GE Report: Introduction

This is a preliminary report on the current state of the General Education Program at Seaver College. It has been nearly two decades since the last comprehensive evaluation of the Seaver GE program, which resulted in a few minor changes.¹ There is not currently a cohesive system in place for assessing the learning outcomes of the general education requirements in spite of the fact that the program occupies approximately one half of all units taken by Seaver undergraduates.² Meanwhile, much has changed across the landscape of higher education, and indeed, across the globe during this same period. 

It is the work of the Seaver Faculty to ensure, first and foremost, that the general education requirements of Seaver College reflect our values as a Christian institution seeking academic excellence. It is also necessary, from time to time, to assess whether or not our stated academic outcomes and practices match the needs of our students as they move into the world. 

The purpose of this report is to establish a starting point for a regular and meaningful evaluation of the GE program in light of these circumstances. What follows is a brief analysis of our current program vis-à-vis an updated student profile. This student profile is the result of a thoughtful, thorough and collaborative effort among the Seaver Faculty, as will be described below. 

Although the report includes some assessment data, the focus of the report is on how the current GE courses contribute to the attributes of the student profile. The report also includes comparisons to the general education programs of our peer institutions as identified on the OIE website.³  Finally, we include summary impressions about the GE program from alumni surveys.

The report is meant to be suggestive, not prescriptive.

1. The English Composition requirement was altered from a two course sequence to a three unit English Composition course and a four unit literature course for the 2004-2005 Academic Year. A Fine Arts requirement was added in that same year. Physical Education was removed for the 2006-2007 academic year. Core Competency requirements were added for the 2003-2004 academic year, but these did not have any substantive impact on unit totals.
2. The GE requirements range from 63-64 units, or 49-50% of the 128 units needed to graduate.
3.  A list of peer institutions for Seaver College can be found at https://www.pepperdine.edu/oie/accreditation/accreditation-peer-institutions.htm.