On June 27, 2023, University Senate Proposal 18-23, “Proposal to Revise General Education Requirements (Essential Education) for Bachelor Degrees,” received final administrative approval. At the end of the fall 2023 semester, eight faculty and staff cross-curricular working groups were assembled and began full operation to implement the various components of the new Essential Education curriculum per the Senate proposal.
Following are mission descriptions for four of the eight Essential Education Implementation working groups.
If you have any questions, comments, or feedback about any of these working groups or about the implementation process, please contact the Essential Education Implementation Leadership Team at essential-ed-l@mtu.edu.
- Course List Working Group
Deliverables include completing the binning of Essential Education courses by academic departments to support the development of the Essential Education minors, identifying the capacity of each category of courses by semester, and making recommendations on courses that could potentially be moved to different categories or areas of development. This working group is currently working with academic department liaisons to complete the binning process. - Essential Ed Experience Working Group
The group is tasked with identifying a list of current courses that align with the Essential Ed Experience vision, developing a sample syllabus for the three broad types of courses, and liaising with the e-Portfolios Working Group to integrate that into the courses. It is developing an RFP for Experience courses, including wrapper courses and ones that can accommodate larger sections. A timeline will be developed for the implementation of these courses and include suggestions on the development of future Experiences. Recommendations will also be provided for the job description for the Essential Ed Experience coordinator, including training/resource needs for instructors. Currently, the group is establishing a working definition of the Essential Ed Experience, benchmarking against peer higher education institutions. - Michigan Tech Seminar Working Group
This group is finalizing the required learning objectives and course elements of Michigan Tech seminar courses. This includes developing a syllabus template, proposing new modules to support the seminars, evaluating fall 2024 pilot offerings of required modules in existing courses, and proposing a transfer-student-specific version of the seminar course. Currently, the group is reviewing the goals, objectives, materials and campus resources already piloted or developed across campus. - e-Portfolios Working Group
This group will provide a recommendation for an e-Portfolio platform, craft an RFP to develop resources to help faculty and students adopt e-Portfolios, and coordinate the rollout of e-Portfolio throughout Essential Ed courses. E-Portfolios provide a method and framework for students to share their learning and achievements throughout their Michigan Tech journey. Building showcase e-Portfolios can help them secure their next professional steps beyond MTU. The group is piloting e-Portfolios started in fall 2023 and continuing this spring to provide recommendations. They are developing a statement of requirements/priorities for e-Portfolios at MTU.