General Education at Fredonia 

College Core Curriculum (CCC) Committee Proposal Regarding Process for Adjudicating Individual and Programmatic Requests for General Education Waivers, Substitutions, and Equivalencies

(1) Background. The College senate, by ratifying general education initiatives on May 8, 2000, and May 7, 2001, among others, granted the director, general education and CCC committee the authority to entertain and adjudicate individual and programmatic requests for general education waivers, substitutions, and equivalencies. Specific processes for evaluating such requests have evolved, after consultation with appropriate academic affairs administrators, through practice. The instant proposal aspires (a) to formalize current practices to help future CCC committees understand one of their functions, (b) to publicize current practices to inform the wider campus community of the relevant processes, and (c) to provide the College Senate an opportunity to review and act on current practices.

(2) Explanation. The director, general education, and the CCC committee entertain individual and programmatic requests. Individual requests are advanced by individual students or their agents. Programmatic requests are advanced by disciplines, departments, or their agents on behalf of all students in particular programs of study.

       The director, general education, and the CCC committee adjudicate three types of individual and programmatic requests: (1) waivers dispense with a requirement as the institution refrains from enforcing established student obligations; (2) substitutions replace a required course, courses or category with another course or other courses that otherwise do not fulfill the general education requirement; while (3) equivalencies permit a particular course or courses not included in a general education category that are functionally and pedagogically equivalent to a course or courses that are included in that general education category to fulfill the relevant general education requirement.

(3) The Proposal

       (A) Individual requests will be forwarded to the director, general education, who, after an appropriate investigation, will adjudicate the merits. Unsuccessful petitioners may appeal to the dean of the petitioning student's current major.

       (B) Programmatic requests that involve SUNY General Education Requirements (SUNY GER) will be forwarded to the director, general education, who will bring them before the CCC committee, which, after an appropriate investigation, will adjudicate the merits. Unsuccessful petitioners may appeal to the Academic Affairs Committee. Programmatic requests granted by the CCC committee or the Academic Affairs Committee will be brought before the College Senate for approval. If approved, these requests must be forwarded to the SUNY Provost for final ratification.

       (C) Programmatic requests that involve only SUNY Fredonia general education requirements will be forwarded to the director, general education, who will bring them before the CCC committee, which, after an appropriate investigation, will adjudicate the merits. Unsuccessful petitioners may appeal to the Academic Affairs Committee. The director, general education, will inform College Senate biannually of all such requests granted by the CCC committee or the Academic Affairs Committee.

       (D) The director, general education, will send a written report summarizing the judgments of the director, general education, and the CCC committee with the reasons supporting those judgments to all petitioners who have lodged individual or programmatic requests. Copies of this report will be sent to the registrar, director or academic advising, department chairs, program directors, academic advisors, and appellate decision makers, as appropriate. 

       (E) The Academic Affairs Committee and deans will send a written report summarizing their rulings to all petitioners who have appealed the judgments of the director, general education, and the CCC committee. Copies of this report will be sent to the director, general education, who will inform the CCC committee, and to the registrar, director of academic advising, department chairs, program directors, and academic advisors, as appropriate.

 

Approved by the College Senate
October 21, 2002

 

 

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