Core Component 3.B

Main Content

DRAFT

3.B The institution demonstrates that the exercise of intellectual inquiry and the acquisition, application, and integration of broad learning and skills are integral to its educational programs.

  1. The general education program is appropriate to the mission, educational offerings, and degree levels of the institution.
  2. The institution articulates the purposes, content, and intended learning outcomes of its undergraduate general education requirements. The program of general education is grounded in a philosophy or framework developed by the institution or adopted from an established framework. It imparts broad knowledge and intellectual concepts to students and develops skills and attitudes that the institution believes every college-educated person should possess.
  3. Every degree program offered by the institution engages students in collecting, analyzing, and communicating information; in mastering modes of inquiry or creative work; and in developing skills adaptable to changing environments.
  4. The education offered by the institution recognizes the human and cultural diversity of the world in which students live and work.
  5. The faculty and students contribute to scholarship, creative work, and the discovery of knowledge to the extent appropriate to their programs and the institution’s mission.

Argument

 3.B.1. Undergraduate students and faculty in all eight colleges participate in the University Core Curriculum (UCC). Drawn from a diverse course inventory offered by more than 40 programs from across the university every semester, the UCC delivers a traditional arts and sciences general education curriculum complemented by courses that represent the breadth of studies pursued at SIUC. Overall, the UCC has been designed to foster a life of inquiry, creativity, and civic participation.

The UCC consists of 39 credit hours of coursework distributed across three general areas:

Foundation Skills (13 CH): English composition, communication studies, and mathematics are designed to strengthen students' writing, oral, and mathematical skills.

  • The Foundations of Inquiry course promotes success for first-year students by helping them transition to University life and academic culture, introducing them to University resources, and reflecting on how their personal histories inform their educational goals.
  • Other Foundation Skills courses help students develop and improve basic competencies, recognizing that critical reading and listening, problem solving, and effective expression provide the basis for a successful career in academics and beyond.

Disciplinary Studies (23 CH) in fine arts, human health, humanities, science, and social science are designed to introduce students to the universe of human knowledge.

  • Fine and Performing Arts introduce non-majors to the expressive disciplines of art, music, theater, dance, and cinema, offering students a historical perspective and greater appreciation for the diverse expressions of human imagination.
  • Human Health is a multidisciplinary field of study that relies on knowledge and application of the physical, biological, medical, and behavioral sciences to individual, family, and community living.
  • Humanities develop our imaginative and analytical capacities through the use of texts from diverse times, cultures, philosophies, and religions, and through the development of ideas by means of oral and written expression.
  • Science provides information about fundamental scientific laws and principles and the relevance they play in a technological society. These courses enhance perceptions of their physical and biological environment, highlight the interdependence and nature of humans in that environment, and lead to an understanding of scientific processes and methods as reliable means of inquiry.
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences aim is to understand the actions of human beings as individuals and in groups.

Integrative Studies (3 CH) is designed to increase students' respect for and appreciation of human diversity.

  • Integrative Studies offer students an opportunity to gain a larger picture of human culture by making connections between different domains of experience and knowledge.
  • Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Studies develop civic competency in an age of globalization, and encourages an appreciation of the diversity and commonality of human values and interests.

SIU honors its mission of access and opportunity as a participant in the Illinois Articulation Initiative (IAI). This statewide agreement allows the transfer of completed general education core curriculum between participating colleges or universities in Illinois.  

3.B.2. In Fall semester 2012, the Faculty Senate adopted the Essential Learning Outcomes of the Association of American Colleges and Universities (LEAP) as the learning objectives of the UCC. By Fall 2015, the Director of the UCC developed and implemented an assessment program for all UCC courses that required instructors or course coordinators to identify at least one LEAP Essential Learning Outcome in each course. The 295 courses that submitted assessment plans by Spring 2018 presented six clusters of LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes that best represent the key faculty-defined learning outcomes for the UCC:

  1. Critical Thinking
  2. Written Communication
  3. Problem Solving
  4. Information Literacy
  5. Inquiry and Analysis
  6. Intercultural Knowledge and Competence

This suite of learning outcomes found throughout the courses in the UCC support the achievement of our mission of inclusive excellence, innovation in research and creativity, and to create and exchange knowledge to improve our communities.

Pathways to Excellence, with its goal to provide every student the opportunity to engage in research, creative activity, and service learning, demonstrates SIUC's commitment to engaging students in:

  • collecting, analyzing, and communicating information
  • mastering modes of inquiry or creative work
  • developing skills adaptable to changing environments

Nearly every undergraduate major, as shown in the university catalog, includes a fieldwork, internship, laboratory, research, or experiential learning option of some sort. Forty-five percent of 2019 graduates reported completing an internship over the course of their program of study. As discussed in section 3.B.2., the UCC provides students with additional opportunities to develop these skill sets given its incorporation of the LEAP Essential Learning Outcomes. 

The University Honors Program (UHP) is an intellectual hub for innovation in undergraduate education; strengthening the core promise for students that we offer a liberal arts college environment within a research university at the price of a public state university. The motto “Learn. Lead. Serve.” represents the holistic approach to providing education and opportunity for our students’ fullest undergraduate experience. UHP accepts students into the program via application. Students accepted into the program must complete 15-24 credit hours of approved coursework and engage in 20 hours of community service.  Students also have the option of an honors thesis. UHP mentors and faculty create personalized experiences in and beyond the classroom for students to meet their potential.  Honors students have averaged a combined 12,345 yearly hours of community service at 94 venues since 2014. Many majors have honors course sequences whereby students can receive credit in their major for taking honors courses. The UHP's learning outcomes are aligned the LEAP Learning Outcomes.

Student responses to the 2017-2018 Campus Climate Survey indicated that students perceived that SIUC is committed to its goal of fostering students' creative and intellectual development (Table 36). When asked to evaluate the degree to which helping students develop their creative capacities is a very important goal for SIUC (Tables 39-42), 15.5% of students stated that they strongly agreed and 39.2% of students stated that they agreed. When asked to evaluate the extent to which there are valuable opportunities to engage in research activates with faculty members, 20.4% strongly agreed, and 39% of respondents agreed.

The 2013 Executive Summary from the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) shows that when seniors were questioned about their perceived gains regarding certain items, the responses of “very much” or “quite a bit” yielded the following percentages: Thinking critically and analytically (77%); writing clearly and effectively (64%); and speaking clearly and effectively (59%).

As described in section 4.A.1., accreditation and program review serve as a mechanism for ensuring that programs are targeting the written, oral, and analytic skills necessary for a given discipline.

3.B.4. As an expression of the University’s mission, SIUC is dedicated to promoting “Inclusive Excellence” to ensure that all members of the University community have the opportunity to learn and contribute to their highest potential. Many of the efforts to provide an education that recognizes the human and cultural diversity of the world in which students live and work are coordinated through the Office for Associate Chancellor for Diversity. This office nurtures and supports diversity among faculty, staff, and students by providing consultation and training on cultural and professional competency, inclusion, and diversity in the classroom. Students, staff, and departments can earn SIUC’s Diversity Competence Certificate by completing a blended (online and in-person) training program that has two levels, “Basic Diversity Competence” and “Advocate for Diversity and Inclusivity”.

Students who complete the University Core Curriculum satisfy a state-mandated, institution-defined requirement in Multicultural Studies. Currently, students chose one course from over 50 options offered by 22 programs from across the University. These courses address cultural diversity, race relations, gender relations, religious diversity, and cultural creativity through a variety of disciplines.

Certain degree programs feature the development of competencies in diversity and inclusion in their curricula. Communication Studies offers an Intercultural Communication undergraduate specialization that includes courses (SPCM 301l Communication Across Cultures; SPCM 341 Introduction to Intercultural Communication; SPCM 440 Language, Culture, and Communication; SPCM 441 Advanced Intercultural Communication; and SPCM 448 Intercultural Training) and selected electives in a variety of disciplines. Also, the graduate program in Communication Studies features Intercultural Communication and Pedagogy as an area of study. The Teacher Education Program’s Diversity in Education Preparation devotes three courses (EDUC 211 Diversity in Education; EDUC 319 Language, Culture, and Learning; and EDUC 308 Characteristics and Methods for Teaching Exceptional Children) toward developing awareness of and competence in teaching diverse student groups.

Students can experience human and cultural diversity in the world through the study abroad programs and SIU faculty-led Global Seminars administered through the Center for International Education. Recent Global Seminars provide students opportunities to learn more about Peace Studies, Agricultural Sciences, English Literature, Africana Studies, Philosophy, Spanish language, Chinese language, and Social Work in Japan, Costa Rica, the United Kingdom, Ghana, Egypt, Greece, Spain, China, and Germany.

As mentioned in 3.D.1. and 3.E.2., the University community benefits from the support offered through the Student Multicultural Resource Center, which aims to foster an environment where all campus members are respected and welcomed, and aspires to serve as a catalyst for inclusion, diversity, and innovation. The University’s continuing commitment to diversity and inclusivity has led to recognition through the Higher Education Excellence in Diversity Award for 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2017.

3.B.5. Southern Illinois University Carbondale is a comprehensive research university classified as a Carnegie Doctoral Universities: Higher Research Activity institution, ranked among the top four percent of higher education research institutions in the United States. Faculty at SIUC, including the School of Medicine,  have attracted research awards from external grants and contracts in recent years with 334 awards for $44.5 million during FY 2017, 357 awards for $56.1 million in FY 2018, and 201 awards for $35 million half-way through FY 2019 in January 2019. SIUC hosts 25 research centers and institutes, 8 research support facilities, and the SIU Research Park. With facilities in the Dunn-Richmond Economic Development Center at the SIU Research Park, the SIU Small Business Incubator Program supports the University’s mission-based role as a “regional economic catalyst” by offering multiple types of assistance to start, grow, and sustain innovative and technology-based companies.

Many research centers and institutes at SIUC provide unique opportunities for scholarship and creative work for undergraduate and graduate students. The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders conducts research on best practices in the field of autism. Under the direction and guidance of faculty members of Southern Illinois University, graduate and undergraduate students from various departments on campus assist in many research projects within CASD that promote evidence-based treatment approaches and inform unique aspects about the diversity, physiology, development, and symptoms of autism.  Students involved with the Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory and Center for Ecology founded Graduate Research Assistants Supporting Science (GRASS).  The goal of GRASS is to promote the scientific interests of younger students through programs that highlight wildlife ecology and management.  The Center for Experimental Music (CEM) offers a fully equipped multi-station computer music studio for composition, interactive performance, and music publishing. Students work on projects with faculty and learn synthetic hardware technology, such as sound editing, processing, sampling and recording, and integrated software programs.

Undergraduate students receive special support for research projects through programs such as REACH (Research Enriched Academic Challenge), which awards competitive one-year grants to carry out a research, scholarly, or creative-arts project under the guidance of a faculty or staff mentor, and Ronald McNair Post baccalaureate Achievement Program, which prepares first-generation-college/low-income and underrepresented minority students for doctoral study through an emphasis on research and an intensive Summer Research Institute. Additionally, the Research Experience for Undergraduates funded by the National Science Foundation provides students with opportunities to join research projects in chemistry, biochemistry, microbiology, physics, and engineering.

Prominent campus-wide celebrations of research and creative activity include Da Vinci Days, the Natural Sciences Student Research Symposium, Darwin Week, the Applied Sciences and Arts Multidisciplinary Research Symposium, the Annual Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Cross-Disciplinary Conference, and the Student Creative Activities and Research Forums.

The centrality of research appears clearly in curricula for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the University. The UCC includes a Composition component in the Foundation Skills portion that emphasizes helping students understand the purpose of research, develop methods of research (using both primary and secondary sources), and report their findings in the appropriate form through the completion of ENG 102 or LING 102. Additionally, 72 undergraduate programs offer 296 courses that feature research in their titles or descriptions and provide preparation for research or engage students in research endeavors. A large proportion of these courses include individual research under the supervision of faculty. The Chemistry program provides an added level of research in a curriculum by involving students in 300 hours of research and the completion of a comprehensive research report to support applications for the American Chemical Society Certificate. With their focus on research, graduate programs include numerous research-oriented courses and require the completion of a dissertation, thesis, or research paper appropriate to the level and discipline of the program.

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