Senate Bill No.: 0304-12
UNIVERSITY SENATE
UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY
STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
Introduced by: Undergraduate Academic Council
Date: March 1, 2004
REVISION OF “ORAL DISCOURSE” GENERAL EDUCATION CRITERIA
IT IS HEREBY PROPOSED THAT THE FOLLOWING BE ADOPTED:
1. That the revisions of the Oral Discourse General Education criteria proposed by the
General Education Committee and passed by UAC be approved.
2. That this become effective immediately.
3. That this policy be forwarded to the President for approval.
RATIONALE:
The Oral Discourse criteria have been revised for the sake of clarity and to provide
departments, schools and programs a better idea of the breadth of experiences that may
be used to satisfy this requirement.
Since all existing courses approved to fulfill this requirement already meet the revised
criteria, it is requested that this policy be implemented immediately upon approval.
ORAL DISCOURSE: Approved courses provide opportunities for students to develop
the oral communication skills they need to participate more effectively in public and
academic debates and discussions. Courses offer opportunities to participate in a variety
of communication contexts and to reflect on the principles and theory relevant to specific
oral communication activities. Approved courses include instruction on presentation, as
well as feedback and evaluation of oral performance. Feedback can occur in various
forms, including peer evaluation in student groups, but it is expected that the
instructor will also provide feedback to students on their performance. To fulfill
both the spirit and the letter of this requirement, wherever possible courses should
have no more than 25 students enrolled.
· A discussion within a group, where each member will be required to make 3-5
“paragraph-length” contributions in the course of the discussion.
· A question and answer dialogic process where the student fields a succession of
questions or asks a succession of questions that build on and comment upon prior
answers.
· A rehearsed theatrical presentation or interpretative reading
· A stand-up monologue presentation of a minimum of 3-5 minutes
· A debate where each participant speaks for a minimum of 3-5 minutes
Students will be made aware of the criteria to be used for evaluation of their oral
performances. Examples of criteria that may be used include persuasiveness,
organization, presentation of evidence, validity of argument, contact with the audience,
vocal punctuation and expressiveness, oral language style suited to the exercise,
appropriate volume and pace of speech, poise and comfort, vocal fluency, eye contact,
and active listening.
