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The
State Council of Higher Education in Virginia voted in July 1999 to
adopt the report of its Planning Committee on General Education,
which recommended state-wide adoption of the "Education
Standards" of the American Academy for Liberal Education.
Located
in Washington, DC, the Academy is the first national organization
recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Higher Education to accredit
institutions and programs based upon the quality, rigor and
effectiveness of their undergraduate general education requirements.
Virginia's
Council of Higher Education noted approvingly that AALE education
standards focus upon intellectual content and subject expertise,
rather than management processes. "AALE requires that
accredited institutions support and reward the importance of
undergraduate teaching, and that curriculum requirements ensure a
basic knowledge of mathematics, the natural sciences, foreign
languages, and (at minimum) the literary, philosophical, artistic
and cultural classics of western civilization," the report
noted.
Using
a matrix to evaluate state-supported and private institutions in
terms of the AALE accreditation criteria, the State Council of
Higher Education found that several state-supported institutions in
Virginia, such as Mary Washington College and James Madison
University, had dramatically strengthened their general education
requirements in order to guarantee their undergraduates a broad,
sound, rigorous undergraduate education.
The
College of William and Mary meanwhile scored top honors statewide as
an institution that has historically upheld the importance of
undergraduate teaching and learning. The University of Richmond and
Randolph-Macon College led the way among private institutions in the
state. Other prestigious institutions fared less well in the
Council's review.
In
concert with AALE's demanding standards, the Council recommended
that all institutions and Boards of Visitors under its jurisdictions
review and strengthen the statements of their learning goals, their
definition of an educated person, and require students to complete:
at least 40 semester hours (one-third of their total undergraduate
experience) in general education to gain competency in writing, oral
communication, mathematics, natural or physical science, foreign
languages and history (including U.S. history).
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