Motion US99/00-2 ­ Amend Criteria for Satisfying Group Requirements

1. Group satisfying courses proposed by departments or individual faculty must be reviewed by both the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee and the University Committee on Courses before submission to the Senate.
2. Group satisfying courses must be numbered at the 100, 200, and 300 levels. Lower division courses must be offered annually, and upper division courses at least biannually. Approved courses must be at least 3 credits each.
3. Upper division group satisfying courses must provide depth and rigor beyond that of typical lower-division general education courses. Departments must justify, in terms of content, workload, and method of instruction, the assignment of a course to the upper level.
4. No more than three courses with the same subject code may be counted by a student as satisfying group requirements.
5. Group satisfying courses in Arts and Letters, Social Science, and Science must meet the following criteria:

• Group satisfying courses in arts and letters must create meaningful opportunities for students to engage actively in the modes of inquiry that define a discipline. Proposed courses must be demonstrably liberal in nature and broad in scope. Though some courses may focus on specialized subjects or approaches, there must be a substantial course content locating that subject in the broader context of the major issues of the discipline. Qualifying courses will not focus on teaching basic skills but will require the application or engagement of those skills through analysis and interpretation.

• Group satisfying courses in the social sciences must be liberal in nature rather than professionally oriented or devoted in substantial measure to the performance of professional skills. They must cover a representative cross-section of key issues, perspectives, and modes of analysis employed by scholars working on the subject matter addressed by the course. The subject matter of the course will be relatively broad, e.g. involving more than one issue, place, or time. Courses with an emphasis on methods and skills will satisfy the requirement only if there is also a substantial and coherent theoretical component.

• Group satisfying courses in the sciences should introduce students to the foundations of one or more scientific disciplines, or provide a scientific perspective on a major problem facing society, or provide an introduction to scientific methods (including the use of mathematics and computers) used within or among disciplines.

• Courses designed primarily for majors are not excluded a priori from group status.
• Learning first year German could not qualify for group status in arts and letters, but reading Goethe in German might.
• Courses in methods or statistical analysis are excluded in the social sciences, but courses in theory construction are acceptable
• Laboratory courses are not excluded from group-satisfying status in the sciences.

1. Each request that a course be given group satisfying status must include a statement identifying the parts of the Purpose Statement for General Education Requirements at the University of Oregon that are covered by the course.
2. Departments which offer several general education courses should suggest groupings or sequences of these courses that present a coherent development of knowledge and skills. The departmentís suggestions shall be included, for advising purposes, in the Green Book and in the Faculty Advising Manual.
3. Group satisfying courses must be resubmitted for renewal of their group-satisfying status by the College of Arts and Sciences Curriculum Committee and then the University Committee on Courses. Reviews will be conducted on a five year cycle. The committees will select departments whose group offerings are to be reviewed each year, and request information essential for the review. At the committeesí discretion, this information may include frequency of course offerings, course syllabi, statements explaining the manner in which courses meet conditions set forth in this motion, and an overview of the departmentís group offerings.