LibGuides: Cornerstone Program Listening Sessions: Home

Cornerstone Program Listening Sessions

The members of the General Education Task Force have developed a series of Faculty Listening Session topics; descriptions of the topics are included below. Half of the Listening Sessions will take place during November/December 2018, with the second half scheduled for January/February 2019.

We have designed the Listening Sessions using a framework entitled Liberating Structures. Our goal is to engage as many faculty as possible in generating ideas for our path forward, as we revise the Cornerstone Program of General Education.

Locations for the Spring 2019 listening sessions are currently being confirmed, and those who register will receive a confirmation email with room locations once they have been finalized.

Faculty who are unable to attend a listening session, or who would prefer to meet with a member of the General Education Task Force one-on-one, are encouraged to contact Liz Chase, echase2@stonehill.edu, 508-565-1450.

Spring 2019 Listening Sessions

During January-February 2019, the Task Force invites faculty to participate in the second half of our Listening Sessions, organized around the following topics (listed in alphabetical order; for dates and times please see the sign-up form to the right):

Approaching Diversity & Inclusion
The AAC&U argues that general education “is the foundation for equity in preparing current and future civically engaged graduates.” Yet many institutions simply add diversity or global competency as a distribution requirement; this approach encourages students to view diversity and inclusivity as a topic that can be easily contained to one class. As we begin to reimagine what the Cornerstone Program at Stonehill could be, how can we ensure that equity is central to our program as a whole?

Digital Competencies/Digital Creativity

We know that it is increasingly important for our students to be able to create quality digital content. This session will focus on how our Cornerstone Program can address this need, with particular attention to centering digital ethics within the General Education experience.

First-Year Seminars

Numerous students now take their first-year seminar as a writing course, based on their self-placement. This provides them with needed preparation to be successful in their time at Stonehill, but effectively adds a four credit course to their general education footprint. What could a distinctive first-year seminar, tied to our mission, look like for our students? How can or should this interact with the writing program?

General Education and Student Majors

Many institutions, including Stonehill, have aspects of the General Education program that must be fulfilled within students’ majors. This session will focus on defining our current understanding of the relationship between General Education and students’ majors, and generating ideas for clearly articulating any changes to that relationship in our future program. 

High Impact Practices
The AAC&U outlines 11 High Impact Practices (HIP); currently, Stonehill employs 5 of the 11 in its Cornerstone Program. This session will focus on a high-level discussion of the HIPs we’ve implemented, which we believe have the biggest impact on student learning, and which we’d like to see as a focus of our program moving forward.

Learning Communities & Experiential Learning *

This session will focus on the recent changes to the Learning Community structure at Stonehill, its sustainability, and options for the future. We will discuss experiential learning and learning community models at other institutions and generate ideas for further exploration by the General Education Task Force. *The date and time for this session is still TBD.

Liberal Arts Distribution Requirements

Currently, our program includes a mix of distribution requirements and high impact practices. As we think about how to reimagine the program to best meet our goals and students’ needs, are there creative pathways and approaches that we can take to the structure of our core Liberal Arts distribution requirements? This session will focus on the cornerstone requirements and address ideas generated in the Arts & Creativity conversation.

Our Catholic & Holy Cross Identity
This session will focus on our Holy Cross identity and how it is and can be expressed in our Cornerstone Program. We will discuss the Catholic Intellectual Traditions requirement as well as examples from other institutions.

“Social Responsibility”
How is this outcome reflected in the current Cornerstone Program? Does the outcome accurately capture an essential aspect of Stonehill’s program? How might we consider rephrasing this outcome to reflect students’ active engagement in their own learning?

Statistical Reasoning & Data Analytics
Over 90% of our peer and aspirant institutions share a Statistical Reasoning requirement; this session will discuss interest in and ideas for creating a unique approach to this requirement at Stonehill, through a focus on data analytics.

Sign-Up Form

If you have questions regarding these topics or the scheduling of the Listening Sessions, please contact Liz Chase, echase2@stonehill.edu, 508-565-1450.