General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC)

Overview and charge of GEAC

What is the General Education Assessment Committee?

The General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC) is chaired by an academic department chair and is comprised of faculty from departments within the General Education program as well as the Provost/VP of Academic Affairs. The Committee, as with the other two assessment committees, reports to the overarching Institutional Effectiveness Committee. It is charged with coordinating assessment for the General Education program, collecting student data from General Education courses by student learning outcome, organizing student data analysis, and writing annual reports on the state of student learning in the General Education program.

Mission

The mission of the General Education Assessment Committee at York College is to oversee a systematic and comprehensive assessment of the College’s General Education Program.

Goals

  • Systematically assess student learning outcomes in each Pathway domain
  • Effectively communicate assessment results to stakeholders
  • Foster broad and sustainable faculty participation in General Education assessment activities
  • Support department/program’s efforts to assess General Education domains
  • Support department/program’s efforts to make changes for improvement

Membership

The GEAC reports to the Institutional Effectiveness Committee, co-chaired by the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and the Vice President for Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning.

The structure of the GEAC is as follows:

  • A chair, elected by the members of the committee, to serve a three-year term
  • A representative from the OIESP
  • At least one representative from OAA
  • Faculty drawn from across the programs included in the General Education curriculum

Members serve three years on a rotating basis to ensure continuity. Nominations for membership are requested by the GEAC Chair. The GEAC Chair and the co-Chairs of the IEC review and approve nominations.

Members 2025-2026

  • Phebe Kirkham, English; Committee Chair
  • Patricia Haggler, History, Philosophy, and Anthropology
  • Lori Hoeffner, Office of Institutional Effectiveness and Strategic Planning
  • Virginia Garcia Marin, Biology
  • Timothy Paglione, Office of Academic Affairs
  • Dawn Roberts-Semple, Earth and Physical Sciences
  • Virginia Thompson, Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Greet Van Belle, Center for Teaching, Learning and Educational Technologies
  • Xiaodan Zhang, Behavioral Sciences
  • Thomas Zlabinger, Performing and Fine Arts

Activities

  • Maintain a schedule of assessment so that during a six-year period, each competency will be evaluated twice
  • Establish General Education assessment procedures and methods of analysis for each competency and continually reassess those initiatives to develop effective and sustainable assessment practices
  • Collect, evaluate, and analyze relevant student work for assessment of General Education student learning outcomes
  • Assist faculty in developing initiatives to improve student success in General Education courses
  • Write reports on the state of student learning outcomes of general education as a whole, the assessment findings, the use of the results for improvement, and recommendations for policy/procedural change(s) indicated by the assessment results
  • Work with the OIESP to create a body of evidence that demonstrates ongoing, systematic and comprehensive assessment with findings trended over time
  • Conduct periodic reviews of the committee’s processes, activities, and applications
  • Foster college-wide reflection on the General Education program, through workshops and symposia designed to share assessment applications.

Reporting and Communication

  • Communicate procedures and findings to the College community and outside accrediting agencies
  • Distribute reports to the relevant stake holders and post on the College’s assessment website
  • Present results and recommendations to standing committees including but not limited to the IEC, the Personnel and Budget Committee (P&B), the Senate, etc.

Last reviewed, revised, and approved by GEAC and IEC in November 2025

Revised: November 17, 2025