Inquiry group 9 met on Sept. 3, at 4:00 in the Faculty House and discussed the seven general education goals and objectives given by the Ad Hoc Committee on General Education. Of the seven only the first goal, "To develop reading, writing, and oral communication skills." received a unanimous endorsement. Concerning the other six:

On goal 2: there was debate over how to interpret "critical thinking."

On goal 3: there were questions raised about what "familiarity" entails.

On goal 4: there were questions raised about how one would go about instilling a "commitment to intellectual curiosity," about what "intellectual curiosity" means, and about the expectations for success one should have for achieving this goal in four years.

On goals 5 and 6: Once again, questions were raised about how to interpret terms like "awareness" and "appreciation"

On goal 7: No one was really sure what "affective development" was supposed to entail. The feeling was that the intent of this goal was to address "whole person" development. If so the question was raised as to how much non-academic areas (such as various student life organizations) should have a role in assuring that goals involving student development are met.

One glaring omission from the list of goals and objectives given was any goal addressing the development of a knowledge base for our students. It was noted that this issue is addressed in the College of Charleston Statement of Institutional Goals (second goal under "Instruction"). In fact, the feeling among the members of the inquiry group was that this "Statement of Institutional Goals" was much better for addressing the goals and objectives for general education that the list we were being asked to consider.