General Education at Indiana University Bloomington
In summer 2011, Indiana University Bloomington will institute a new campus-wide General Education Program. All IUB undergraduate students who matriculate in or after first summer session 2011 will be required to complete the campus-wide GenEd program prior to graduation. This new curriculum is intended to ensure that, through the Common Ground requirements, all undergraduates at IUB develop the essential skills of English composition and mathematical modeling, and are exposed to the vast wealth of course offerings the IU Bloomington has to offer in arts and humanities, social and historical studies, natural and mathematical sciences, and world languages and cultures. The GenEd Curriculum also includes Shared Goals of intensive writing experience, information fluency, an understanding of diversity in the U.S., and other enriching educational experiences. The Common Ground requirements are the same for all undergraduate students, regardless of their school or academic unit. Shared Goals are implemented by the schools in ways that complement their degree programs.
GenEd News
In Fall 2009, Sonya C. Stephens and Munirpallam Venkataramanan, co-chairs of the General Education Committee, will send to the academic officers of each school and the College of Arts and Sciences a call for additional GenEd course proposals, to be submitted by each academic officer to the GenEd co-chairs no later than February 1, 2010. During the months of February and March 2010, course proposals will be reviewed by the appropriate GenEd Common Ground subcommittees, who will report their recommendations to the co-chairs by April 1, 2010. Subcommittee recommendations will be ratified by vote of the General Education Committee at its meeting on April 9, 2010, and the co-chairs will report the results of this year's activities of the General Education Committee to the Bloomington Faculty Council on April 20, 2010.
Also this fall, the GenEd co-chairs will solicit nominations for the General Education Committee from the academic officers of each school and the College. The nominations will be forwarded by the GenEd co-chairs to Provost Karen Hanson, who will formally appoint the General Education Committee members for the 2009–2010 academic year.