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GEC Bylaws

Update History:

Sections I and II accepted by GEC on 10/6/11; Sections III through VI accepted by GEC on 11/3/11. Section  I.E.5 approved by GEC on 2/2/12; Amendments to I.E.2, II.F, III.F.1, VI.B.4, III.G.1, III.B approved by GEC on 3/24/16. Addition of subsection creating Entry-Year Experience Committee approved on 3/24/16. Amendments to II.B, 4A approved by GEC on 3/23/20. Addition of section III. Elected Officers and subsection IV. I creating the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee approved on 3/23/20. Sections 1.A, adding voting members of interdisciplinary programs, and III.A, adding a Documentation Committee, accepted by GEC on 10/25/2022.

These bylaws supplement the University Governance Document and describe the policies and procedures of the General Education Council (GEC).

MEMBERSHIP

The membership of GEC is described in the University Governance Document. For undergraduate academic departments and interdepartmental programs, the Governance Document stipulates “One representative and one alternate (to be elected by the department or program membership) of all interdepartmental programs (defined in the by-laws of the GEC),  each undergraduate academic department, and the Honors College.”

  • Interdepartmental programs are defined as those that offer a major or minor and are directed by a group of faculty elected/appointed from two or more.
    • As of Fall 2022, interdepartmental programs include: Disability Studies, Ethnic Studies, Interdisciplinary Arts, International Studies, and Women & Gender Studies.
  • The representative from APSCUF to GEC serves a one-year renewable term.
  • A “primary member” of GEC is any member other than an alternate.
  • Attendance.
    • Attendance by primary members at all GEC meetings is expected. It is the responsibility of primary members to notify the co-chairs of the committee of absence in advance, when possible. More than two (2) unexcused absences from GEC meetings per semester shall lead to automatic dismissal from GEC. The executive committee of the University Forum shall determine what constitutes an unexcused.
    • If the primary representative from an academic department is unable to regularly attend GEC meetings, the alternate may take over as primary representative. The department should then choose a new alternate.
  • Role of Alternates.
    • Alternate members may attend GEC meetings, but may not vote if the primary member is present.
    • Alternate members may be members of GEC committees, but the primary member and alternate from the same academic department may not both be members of the same GEC committee.
    • Only primary members (or alternates serving in lieu of the primary member) may make or second motions.
    • All GEC members (including alternates) may attend and participate in GEC and GEC committee meetings, but voting in these meetings is restricted as noted above.
    • Alternates are not eligible to be elected to the office of Faculty Co-Chair.


MEETINGS

  • The GEC will meet monthly during the fall and spring academic semesters.
  • The final meeting of the spring semester will include organization for the following academic year. The Faculty Co-Chair, Secretary, and General Education Liaison will be elected to one-year terms at this meeting.
  • A quorum shall consist of 2/3 of the In determining a quorum, alternates shall be considered only if the department’s primary representative is not present. Votes may only take place when a quorum of voting members is present.
  • A motion shall be deemed passed if a majority of the members present vote “aye.” In this determination, alternates who are not eligible to vote shall not be counted.
  • Items may be placed on the agenda by either Chairperson, by any standing or ad-hoc committee, or by petition by any five.
  • Notice of meetings and an agenda shall be distributed at least four (4) days before each meeting to members, alternates, and other university constituencies. The mailing list will be developed by the Council, and reviewed annually at the spring organizational.
  • If an item is discussed which was not included on the agenda, any member has the right to have the vote postponed until the next meeting.
  • Meetings shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures set down in the revised Robert’s Rules of Order except as otherwise provided in these bylaws.
  • Agendas and minutes from each meeting will be posted on a publicly available website


ELECTED OFFICERS

  • GEC has three elected positions: Faculty Co-Chair, Secretary, and General Education Liaison. Each position shall be filled according to procedures in II.B.
  • The Faculty Co-Chair
    • The Faculty Co-Chair will coordinate the activities of the GEC through managing and coordinating its meetings and subcommittees as well as ensure that all decisions are communicated to relevant units.
    • The Faculty Co-Chair will have the following responsibilities:
      • Provide general oversight of program revision, proposal review and approval, assessment measures, and budget procedures.
      • Chair monthly GEC meetings, and prepare and distribute meeting materials.
      • Coordinate with the General Education Liaison on communication with GEC Representatives, Departments, College Councils, Dean’s Offices, University Curriculum Committee, and other relevant bodies.
      • Collaborate with the General Education Liaison on matters concerning the review and revision of the General Education Program and on relevant policies and procedures.
      • Serve on all GEC committees on an ad hoc basis, regularly consult with committee chairs, and regularly attend Program Committee meetings.
      • Consult with the Administrative Co-Chair regularly, including on the appointment of GEC members to standing committees.
      • Maintain the GEC website and official documents.
      • Seek out and participate in external opportunities for discussing, developing, and assessing the General Education Program.
  • Secretary
    • The Secretary will have the following responsibilities:
      • Document GEC meeting proceedings, including tracking attendance, recording votes, and writing minutes.
      • Submit GEC meeting minutes to the Co-Chairs and General Education Liaison in advance of the next GEC meeting.
  • General Education Liaison
    • The General Education Liaison will coordinate all matters concerning the implementation of the General Education curriculum across the University, including academic and administrative units.
    • The General Education Liaison will serve as the Program Committee Chair, non-voting representative to the University Curriculum Committee, and as an ex-officio member of the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee.
    • The General Education Liaison will have the following responsibilities:
      • Chair the Program Committee in accordance with IV.G.
      • Review and advise on all University Curriculum Committee proposals that concern General Education.
      • Report the results of GEC votes on course and program proposals to the University Curriculum Committee.
      • Coordinate the annual review and revision of the General Education curriculum, including calibration meetings.
      • Draft policies for the review and revision of the General Education curriculum.
      • Meet with Associate Deans and the Registrar’s Office to help plan the schedule and conduct a seat analysis of General Education courses.


COMMITTEES

  • The GEC has six standing committees: Budget Committee, Assessment Committee, Program Committee, and Entry-Year Experience Committee, Documentation Committee and Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee. The purpose of each committee is to make recommendations to the GEC. 
  • The membership of each committee will be organized at the first GEC meeting of each academic Committee members from the prior academic year are considered to still be members of that committee until this organization occurs. See Sections III.E.2, III.F.6, III.G.4, III.H.3, III.I.4, and III.J.4 below for the selection procedures.
  • Each standing committee will elect a chairperson and a secretary at its first meeting of each academic Each committee will deliver a report on its activities at the monthly GEC meeting.
  • Budget Committee.
    • The GEC Budget Committee will serve as a resource to recommend to the GEC the allocation and distribution of any funds available to the GEC. The committee may:
      • Develop recommended guidelines for distribution of any available funds in the form of grants. The committee may serve, as needed, as a review body for grants, either as a whole or as a subcommittee. The committee may recommend to the GEC that ad-hoc grants committees be formed, as necessary.
      • Develop and recommend strategic requests for funding, tying such requests to the mission and goals of the GEC.
      • Coordinate and assist with the seeking of external grant funding, especially when related to the mission and goals of the GEC.
    • Membership
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Budget Committee
      • The Budget Committee shall have at least 5 but not more than 8 members.
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC (as defined in Section A.) to the Budget Committee if there are fewer than 5 volunteers.
      • If there are more than 8 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 8 of the volunteers will serve as members of the Budget Committee.
  • Assessment
    • The GEC Assessment Committee will organize the assessment of general education courses in terms of: time frames (i.e., which objective to assess, and when) and department rotations (i.e., coordinating the responsibilities of various departments involved in General Education)
    • The Assessment Committee will assist departments in devising and carrying out assessments according to best practices.
    • The Assessment Committee will review assessment plans with departments to facilitate best practices for both general education and department goals and aim.
    • The Assessment Committee will review assessment outcomes with departments and assist departments in improving outcomes if problems have been identified.
    • In addition to the course-level assessment described above, the Assessment Committee will develop and carry out program-level assessment using appropriate strategies. These strategies may include, but are not limited to:
      • National standardized tests
      • Surveys
      • Public forums
      • Ongoing analysis of connections between course goals and program goals
      • General education curricula at other universities
      • Published best practices
    • Membership.
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Assessment Committee.
      • The Assessment Committee shall have at least 5 but not more than 8 members.
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC (as defined in Section A.) to the Assessment Committee if there are fewer than 5 volunteers.
      • If there are more than 8 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 8 of the volunteers will serve as members of the Assessment Committee.
  • Program
    • The GEC Program Committee will consider all curriculum matters related to General Education, with a particular emphasis on long-term planning. This charge includes, but is not limited to:
      • Developing guidelines according to which curriculum proposals related to general education are drafted and evaluated
      • Crafting statements regarding program vision, mission, and goals
      • Crafting curriculum consistent with the vision, mission, and goals
      • Documenting the vision, mission, goals, and curriculum, and the connections among them
      • Continually evaluating the vision, mission, and goals with the intention of proposing revisions whenever it is deemed appropriate
      • Continually evaluating the curriculum with the intention of proposing revisions whenever it is deemed appropriate; the evaluation should include the delivery of the curriculum, as well as the content and its connection to the vision, mission, and goals
      • Evaluate UCC proposals related to General Education and make recommendations to GEC.
    • In evaluating the vision, mission, goals, and curriculum, the Program Committee will use any and all resources available to it, including but not limited to the data and information generated by the activities of the Assessment Committee
    • All decisions made by the Program Committee are recommendations, with approval authority resting with the entire Council.
    • Membership
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Program
      • The Program Committee shall have at least 5 but not more than 8 members, and must include one member from each of the three Arts and Sciences divisions (Arts and Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Math and Natural Sciences), one member from the College of Business, and one member from the College of Education and Human Services
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC to the Program Committee if there are fewer than 5 volunteers. The co-chairs will also appoint a member of GEC from an appropriate college/division (see III.G.4.ii) if no such member volunteers.
      • If there are more than 8 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 8 of the volunteers will serve as members of the Program Committee
  • Entry-Year Experience
    • The GEC Entry-Year Experience Committee will investigate the possible creation of an entry-year experience for Shippensburg University and report its findings to the
    • If/when such an experience is created, the Entry-Year Experience Committee will work with the Assessment and Program Committees to monitor and manage the experience to ensure that it meets the goals set by the General Education program.
    • Membership
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Entry-Year Experience
      • The Entry-Year Experience Committee shall have at least 5 but not more than 8 members
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC (as defined in Section A.) to the Entry-Year Experience Committee if there are fewer than 5 volunteers.
      • If there are more than 8 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 8 of the volunteers will serve as members of the Entry-Year Experience Committee
  • Documentation Committee
    • The Documentation Committee will review documentation for the General Education program, policies, procedures, reports, and assessments, updating the information management plan as needed, including a records management plan, documentation workflows, and guidelines for sharing information.
    • The Documentation Committee will work with other GEC Standing Committees to ensure that documentation is occurring and following the records management plan.
    • The Documentation Committee will oversee General Education records on the s:\ drive and the University web site.
    • Membership
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Documentation Committee.
      • The Documentation Committee shall have at least 3 but not more than 5
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC (as defined in Section A.) to the Documentation Committee if there are fewer than 3 volunteers.
      • If there are more than 5 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which additional volunteers will serve as members of the Documentation Committee.
  • Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee
    • The GEC Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee will provide guidance and/or recommendations to Dean’s Offices concerning course substitutions, waivers, exceptions, or other similar measures, as they relate to the General Education curriculum.
    • In addition to the above role, the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee will collect data on course substitutions, waivers, exceptions, and other similar measures, as they relate to the General Education curriculum. These data will be shared with GEC and the Program Committee as part of the annual review and revision process.
    • The Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee will also develop criteria for granting course substitutions, waivers, exceptions, and other similar measures.
    • Membership
      • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee.
      • The Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee shall have 3 permanent members, and must include one member each from the College of Arts & Sciences, College of Education & Human Services, and College of Business. Representatives from each Dean’s Office shall also have a seat on the committee.
      • The General Education Liaison shall serve as an ex-officio member.
      • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC to the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee if there are fewer than 3 volunteers. The co-chairs will also appoint a member of GEC from an appropriate college (see IV.I.4.b) if no such member volunteers.
      • If there are more than 3 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 3 volunteers will serve as members of the Waivers and Exceptions Advisory Committee.
  • The GEC will create ad-hoc committees as necessary to perform its duties as described in the governance
  • The co-chairs of GEC will serve as ex-officio members of each of the standing committees.


CURRICULUM PROPOSALS

  • In accordance with the Governance Document, the University Curriculum Committee will refer all proposals that relate to general education to the GEC.
  • A standard part of each GEC meeting's agenda will be consideration of proposals which have been received prior to distribution of the
  • Once the GEC has made a decision, it will forward its recommendations on to the University Curriculum


AMENDMENTS

  • By a motion from the floor or a joint recommendation from the co-chairs, the GEC may form an Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee to review and make recommendations to the GEC for amendments to these
  • Membership of Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee.
    • Any member of GEC is eligible to volunteer to be a member of the Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee
    • The Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee shall have at least 5 but not more than 8 members
    • The co-chairs may jointly appoint any member of GEC (as defined in Section I.A.) to the Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee if there are fewer than 5 volunteers.
    • If there are more than 8 volunteers, then the co-chairs will jointly determine which 8 of the volunteers will serve as members of the Ad-Hoc Amendment Committee
  • Proposed amendments must be presented in writing to the Council at least ten (10) days before the Council meeting at which they will be considered.
  • An affirmative secret vote of 2/3 of the voting membership is required for enactment. The APSCUF representative will be charged with administering this vote. Votes will be counted jointly by the APSCUF and the GEC co-chairs.
  • The bylaws should be reviewed at least every five years.

Contact the General Education Committee

Contact: Karen Johnson Phone: 717-477-1123 x3127