FAC Appendix 08. Bylaws for GEC

Bylaws for General Education Committee

  1. Name
    General Education Committee
  2. Purpose
    To propose general education policy and to oversee curriculum and the quality of the general education program. To make recommendations accordingly to the Educational Policies Committee as specified below.
  3. Composition of Committee Membership, Criteria for Selection
    Three faculty members representing academic divisions (with vote), one additional faculty member elected as a faculty at-large representative, with vote.
    One student (with vote)
    One ex officio member with vote: VPAA or the VPAA’s designee.
    Two ex officio members without vote: Registrar and Director of Assessment.
  4. Terms and Process for Selection of Membership
    Division representatives serve rotating three-year terms. The faculty at-large representative serves a four-year term. Division representatives are elected by divisions.  The faculty at-large representative is elected by full faculty. The Student representative is recommended annually by Student Government Association for approval by VPAA. Re-election is not barred for any position. Terms run for the academic year, July 1 to June 30.
  5. Committee Officers or Leadership
    The committee shall annually elect a chair from among its elected faculty membership. The VPAA or VPAAs designee shall act as executive secretary for the committee.
  6. Meeting Procedure
    Meetings will be held at the call of the chair, on such schedule as required for expeditious handling of required agendas. A quorum shall consist of a majority of the membership entitled to vote. Decisions shall be made by majority vote of those present, with the chair voting in cases of tied votes. Minutes will be kept on all meetings and archived by the VPAA. Minutes will be open and available to all faculty no later than 48 hours (excluding weekends and holidays) prior to the next meeting of the committee. Minutes and supporting documents are to be made available either in hard copy in the office of the VPAA or posted electronically for faculty.
  7. Committee Charge – Responsibilities & Accountabilities
    1. Supervise creation and revision of General Education SLOs.
    2. Approve/disapprove applications for courses seeking to qualify as general education.
    3. Oversee creation and revision of assessment criteria.
    4. Review general education renewal documents.
    5. Review courses approved for general education to ensure that they meet program goals.
    6. Collaborate with Director of Assessment to oversee assessment of the general education program.
    7. Collaborate with registrar to determine if an adequate number of general education offerings are available, report findings to EPC.
    8. Conduct review of general education SLOs and recommend revisions to EPC.
    9. Conduct continuous review of the general education program and recommend changes to EPC.
    10. Interpret existing general education policy and make recommendations to EPC.
  8. Reporting Relationships
    The Chair of GEC will report committee activities and decisions to EPC once per month. Additional reports may be made at the request of the Chair of EPC or the Chair of GEC.With respect to accountabilities VII.A-F above, the committee may act on its own authority.With respect to accountabilities VII.G-j. above, the Committee shall take actions as recommendations to EPC.
  9. Appeal Process
    Any academic department or group of six or more faculty members may appeal any action of GEC not submitted to EPC. The department or group shall request in writing that EPC take up the issue.  EPC decisions are binding for GEC.
  10. Bylaw Amendment Process
    These bylaws may be changed through the following process:

    1. Job titles included in these bylaws may be updated by the Vice President for Academic Affairs on his or her own authority.
    2. Changes to these bylaws may be brought to the Educational Policies Committee for a first reading and then acted upon at any subsequent meeting, provided the action item is announced in advance as an agenda item for that meeting.  Once approved by the Educational Policies Committee, changes shall be forwarded to Faculty Meeting for final approval.
    3. Changes to these bylaws may also be initiated by Faculty Meeting. Bylaw changes may be brought to the Faculty Meeting for a first reading and then acted upon at any subsequent meeting, provided the action item is announced in advance as an agenda item for that meeting.