General Education Requirements Council (GERC)
About the General Education Requirements Council (GERC)
The General Education Requirements Council (GERC) is a council under the purview of Faculty Senate. The purpose of the GERC is: to consider all courses and policies that relate to the University’s general education requirements; to evaluate, on a regular basis, the University’s general education courses for appropriateness, rigor, and assessment; and to make general education curricular recommendations based on these evaluations to the UCC. The General Education Objectives are to be reviewed on a staged 5-year cycle, moving to a 7-year cycle in 2027.
Does each iteration of a general education course need to undergo assessment?
Instruments from all delivery methods of a course and from all sections of a course should be included in the pool that is used for sampling.
What is the time period to be covered in the November assessment reports?
Each November report should address results from the previous academic year (e.g., November 2023 report includes 2022-23 academic year: Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023)
Do General Education Assessment results need to be reported every year?
Yes.
If a course is not offered in a given coverage year, is a report needed?
One report per course number should be filed each year. If the course had not been taught during the coverage year, the report should clearly indicate that.
The department is making some changes to the approved assessment plan for its general education course. What does GERC expect in these cases?
It depends on the type of changes intended.
GERC does not need to review:
Change in assessment instruments to be used.
Change in textbook(s) to be used.
Change in when the department will be discussing/implementing the results.
GERC, and often UCC, does need to review:
Change in sampling method(s).
Change in the learning outcomes that are being addressed, as in the case of Objectives that require a course meet 4 of 5 learning outcomes, for example.
Removal of a course from the general education program. (See instructions for removing a gen ed course.)
Course renumbering.
Change in course title.
GERC does not need to review my department's changes to the approved assessment plan. Shall I record these changes somewhere?
Yes. Please record this type of change on the approved assessment plan that is stored on Google Drive and can found on the Approved Assessment Plans webpage. If you need editing access to your course assessment plan, please contact gercmail@isu.edu.
GERC needs to review my department's intended changes. How do I proceed?
The steps are outlined on the Changing an Approved Assessment Plan webpage.
Is there a reason why I couldn't plan to use course grades as indicators of assessment for this process?
Normally, course grades indicate student-based assessment, rather than course-based or learning outcome-based assessment. It is likely that GERC would not have approved the use of course grades in your assessment plan. Please refer to the approved assessment plan for this course.
GERC Chair Announcements
This year, GERC will revise its bylaws to align with ISU’s new organizational structure and complete the assessment and reporting process for Objective 9. At the same time, we will explore new ways to strengthen connections between general education and the broader curriculum, identifying opportunities for the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind developed in general education to be reinforced across students’ programs of study.
That work must also account for a rapidly changing educational landscape. Artificial intelligence is already reshaping how knowledge is created, accessed, evaluated, and communicated. Ensuring that students develop the ability to engage with AI critically, ethically, and effectively should therefore be an important component of a contemporary general education. My goal is for GERC to help position general education not simply as the beginning of a student’s education at ISU, but as a foundation that supports learning throughout the curriculum and prepares students for the intellectual, professional, and civic challenges they will encounter beyond the university.
D. Jasun Carr, Ph.D.
Professor - Digital Media | Department of Communication, Media, & Persuasion
Chair | Department of Psychology
Chair | General Education Requirements Council
Major Advisor | Social Media & Digital Communication
Garrison Hall | Room 426
921 South 8th Ave. Pocatello, ID 83209