Integrative Learning Core Committee

History

In 2017, LSU President F. King Alexander and Provost Richard Koubek launched the Strategic Plan 2025 process. As part of that process, The Strategic Plan General Education subcommittee (SPGEs) was formed with Matt Lee of the Office of Academic Affairs as Chair in consultation with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. Their charge was to review LSU's general education program and develop a curricular model that educates students as effective and versatile problem solvers, global citizens, and leaders for a complex world.

Between January and November 2017, the SPGEs performed the following tasks:

  • reviewing the current general education format as well as Board of Regents and SACSCOC requirements;
  • discussing how to shape a general education curriculum based on the academic principles and values of the LSU 2025 Strategic Plan; and
  • reviewing best practices as defined by national higher education groups and nationwide efforts of general education reform.

The SPGEs core recommendation appears on page 22 of the Strategic Plan, under “Revise General Education”:  “LSU will create a core integrative curriculum to replace the traditional general education paradigm.” 

More full statements of the committee’s recommendations are available at LSU's Strategic Planning Challenges website and within the ILC Communication and Transition plan. 

Briefly put, the subcommittee recommended that:

  • LSU move away from the reference to the general education curriculum to what will be termed the LSU Integrative Learning Core (ILC).
  • All courses in the new ILC incorporate "integrative learning" strategies.
  • All courses in the new ILC align to at least one ILC Proficiency. Selected proficiencies and corresponding definitions were pulled from the American Association of Colleges & Universities Essential Learning Outcomes and VALUE Rubrics:
    • civic engagement
    • ethical reasoning
    • global learning
    • intercultural knowledge and competence
    • inquiry and analysis
    • oral communication
    • problem solving
    • quantitative and formal reasoning
    • written communication

Consideration of the recommendation by the SP subcommittee to change from Gen Ed to ILC was undertaken by the Faculty Senate Committee on General Education (FSCGE) in 2017, leading to its proposing of FS 17-07. (Follow these links for more information: 1) FS meeting minutes of November 2017 discussion of FS resolution 17-07; 2) December 2017 meeting minutes). 

Following passage of FS 17-07, the FSCGE endorsed the recommendations of the SPGEs, thereby committing LSU to the process of implementing the ILC.

In the implementation process, the FSCGE, in the beginning of 2017-2018, came to the realization that the original wishes of the committee (which stemmed, in part, from previous discussions by the SPGEs) “regarding the structure of the ILC program, i.e., a 6-area GE by 10-proficiency ILC matrix that students would complete during their 39-hour program, was simply not feasible. This realization required a refocusing of efforts to try and develop an ILC program that could: 1) be implemented within the current general education system; 2) be assessed more easily than the previous general education program but would still yield meaningful data; 3) expose students to as many proficiencies as possible during their 39-hour program; and 4) improve student knowledge of, appreciation of, and basic competence in, proficiencies chosen by the ILC committee.”

The current plan is for the transition to occur through December 2021, with the new ILC to be fully implemented in August 2022. A summary of this process is available in the ILC Communication and Transition Plan and on ILC implementation timeline webpage.

 

Purpose

Integrative learning is (1) an understanding and (2) a disposition that a student builds across the curriculum and co-curriculum, from making simple connections among ideas and experiences to synthesizing and transferring learning to new, complex situations within and beyond the campus. (Definition adapted from the American Association of Colleges and Universities Integrative Learning VALUE Rubric.)

The fundamental idea of the LSU Integrative Learning Core (ILC) is that the student develops across the undergraduate curriculum the practical and intellectual capacities associated with integrative learning in preparation for high competence and functionality in post-baccalaureate contexts.

The ILC curriculum for LSU students spans the four years of undergraduate study and is composed of two components. First, students are required to complete 39 hours that provide a breadth of knowledge across the following six Louisiana Board of Regents statewide disciplinary areas: 

  • English Composition (six hours)
  • Mathematics/Analytical Reasoning (six hours)
  • Fine Arts (three hours)
  • Humanities (nine hours)
  • Natural Sciences (nine hours)2 courses in biological or physical science area sequence and one in the other area
  • Social/Behavioral Sciences (six hours)1 course must be at/above sophomore level

The second component requires that courses used to satisfy the above-noted requirements also contribute to the students' competency in one or more of the LSU ILC proficiencies. The ILC will produce highly effective leaders, problem solvers, and global citizens. Proficiencies in civic engagement, ethical reasoning, global learning, intercultural knowledge and competence, inquiry and analysis, oral communication, problem solving, quantitative and formal reasoning, and written communication will enhance the skills of LSU graduates.

Developing the proficiencies within courses across the ILC curriculum will promote synthesis of information in higher level courses. The Faculty Senate Integrative Learning Core Committee will provide guidance for implementation of teaching methods that enable integrative learning in all ILC courses.

Regional Accreditation Requirements

Additionally, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, the university's regional accrediting body, also requires general education in the following principles of accreditation:

  • Core Requirement 9.3: (General Education Requirements) The institution requires the successful completion of a general education component at the undergraduate level that: (a) is a based on a coherent rationale; (b) is a substantial component of each undergraduate degree program. For degree completion in associate programs, the component constitutes a minimum of 15 semester hours or the equivalent; for baccalaureate programs, a minimum of 30 semester hours or the equivalent; (c) and ensures breadth of knowledge. These credit hours include at least one course from each of the following areas: humanities/fine arts, social/behavioral sciences, and natural science/mathematics. These courses do not narrowly focus on those skills, techniques, and procedures specific to a particular occupation or profession.
  • Core Requirement 8.2.b: The institution identifies expected outcomes, assesses the extent to which it achieves these outcomes, and provides evidence of seeking improvement based on analysis of...Student learning outcomes for collegiate-level general education competencies of its undergraduate degree programs (Student outcomes: general education).