculum on Feb. 9, 2007.

Carol Geary Schneider, President of AAC&U, sent a letter to USM President Rich Pattenaude praising USM’s curriculum reform efforts (March 23, 2007)

The General Education council granted provisional approval to the Honors General Education Pathway proposal on April 13, 2007.

Twenty-seven sections of  Entry Year Experience (EYE) courses will be offered to first-year students in Fall 2007.