1 November 2012

Applying for GEP Designation for a Course

Information for Department Chairs and Undergraduate Program Directors

The instructions below will be superseded when we have a new site for the application process.  You will be informed when the change is made.

General information

All courses submitted for GEP designation must have been approved by the Undergraduate Council (www.umbc.edu/ugc).

In order to submit a course for GEP approval on the current website, the Department Chair or designee must have received permission to gain access to the site.  To receive permission, email the current Chair of the GEC (goldberg@umbc.edu) or Jill Randles (jrandles@umbc.edu).

To submit a course, locate your course on the list at the GEC Review site, click “edit,” complete the form provided and submit.  If your course does not appear on this site (because it was developed and approved after the site was created), send your application to the current Chair of the GEC and also to Jill Randles.

If you are resubmitting a revised course that has been denied a GEP designation previously, send your application to the current Chair of the GEC and also to Jill Randles.

For information on submitting courses for Writing Intensive designation, in myUMBC, go to Faculty/Topics, select Teaching and Learning, and then Additional Resources (at bottom of page).

Recent change to GEP Application (Approved 11 March 2011)

Because we are now required to assess student-learning outcomes for GEP courses, new language has been added to the Functional Competences section of the application that addresses assessment methods: 

BRIEFLY summarize the assessment method(s) you will use to measure directly student learning of the functional competencies for your course.  Please note that overall grades on regular class work and exams are not measures that are used to assess student learning. You may also wish to include indirect measures of student learning such as student self-reports about their learning on surveys and questionnaires. 

Examples of direct measures:

·      Written work, performances, or presentations scored with criteria or a rubric.

·      Appropriate questions embedded on class exams, quizzes, or homework.

·      Score gains on appropriate pre- and post-tests.

·      Portfolios of student work scored with criteria or a rubric.

·      Summaries/analyses of electronic discussion threads scored with criteria or a rubric.

·      Classroom response system (“clicker”) questions.

·      Scores on standardized exams.

The Director of the Faculty Development Office is available for consultation on assessment.

Additional Information on the GEP Process -

GEP Distribution Requirements and Functional Competencies Document