{"id":612,"date":"2010-02-19T08:57:18","date_gmt":"2010-02-19T13:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/?page_id=612"},"modified":"2010-12-22T14:04:42","modified_gmt":"2010-12-22T19:04:42","slug":"executive-summary","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/executive-summary\/","title":{"rendered":"Executive Summary"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-617\" src=\"\/unlock\/files\/2010\/02\/banner-lrg2.jpg\" alt=\"banner-lrg2\" width=\"644\" height=\"322\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/files\/2010\/02\/banner-lrg2.jpg 644w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/files\/2010\/02\/banner-lrg2-636x318.jpg 636w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 644px) 100vw, 644px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In 2010 the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education released a report on Undergraduate Education at BU. The purpose of the report was to find potential answers to the question,<em> \u201cHow can today\u2019s   liberal education provide all college students with the knowledge,   skills, and historical and global perspectives they need to be effective   and discriminating in everything they do\u2014in higher education, in the   workplace, in their communities and families, and as leaders,   practitioners, and teachers?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To achieve this goal, we agreed that the University and each  school  within the University will need to \u201cunlock\u201d undergraduate  education at  Boston University in two ways: through<em> <\/em>enhancement<strong> <\/strong>of the  current strengths and opportunities at BU, and through the<strong> <\/strong>integration<em> <\/em>of curricular and co-curricular activities  across schools and  programs within the University.<\/p>\n<p>At the most general level, the Task Force believed that <em>each <\/em><em>University<\/em><em> school and department must be charged with and held accountable for   meeting this challenge<\/em>. More specifically, to<em> enhance<\/em> BU\u2019s   current strengths, we made recommendations related to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The teaching of numeracy in a broader societal context with concrete   outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Utilizing technology more fully in the classroom and assuring   technological competencies<\/li>\n<li>Bringing research to the foreground of undergraduate education<\/li>\n<li>Promoting the study of innovation and entrepreneurship in all fields<\/li>\n<li>Improving students\u2019 access to courses in the arts<\/li>\n<li>Promoting students\u2019 global awareness<\/li>\n<li>Supporting and expanding co-curricular opportunities<\/li>\n<li>Expanding residential clusters to foster community and a connection   between curriculum and the broader student life<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We also recognized the need to better <em>integrate <\/em>across our   schools and colleges. Our recommend\u00adations in this area related to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Enabling students to transfer between schools and colleges with   greater facility and eliminating any and all barriers and   inconsistencies that obstruct or compromise this movement<\/li>\n<li>Expanding the number and variety of service courses and providing   easy student access to them<\/li>\n<li>Providing better and more readily accessed information about   coursework options across the University<\/li>\n<li>Developing interdisciplinary cluster courses as part of a BU General   Education<\/li>\n<li>Broadening postgraduate opportunities and combining undergraduate   and graduate education in various ways<\/li>\n<li>Making the curriculum of professional schools visible on the Arts   &amp; Sciences student\u2019s curricular map and providing opportunities for   interaction between the professional schools and science\/liberal arts<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We were aware that without guidance and support, however, these   changes could be overwhelming for both faculty and students, so we also   made recommendations related to <em>navigating<\/em> the new, exciting   learning environment and about providing strong<strong><em> <\/em><\/strong><em>advising <\/em>and <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aacu.org\/press_room\/press_releases\/2008\/carnegie.cfm\">compassing<\/a><\/em>\u2014essentially,   ways to better direct the highly mobile student of today\u2014for our   undergraduates. We also felt strongly that any changes in our   undergraduate programs should be accompanied by a plan for assessment of   both student learning and student satisfaction.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the Committee felt that several steps should be taken   immediately to begin to implement consistent and uniform transfer   requirements and proposes that this issue be taken up immediately by the   Undergraduate Council (made up of the Associate Deans of the colleges,   chaired by the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education) as the   first stage to bringing this to the college level.<\/p>\n<p>This is not only a call for improvement and strategic change; it is a   call for action. It is the beginning\u2014for some, perhaps, even a   continuation\u2014of an important dialogue for the University community. The   Strategic Plan outlined priorities; this document poses important   questions regarding the possibilities for \u201cunlocking\u201d undergraduate   education at Boston University. What can we do to make the most of all   assets of the University to increase students\u2019 participation in   effective, highly meaningful educational practices? How can we eliminate   all barriers and transfer inconsistencies in order to give students   ease of transfer and movement between colleges, as well as full access   to our international programs? Which practices are distinctive to our   campus, and how do we ensure that all students have a chance to   participate in these high-impact experiences? We look forward to   meaningful shared discussions, merging traditional success with new   ideas, collaborative accountability for important goals, and actions   that will matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2010 the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education released a report on Undergraduate Education at BU. The purpose of the report was to find potential answers to the question, \u201cHow can today\u2019s liberal education provide all college students with the knowledge, skills, and historical and global perspectives they need to be effective and discriminating in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":741,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/612\/revisions\/741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/unlock\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}