Revisions of general requirement classes needed

Anthony Fantano
Staff Writer

Like children who must eat their vegetables, Southern students must take their general education requirements; but with the threat of losing its accreditation, SCSU is altering the general education program.

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges—or NEASC—is requiring the change in the program, said Dr. David Chevan, a member of the Undergraduate Curriculum Forum and music professor.

“NEASC does a complete review of universities in the area every 10 years or so,” said Chevan. “On our last major review, they found that we need to change these requirements to reach a contemporary standard.”

The Undergraduate Curriculum Forum—or UCF—is the governing body that approves curricular changes at SCSU, said James Tait, the chair of the General Education Reform Task Force and professor of environmental education.

The General Education Reform Task Force, a subcommittee of the UCF, has been given the responsibility to draw up plans for the new general education program, said Tait.

“[NEASC] said we were expected by December of 2007 to have a new program approved, if not implemented,” said Tait.

November of 2007 is when the new program will be presented to Southern’s full-time faculty for a vote of approval, but getting the necessary 51 percent of faculty members to vote on any issue has historically been problematic, said Tait. It is after this 51 percent is present that only a simple majority is needed to approve the new general education program.

Accreditation loss is an issue, but Tait said faculty members should not allow this to be a reason to approve of any plan presented to them.

“I don’t think the faculty should vote because the NEASC asks for something,” said Tait. “I don’t think we would automatically lose accreditation if the faculty didn’t approve this.”

Southern’s current general education program has not been altered since the 1970s, said Tait, which prompted NEASC to request that the university make some changes.

According to English major Joe Bebon, the current program doesn’t keep the attention of Southern’s students.

“With classes that you need to take for your major, obviously the students pay more attention,” he said.

“Especially in macroeconomics where they put you in a stadium and everybody is there for no reason,” Bebon also said laughingly. “The only reason [students] went to that class is because we had to.”

History major Amy Gagnon said she observes a considerable amount of student apathy toward the current program, and notices many students failing to show up on a regular basis to the courses required by the current program.

“I think the requirements are okay as they are,” she said. “It’s important to get well rounded.”

However, Gagnon said the four classes of foreign language required by the Bachelor of Arts program were excessive.

“I think it’s good to learn a language,” she said, “but is it necessary to take so much? It’s hard to finish in four years with all that they’re giving you.”

Education major Nicole Pisano said she has noticed a difference in performance, on the part of students and professors, in courses required by the current program.

Students are often sleepy, uninterested, and bored, Pisano said.

“I think professors assume that these [students] are just a bunch of immature freshmen and sophomores,” she said.

The new program, said Tait, is looking to change the current buffet-style system where students pick and choose from different disciplines.

“Now, students pick one of these, pick one of those, and pick another one,” said Tait. “The new program will be goal-driven, and courses will be designed to serve these goals.”

According to the new program’s mission statement passed by faculty members in February of 2005, some of these goals include teaching creative thinking, quantitative reasoning, written communication, and multilingual communication.

The new program, said Tait, also plans to teach students of life within and outside of the U.S. as well as lessons in creativity and cultural expressions.

According to the mission statement, a familiarity with values will be taught within the program in order to aid students in thinking outside of their self-interests.

This faculty-approved list, according to an e-mail sent to the Southern faculty in 2005, is just phase one of the new general education program; phase two will involve the actual implementation of the goals specified in the list.

According to Tait, this will probably include a capstone course to test what students have learned over the time spent in their general education required courses.

“We want to make sure students are learning what we think we’re teaching them,” said Tait.

Other plans for the implementation of the 24 goals outlined in the new program’s mission statement have not been decided yet, according to Tait.

If faculty members disapprove of the newly proposed general education program in November, said Tait, it’s unclear whether there will be enough time to create a new program by December.

According to Peggy Gallup, former co-chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Forum and professor of public health, general education requirements are necessary for what she called “a lifelong learner.”

“A successful general education program opens students to new ideas,” Gallup said. “It’s a way to explore other ways of study that you wouldn’t encounter in a very focused major.

According to Tait, the program to implement these faculty-approved goals will be approved by this fall for review by Southern’s faculty.

“We don’t want to send students into the world who can’t write or think quantitatively,” said Tait. “We want employers to think that Southern students get a really good education.”

Comments

[Blenda]

Thanks for writing this.