SAVE THE DATE
Re-Envisioning General Education: Developing a Unique Foundation to Support Students’ Life-Long Learning
- Friday, Oct. 2, 9:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- University Center
Paul Gaston, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus, Kent State University
Distinguished Fellow, AAC&U, Office of Curricular, Pedagogical, and Digital Innovation
Re-envisioning General Education at UMBC
UMBC is embarking on a multi-year journey to modernize our General Education framework. The Faculty Core Committee is tasked with developing recommendations for the Faculty Senate and Provost that prioritize student success over departmental boundaries.
Initial Objectives:
- Benchmarking: Consulting with peer institutions on best practices.
- Engagement: Creating a robust plan to involve the entire UMBC community.
- Guiding Principles: Establishing the data-driven values that will shape our new curriculum.
- Alignment: Ensuring our core definition of education reflects UMBC’s vision and the 2022 Study Group findings.
Provost’s Charge
Provost Manfred van Dulmen has established a faculty core committee to develop recommendations for re-envisioning UMBC’s General Education Program that will be submitted to the Faculty Senate for discussion and selection.
These recommendations, which will include a definition of general education that recognizes the centrality of general education to all undergraduate program offerings, must align with UMBC’s values as described in its vision statement and build on the recommendations offered by the General Education Study Group, as documented in its 2022 report.
The committee will meet regularly during the academic year beginning in Spring 2026. Committee members are expected to consider what is best for UMBC’s students, not individual departments or colleges.
Initial goals will include consultation with other universities that have recently undergone the re-envisioning process, developing a plan to engage the campus community, establishing guiding principles, and defining a data-gathering process and project timeline.
This will be a multi-year process with a goal of full implementation of a re-envisioned General Education Program by Fall 2030.
Timeline
General Education Faculty Core Committee Members
Manfred van Dulmen
Provost and Executive Sponsor and Professor of Psychology
Brad Peercy
Professor of Mathematics & Statistics
Susan McDonough
Co-Chair of the Re-Envisioning General Education Faculty Core Committee and Associate Professor of History
Jessica Pfeifer
Associate Professor of Philosophy
Peggy Re
Co-Chair of the Re-Envisioning General Education Faculty Core Committee, Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Visual Arts
David Rosenbloom
Professor of Ancient Studies
Camee Maddox-Winfield
Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology & Public Health
Maria Sanchez
Professor of the Practice and Director of Education and Outreach for the College of Engineering and Information Technology
Katie Morris
Clinical Assistant Professor of Social Work and Director of Social Work at Shady Grove
Jasmine Shumaker
Reference & Instruction Librarian for the Albin O. Kuhn Library and Library Faculty
Karin Oen-Lee
Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
Paul Smith
Associate Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Marc Olano
Associate Professor of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering and Associate Dean for the College of Engineering & Information Technology
Yolanda Valencia
Assistant Professor of Geography & Environmental Science
Tanya Olson
Associate Teaching Professor of English and Director of Writing & Rhetoric
Kyung-Eun Yoon
Associate Professor of Modern Language & Linguistics
The Faculty Core Committee, which works as a body, is also organized into working groups, each focused on a defined task. These working groups will change over the course of this project. The current working groups are: Student Input, Data and Analysis, K-12 and Looking Ahead, Provost’s Teaching and Learning Symposium, Road Show and Bibliography, Stakeholders, and Engaging Conversation.
Advisory Committee
Advisory Committee members support and enhance the work of the Re-envisioning General Education Faculty Core Committee by offering quantitative and qualitative insights from their divisions’ perspectives.
Alicyn Curtis
Education Abroad Coordinator for the Center for Global Engagement
Monique Ransom
Director of the Office for Academic & Pre-Professional Advising
James DeVita
Assistant Vice President for Academic Partnerships and High Impact Experiences
Christine Routzahn
Director of the Career Center
Beth Feeser
Associate Teaching Professor of Biological Sciences and Faculty Senate Representative
Joby Taylor
Assistant Vice Provost for the Shriver Center
Steven Freeland
Professor of Biological Sciences and Associate Dean for Academic Programs within the Division of Undergraduate Academic Affairs
Jess Wyatt
Interim Director of Alumni for Alumni Engagement
Tawny McManus
Assistant Vice President for Accessibility
