When President Nietzel announced a two-year hiatus for the public affairs capstone course (GEP 397) last spring rather than approving deletion of the course, he issued a charge for the university to demonstrate what we would do instead to distinguish a Missouri State education with respect to our public affairs mission. No one believed that a required capstone course was accomplishing this; in fact, it probably cannot. At the same time, saying, “public affairs is everywhere” won’t make the grade, either.
Provost McCarthy then turned to the colleges and departments to ask, “What are we doing, and what might we want to do”? The deans were asked to inventory the activities in their colleges, which we attempted to do with the department heads over the summer with some additional input from faculty early this fall. Specifically, we were asked to look at the experiences of students in our major programs, as general education was to be examined by a Faculty Senate committee beginning this fall. Deans submitted drafts of our inventory reports this week and we will discuss them as a group with the Provost next week. Following that discussion (October 8), the Provost plans to post our reports online for faculty to review in advance of a forum scheduled for Friday, November 7.
These inventories are a starting point for faculty discussion as well as reflections of some discussions that already are occurring. I have posted a copy of my draft report on the COALESCENCE site. The report includes both what programs currently do and ideas for what could be done. Since faculty have had relatively little time to seriously consider and discuss what might be done differently, this was the hardest part of the inventory for me to write. The department heads did their best to report on what faculty have discussed so far, but I want everyone to understand that the discussions are continuing. The forum on November 7 is part of that, and we need to continue talking within our departments and across the college about our plans.
One idea for a college-wide initiative did emerge in my discussions with the department heads, and this is included in the college report. Very briefly, the idea was to create a college-wide entry course that would be required for all students majoring in an Arts and Letters department. As the report summarizes, the purposes of this course could include:
- Provide a broad introduction to the disciplines in the college and their interrelationships
- Engage students in asking broad, “enduring” questions from arts and letters perspectives.
- Highlight excellence and generate student enthusiasm by putting our very best teachers in front of large numbers of students.
- Encourage and assist students to take advantage of intellectual and cultural opportunities within the college and across campus.
- Establish a frame of reference for students to view their disciplines as relevant to the public affairs mission.
As the report also states, this is a very general idea with many details not fleshed out, such as how many credit hours would be assigned, what format would be used to teach it, etc. I hope you will kick around the idea in your departments, and we will be working on some opportunities for us to discuss this and other ideas as a college faculty.
With respect to infusing “public affairs” in our students’ educational experiences, also in the report I try to ground our efforts in our longstanding commitment to liberal education. As many of us have said over the years, public affairs is at the heart of what we do. This is even more evident now that we are viewing public affairs in terms of three themes: community engagement, ethical leadership, and cultural competence. This is not about changing ourselves or what we believe in. I am convinced that it is about being even more deliberate — and enthusiastic — about the commitments we have had all along.
I hope you will share your thoughts with me and that you will engage your colleagues, as well. And I look forward to seeing you at the November 7 forum.
