Perspectives on having an "uncommon" faculty teach general education courses are offered, based in part on the experience of Pennsylvania State University. An uncommon faculty members is one who is willing to spend time with students, to learn in areas outside his or her "major" field of mastered interest, to be a fellow learner instead of a dispenser of answers, and to admit not knowing answers when appropriate. The successful general education faculty will be uncommon in another sense: they will come from a variety of disciplines or colleges, even from nonfaculty administrative positions. At Penn State approximately 6,000 students take general education courses each year from an undergraduate population of about 56,000. The general education program offers 10 different courses in the humanities, international understanding, and social sciences. All faculty hold appointments in academic departments. Students are not required to take the general education courses, which are offered as alternatives to discipline courses, and which also satisfy the university baccalaureate or distribution courses. The students are active learners who seek to challenge and to question, and who view the instructor as a fellow-seeker of knowledge. (SW)