Montgomery College General Education Program Revision Question 2:

Should a health course be required for all students who complete an 
Associate of Arts degree at Montgomery College?

Consider the Full Story - A Summary Section is followed by Details for each side below.
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New:  Are the votes for Speech and Health Interrelated or Distinct?

Yes - the College should maintain the health course foundation requirement for all students, 
1 - 3 credits total.

Please send your comments for publication on this issue to GenEd@montgomerycollege.edu 

New:  Are the votes interrelated or distinct?

Some confusion exists about the results of the Speech and Health votes.  If Speech becomes optional, not required, then the 3 credits from that course become available for other General Education categories.  The same is true if Health becomes optional and not required, another 1 - 3 credits become available to use in other Gen Ed categories.    The question has been asked, "If both SP and HE become optional, won't that give MC the opportunity to include a larger IE (Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues) category where courses like Health AND other IE courses (technology-related courses) could both exist?"

The Answer is that the majority of public schools in the state of Maryland only accept 3 credits of IE coursework at the maximum.  Yes, MC could create a 6-credit IE category, but students would essentially be taking one IE course and one General Elective that may not apply effectively to a General Education category upon transfer. 

All of this leads us back again to your philosophical view of which courses best provide a general education for students.  If you vote Yes to Speech and No to Health, Speech remains a Humanities credit and Health moves to a 1-3 IE category, which will include Health and other courses that might apply that meet the IE definition.

If you vote No to Speech and Yes to Health, then the 3 credits removed from Speech can be applied to additional general education categories by determination of each program.  For example, Business and many other degree programs can elect to keep Speech as a Humanities credit.  Many AAS programs may wish to maintain a Speech course requirement within Humanities.  Other programs may elect to apply the additional 3 credits to a Science, or History, or Mathematics requirement.  Under this same scenario, with Health remaining, the 1-3 credits of IE are devoted solely to a health course which is consistently applied to all programs.

In summary, voting No to SP and No to HE does not automatically 'free up' 6 credits which could then be used for two IE courses.  We urge you to think of the general education value of the two current foundation requirements, Speech and Health, and decide whether each course should continue to be required or whether one, or both of them, could be come optional, providing different choices for students.       

Anne Schleicher 3/2/08
No - a vote of no means that an Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues (IE) category will be created and that health courses may apply, among other courses, to be included as offerings under this new category.

Definition of the IE - Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues Category from the Emerging Issues Area Group of the Maryland Chief Academic Officers http://mdcao.usmd.edu/bar.gif

Within the context of general education and the general education program as defined in the regulations, COMAR 13B.06.01.02 Definitions:

(7) "General education" means the foundation of the higher education curriculum providing a coherent intellectual experience for all students.
(8) "General education program" means a program that is designed to:

(a) Introduce undergraduates to the fundamental knowledge skills, and values that are essential to the study of academic disciplines;
(b) Encourage the pursuit of life-long learning; and
(c) Foster the development of educated members of the community of the world.

and within the established requirements for general education courses COMAR 13B.06.01.03(D, J, K, and L):

Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues

(1) In addition to the five required areas in § A of this regulation, a public institution may include up to 8 semester hours in a sixth category that addresses emerging issues that institutions have identified as essential to a full program of general education for their students. These courses may:

(a) Be integrated into other general education courses or may be presented as separate courses; and
(b) Include courses that:

(i) Provide an interdisciplinary examination of issues across the five areas, or
(ii) Address other categories of knowledge, skills, and values that lie outside of the five areas.

(2) Public institutions may not include the courses in this section in a general education program unless they provide academic content and rigor equivalent to the areas in § A(1) of this regulation.

J. General education courses shall reflect current scholarship in the discipline and provide reference to theoretical frameworks and methods of inquiry appropriate to academic disciplines.
K. Courses that are theoretical may include applications, but all applications courses shall include theoretical components if they are to be included as meeting general education requirements.
L. Public institutions may incorporate knowledge and skills involving the use of quantitative data, effective writing, information retrieval, and information literacy when possible in the general education program.

General education courses in interdisciplinary and emerging issues should use the following requirements to guide course development:

I. An Interdisciplinary Issues course is one in which a broad theme is examined from multiple perspectives and leads to a synthesis of experiences from at least two of the five general education areas.
II. An Emerging Issues course is one that the institution has determined is of such current significance to the students that it is essential to include as a part of their general education experience. Such a course must be based on a credible body of established scholarship with pertinent evidence of methodology and/or epistemology. In addition, the course must address a body of knowledge, skills, and values that lie predominantly outside the five general education areas.  

The State of Maryland allows institutions to create an Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues (IE) category within general education.  Disciplines could apply to have courses included in this category - examples of courses that might apply are CA 120, Introduction to Computer Applications and CS 110, Computer Concepts, as well as Health courses. 

The General Education Committee would decide upon courses that might be included in this category, using both the Maryland State criteria and MC general education course criteria.  For example, not only would the course need to meet IE requirements, but it must also meet one or more competencies or one competency and one area of proficiency, etc.  Please see a Draft Sample Application for IE Category Courses.
Health Yes by Maureen Edwards    2/13/08

At first glance, you might look at the question of whether to expand an Emerging and Interdisciplinary Issues (IE) category at MC and say, "Well of course we should add more courses to this category.  It's the 21st century, and students have complicated needs!"

As a member of the General Education Committee, with my Health Educator hat just tipped to the side, I can tell you that the Committee looked at IE from many angles.   My bias will show through, of course, but there are some important questions to ask as we consider the whole IE picture.   

We need to ask:

  • Why do we have an Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues category at MC?   Or as Ken Weiner might put it, what outcome do we expect from offering a course in IE? The State of Maryland invented it, and 2- and 4-year schools can choose to put anything into it.  Some MD community colleges have interpreted it with an explosion of topics.  This chart gives you a complete picture of just how creative our sister colleges have gotten, from "Hip Hop Movement in Contemporary Popular Culture" to "Literature & Healing: Moral, Ethical, and Legal Implications."  (Maryland Community Colleges IE Chart) MC needs to ask of this category what we ask of all general education courses:  how will this add to the general education of a life-long learner?
  • Up to now, MC has elected to make a Health course the sole focus of IE.  We are in good company - four other community colleges in MD have a specific health course requirement.  Health appears on the IE lists of 11 of the 16 Maryland community colleges.  MC is the ONLY school that allows students to choose from 1 to 3 credits to fulfill this requirement; every other school requires 3 credits or more.  This flexibility of credits is important because students who may not "need" an IE course to transfer to out-of-state schools can take just one credit, not a huge investment, but enough to embed what we want students to know about this important topic. 
  • Some MD community colleges require up to 8 credits of IE courses.  This is permitted by MHEC, but of greater concern is how transfer schools will sort IE credits.  UMCP accepts only 3 credits in this category.   While we could say that in an ideal world, students need health and computer literacy skills and The Philosophy of Knowledge (or chose another IE title from the list above) to be fully rounded, we also have to be realistic about how much we can ask of a student at a two-year community college.  The current 1 - 3 credit option provides both flexibility and consistency.
  • A single focus in the IE category provides consistent delivery of specific competencies across the College.  MHEC, the Maryland Higher Education Commission, asks us to demonstrate that students are acquiring general education competencies through outcomes assessment.  All students take health courses, not just some, and they develop "competency in critical analysis and reasoning" by analyzing health content and then applying it to their own behavior.  Health education also speaks to the Personal, Social and Civic Responsibility Area of Proficiency, an area that MC has identified beyond State competencies.  Health education teaches principles that allow students to "function as responsible, ethical and contributing citizens."
  • Providing a greater variety of courses in the IE category sends the message that Montgomery College thinks these classes are important, but "we'll let you decide which one you prefer."  It's undeniable that some students need to improve their computing skills, one of the courses offered as an example of a future IE course at MC.  The difficulty, though, is assuring that the very students who most need this skill are the ones who will choose computer applications over health, or computer applications over "BMGT-134 Coaching as a Tool for Effective Leadership" (see Howard CC's offerings).
  • A final complication is whether to require an IE course, or to make an optional choice.  Currently, the 1 - 3 credit HE course requirement fits many needs while delivering one consistent subject of critical importance to lifetime well being.  If we require a 3-credit CA, or a "Learning as a Journey" course (borrowing again from the creative interpretations of MD schools), or even "Women and Leisure," we don't know whether students will find that the extra 2 credits were worth the investment in the long run in terms of both transferability and course content.  The other option, making the IE category optional altogether, sends the message: "We think these are vitally important IE subjects... but.... you don't have to take one."
  • Some Issues will Emerge and others will Fade.  The health course required back in 1996 has classic components that remain important for a lifetime of well being in 2008 and beyond.   Look again at the Maryland community college list of expanded IE courses to imagine how courses will hold up in ten year's time:  http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/genedcomm/IE.htm .  The health course requirement at Montgomery College has, and will continue to serve students well.

I urge you to vote Health Yes to maintain the Health Requirement.  In case you would like to review the many benefits of health courses from a content perspective, please see the Health Rationale below.  

M.E.

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Comments from Kathleen Dayton, 3/6/08

The Montgomery College Mission Statement states that we are in the “business of changing lives.”  I’d like to amend that to say – We’re in the business of saving lives.

The debate is on about whether to have Health as a requirement under General Education.  I believe we have a duty as a college to continue this requirement.  One of the goals of general education is “Personal, Social, and Civic Responsibilities: Students will develop skills and attitudes necessary to function effectively as responsible, ethical, and contributing citizens of the community, state, and nation.”  By keeping a Health course as a requirement, we will be meeting this goal.

We know that the majority of the students at Montgomery College have no health insurance.  By taking one of 20+ different health courses, students are given the opportunity to learn about living a healthier lifestyle and learn about health conditions that may affect their lives.  We know of several students, who, upon learning about signs and symptoms of potentially serious illnesses sought medical care and were diagnosed early with cancers and other conditions.  Had they not been taking a health course, they may not have been treated until much later, with different outcomes.  By taking a health course, they learn about personal and social responsibilities.

Many of our students come from locations outside of Montgomery County and did not attend Montgomery County Public Schools (where they would have taken a one-semester Health course in 10th grade).  For many, our health courses are the first time they learn about their bodies and how to take care of it.  Informing students on how to take care of themselves makes for a healthier student and one that is going to be a more successful student.  For many students, illness is one reason they do not complete their education.

And, I am happy to say, our students save lives.  We offer First Aid and CPR and First Responder courses, with more than several hundred students being trained each year on how to respond to emergencies.   Many of our students have come back to tell us that they saved a life – whether it be through performing CPR or recognizing a medical emergency and summoning Emergency Medical Services by calling 911.  In fact, many of our students who enrolled in these two courses have gone on to become Emergency Medical Technicians and are serving the citizens of Montgomery County (many as volunteers – true social and civic responsibility).

Take a moment to look at what Health courses are offered – from courses that are a survey of various aspects of health (stress management, drug and alcohol awareness, nutrition) to courses like First Aid and CPR where students learn skills to help others in an emergency.

How can we as a college not encourage this sort of social and civic responsibility?  We are in the business of not only changing lives but also saving lives.

Respectfully submitted

Kathleen M. Dayton, MA, CHES, NREMT-I
Associate Professor
Coordinator, Fire Science and Emergency Medical Services
Paramedic, Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services



In a world of infinite opportunities, why should Montgomery College keep the health foundation requirement?   Submitted by Rockville Health Educators, January 16, 2008 Meeting

It has served us well in the past and can continue to do so into the future:

  • 5 of the 13 Maryland public transfer institutions require at least a 2-credit health course

  • 4 others will transfer in a 2-3 credit health course

  • at the top 30 transfer schools, 8 have a health requirement (according to ACHA, this is
    expected to increase nationwide!)

MC is actually right where we need to be where health ed is concerned!

Therefore, transfer as a general education course is not a problem!  Note; transfer is not the only issue however, we are doing our students a disservice if we do not at least consider the transfer issue.

College Health Education as a retention tool:

  • according to the American College Health Association, college health education courses
    support the mission of higher education by supporting students and creating a healthy learning environment

  • healthy students equal bodies in the seats!

Academic Performance:

  • health education classes have been shown to have a positive impact on student health

  • student health has a strong impact on academic performance

  • a recent study indicates that health related variables have a direct impact on GPA, especially for first year students

Example - for one health related behavior , alcohol use (covered extensively in health education classes) in a national survey of 55,000 college students 24% reported doing poorly on a test because of their drinking while 33% report missing a class.

Risk Behaviors:
          
From the most resent National College Health Risk Behavior Survey:

  • 29% smoke 

  • 35% binge drink

  • 27% report drinking and driving

  • 20% of female students report having forced to have sexual intercourse

  • only 30% of sexually active students report using a condom

  • 20% are overweight

  • 74% don't eat fruits and veggies regularly

  • only 20% engage in moderated physical activity

  • 10% have seriously considered suicide

  • 21% report using illegal drugs

  • 35% report having to deal with an unplanned pregnancy

  • 50% have a sexually transmitted disease

  • 40% of men and 50% of women feel so depressed that they have difficulty functioning

Healthy People 2010 and Healthy Campus 2010:

The two overarching goals for the health of our citizens are to:

  • increase quality and years of health life

  • eliminate health disparities

and yet, the nation is failing miserably!

Why we are failing:

  • for the first time since the flu epidemic of the 1920's, life expectancy will be reduced because of personal health behaviors

  • the gap between those who can afford health insurance and those who can't gets bigger every day

  • in the State of Maryland , young adults 19-34 comprise 41% of the uninsured (our students!)

Underserved Populations:

  • health education is successfully used as a venue to reach and to serve underserved populations

  • like immigrants, first generation Americans, minorities, women and their children, groups that often do not have access to health care

  • for many of our students, we are the primary source of health Information

without access to health education, where are the students going to go for accurate information and referrals?  How can we consistently reach ALL students?

Objections to a Health Requirement:

  • “Students had health in high school”

  • they also had math, biology etc. as well, it was only a start!

  • due to the nature of the subject matter, content was often restricted

Student quote:  “ I couldn’t believe it when I saw a health requirement, I did this in high school but I have admit that by the end of the course, I realized at I did not know as much as I thought. Thanks for caring!”

  • The curricula are already packed (especially in engineering and the sciences)

  • Students can earn credit for HE 100 through credit by exam option

  • Health has a proven ability to transfer as a general education course

  • Student can choose to take just one credit to fulfill a health requirement

I'm not suggesting that health education classes can cure the world's ills but I think we can at least make a good start at serving underserved populations and helping to achieve what the literature is calling "health literacy", the ability to find, evaluate and implement health information.

I'd like to end with a quote from Diablo Valley College which describes their philosophy on general education, "The faculty believes that development and maintenance of personal and community health is basic to all endeavors of our graduates as workers, lifelong learners and citizens."

I hope Montgomery College will echo these sentiments!

Maureen Edwards, PhD, CHES
Coordinator of Health Education

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Where I stand!

The most fundamental purpose of education is to empower students to be able to improve their quality of life and that of their community, country, and world.

One cannot talk about quality of life without talking about health. I would argue that more health and or wellness, especially emotional, related courses should be required.

Given what we know about the current health of our incoming students, which is reinforced by the college health articles  below, it would seem to me to be negligent to cease to require that students be made aware of basic health information.

The Obesity Epidemic Comes to Campus - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Gustavus (Gus) Griffin, M.Ed.
Assistant Professor/Counselor
Montgomery College-Rockville

Why Montgomery College Should Expand the I. E. (Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues) Category of General Education   
by Terri Maradei, Computer Applications Professor, Rockville Campus  1/16/2008 Meeting

The State of Maryland established an Interdisciplinary and Emerging Issues category in 1996.  Colleges may use it to include important courses important to the general well being of students that may not fall in traditional Distribution Areas.

How the IE Category Works at Maryland Public Institutions

A few schools have a specific, separate category that requires completion of one IE course

  • Some schools require Information Technology courses :
    • Towson (MC’s CA 120 Intro to Computer Applications) and
    • UMUC (MC’s CS 110 Computer Concepts)
    • University of Baltimore (MC’s CA 120 Intro to Computer Applications)
  • Some devote this category specifically to a Health course:
    • Salisbury requires HE 109 Personalized Health Fitness
  • Some use it as a Wild Card
    • UMCP allows students to substitute one IE course for selected Distribution Areas – for example, rather than taking a third Humanities course, an IE can be taken. 

              UMCP’s IE course titles include:
      • BMGT110 Introduction to Business and Management
      • CMSC102 Intro. to Information Technology (3 credits) For non-majors only. A historical & practical introduction to computer and network terminology, applications & concepts. Students will have hands-on experience with a variety of tools available to find & access information on the Internet, to exchange information between computers, and to perform basic web design. Students will explore applications (such as browsers & spreadsheets) as well as different computing environments (such as Windows & UNIX). There will be discussions of social, legal, and ethical issues related to technology
      • CPSP221 Cultures of the Americas
      • GEMS104 Topics in Science, Technology and Society
      • HLTH285 Controlling Stress and Tension
      • HONR219 Media with an Accent: Comparing Press and Broadcasting in a Global context
      • HONR248N Honors Seminar: Extinction Risk: Where Biology, Geography, and Mathematics Meet
      • HONR267 Knowledge Across Disciplines
      • HONR279O Honors Seminar: Counterterrorism
      • JOUR175 Media Literacy
      • MATH274 History of Mathematics
      • PHIL261 Philosophy of the Environment
      • PHIL280 Perspectives on the Mind: Philosophy and Cognitive Science
  • And some have an Interdisciplinary Focus
    • Frostburg University - IDIS 160 Science, Technology, and Society (3 hours) Includes a laboratory experience

Today, we are not asking the College as a whole to select which courses might be offered in the IE category.  We are asking you to open the possibility of allowing the General Education Committee to consider additional courses to this category rather than limiting it to one discipline.

Comments from Faculty in Support of the Expansion of the IE Category:

Please send your comments for publication on this issue to GenEd@montgomerycollege.edu

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