January 21, 2015
Time to review K-State 8 General Education Program guidelines and goals
Dear faculty and instructional staff,
The K-State 8 General Education program is a core component of the undergraduate experience at Kansas State University and the principal means to assure breadth of learning on topics of enduring importance for all students apart from their majors, minors and other specialized educational goals. Through K-State 8 course work, students explore relationships between subjects, question taken-for-granted assumptions, hone their critical and analytical skills and prepare for further in-depth learning.
I ask instructors and others bearing responsibility for the undergraduate curriculum to kindly take a moment to review K-State 8 guidelines and goals. Instructors for courses bearing K-State 8 tags should make the appropriate general education affiliation explicit on course syllabi and integrate general education objectives in course designs and stated learning outcomes. This will help assure that our students are receiving the consistent General Education program that we promised we would deliver.
As general education is a component of K-State's Higher Learning Commission accreditation responsibility, the Office of Assessment is already engaged in regular study of student learning. We have also impaneled the K-State 8 Council, whose membership represents K-State colleges that offer undergraduate degrees and learning experiences:
- David Nichols, College of Agriculture
- Lynn Ewanow, College of Architecture, Planning, & Design
- Alison Wheatley, College of Arts & Sciences
- Brian Kovar, College of Business Administration
- Sherri Martinie, College of Education
- Olga Lease, College of Engineering
- Shawna Jordan, College of Human Ecology
- Richard Zajac, College of Technology and Aviation
Please contact your college representative if you have questions about the program or a specific course.
I thank you for your support of our general education program and look forward to its further growth and development. In a world as complex as ours, core competencies in the K-State 8 topic areas — aesthetic interpretation; empirical and quantitative reasoning; ethical reasoning and responsibility; global issues and perspectives; historical perspectives; human diversity within the U.S.; natural and physical sciences; and social sciences — are essential to the quality of undergraduate student learning.
Sincerely,
Steven P. Dandaneau
Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies