The University is committed to ensuring that its General Education program consistently and coherently provides students with intellectually challenging and vibrant learning experiences.
Proposing a course? See the General Education Course Guidelines.
PURPOSE
Student Governance and Policies, Chapter 114, Section 3 charges and authorizes the University Committee on General Education (UCGE) to review and approve proposals for new courses and course revisions involving General Education (GE) designations, guide evaluations and assessments of the University GE program, maintain working documents inclusive of expanded definitions and criteria associated with each requirement, and make recommendations to the Senate Executive Committee for potential revisions to GE policies and procedures.
The UCGE is governed is governed through its bylaws and works closely with the University Committee on Curriculum Administration.
MEMBERSHIP
The membership of the UCGE consists of a chair, an associate chair, and a series of “Boards,” one dedicated to each of the six University GE requirements. Each board is composed of 7 voting members (2 from Bothell, 3 from Seattle, 2 from Tacoma) and 3 non-voting members (1 academic services professional per campus):
- Area of Inquiry: Arts & Humanities (A&H) Requirement Board
- Area of Inquiry: Natural Sciences (NSc) Requirement Board
- Area of Inquiry: Social Sciences (SSc) Requirement Board
- Reasoning (RSN) Requirement Board
- Diversity (DIV) Requirement Board
- Writing (W) Requirement Board
The faculty serving on each Board regularly teach courses that meet its associated requirement. The academic services professionals serving on each board regularly advise students or are otherwise affiliated with student-facing programs with deep connections to the associated requirement.
Chair (voting): Ann Huppert (College of Built Environments)
Associate Chair (non-voting): Jason Johnson (Undergraduate Academic Affairs)
AY 23-24 CURRICULUM REVIEW AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT
The primary purpose of the A&H, NSc, SSc, and RSN Boards is to review proposals for new courses and course changes that have implications for GE requirements. In cases where a Board finds a proposal does not sufficiently meet the guidelines, a member will contact the course’s proposer.
The primary purpose of the DIV and W Boards is to carry work from prior years forward into ongoing policy agenda development and advancement. Reports on the progress of each Board are published at the end of the academic year. Unlike the A&H, NSc, SSc, and RSN Boards, the DIV and W Boards do not review course proposals because, as per the Scholastic Regulations, determinations on alignment with the UW’s GE program are made at lower levels.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
The UCGE builds upon work undertaken by the Senate and its Faculty Councils over the past several years, as documented by the following:
- AY22-23 Senate Committee on Undergraduate General Education
- AY21-22 Diversity Credit Taskforce
- Class B Legislation 212: Undergraduate General Education and University Curriculum Governance
- Class B Legislation 211: Diversity Credit
- Class C Resolution: Concerning the Roadmap to Update the Undergraduate Diversity Requirement
- Class B Legislation 207: Requirements for the Bachelor’s Degree
CONTACT
If you have questions or concerns for the UCGE, please contact:
Jason Johnson, Vice Dean
Undergraduate Academic Affairs
jej@uw.edu