TO: Members of the Undergraduate Studies Committee

FROM: Subcommittee on General Education

RE: Statement of Goals and Objectives for General Education at IIT

DATE: November 12, 2013

 

The subcommitteeÕs first and most urgent charge, due to imminent and ongoing accreditation procedures, was to translate the educational declarations of the Strategic Plan into a set of broad goals for general education at IIT, then to enunciate a concise set of measurable objectives which support those goals.

 

The Strategic PlanÕs six declared areas of Distinctive Education are: Collaboration, Communication, Entrepreneurship, Ethical Leadership, Global Awareness and Innovation. As we worked to translate these into general education goals and objectives, several issues came up:

 

á      While the general education program at IIT addresses most or at least some aspects of five of these areas, we cannot claim that all IIT graduates will be entrepreneurs or leaders, so these areas must be specifically addressed outside of general education.

á      Having said this about entrepreneurship and leadership, we would assert that the goals and objectives given below do, indeed, represent basic qualities and skills that good leaders and successful entrepreneurs must have.

á      There may be goals, not stated in the Strategic Plan, which some faculty members believe to be essential to an IIT education; we cannot possibly address all such goals.

 

So, with these limitations in mind, we propose the following statement of goals and objectives for general education at IIT.

 

In concert with and complementing core learning objectives within the various degree programs, general education contributes significantly to IIT's overall goal that its graduates

Be committed to positive change in their communities, nations and the world, able to:

á      Identify and analyze contemporary issues and problems.

á      Compare and contrast different points of view, both within and across cultures.

Think critically, viewing problems as opportunities for innovation, able to:

á      Appropriately employ multiple quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis and evaluation.

á      Employ the best available technology to achieve solutions.

Collaborate professionally and ethically, able to:

á      Work successfully with others within and across disciplines and cultures.

á      Identify and discuss ethical issues.

Communicate effectively, able to:

á      Establish an objective, and clearly and cohesively support it.

á      Speak and write in a manner that does not require significant work by the audience to fill in needed information or to ignore linguistic distractions. 

á      Speak and write appropriately within and across disciplines and cultures.