Implementing the BU Hub, University-wide General Education: Progress, Next Steps, and Faculty Incentives and Resources
From Dr. Jean Morrison, University Provost and Chief Academic Officer
In September 2016, I announced the formation of the BU Hub Implementation Task Force. This group of distinguished faculty members and campus leaders in undergraduate education was charged with leading the development of structures and processes needed to launch the Hub, BU’s first University-wide program of general education, for freshmen students entering in Fall 2018. The Task Force has now achieved a significant milestone in its work of planning the implementation of the vision and intellectual framework of six core capacities that was proposed by the predecessor Task Force on General Education, and approved by vote of the University Council, our faculty governance body, in May 2016.
Interdisciplinary Learning Outcomes satellite committees with more than 80 faculty members have developed student learning outcomes for each of the Hub’s six core capacities and the Implementation Task Force has finalized these learning outcomes in consultation with the satellite committees and with the academic deans of undergraduate schools and colleges and their leadership teams.
The results of this work are now available as A Practical Guide for Faculty to Building Out the BU Hub Curriculum. Included in the Guide are also the BU Hub program requirements for students, developed with input from the deans and their leadership teams.
Beginning the week after Spring Break, the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) will host information sessions for faculty and staff to discuss the BU Hub learning outcomes and requirements, to ask questions, and to begin planning next steps for revised and new courses. School and college deans may also have plans to host discussions within the schools and colleges.
I have committed to provide significant funding for Hub Course Development Stipends, details of which you will find in the Guide along with a variety of other resources available from the CTL. I encourage you to keep these incentives, resources, and opportunities for collegial collaboration in mind as you consider how the BU Hub will be integrated into the undergraduate programs in your department, school, college or program, and what opportunities it might offer you as a teacher.
Please join me in thanking the members of the Implementation Task Force and Learning Outcomes Satellite Committees for their exemplary engagement and commitment. The creation of the BU Hub marks an incredibly important moment for our community as we design and map the learning experience we offer the next generation. Fulfilling the vision for general education that our colleagues have crafted and begun to realize will depend on the ingenuity, energy, and dedication of our talented faculty and staff. Thank you, in advance, for your contribution to this process and for your commitment to advancing education of the highest quality at Boston University.