MEGHAN GUATTERY
Assistant News Editor
After rejecting an original proposal in early October, the University Senate has voted in a new set of changes to the Fredonia General Education Program with a 32–12 victory.
The proposal, which is set to be put in place for incoming students of the Fall 2017 semester, consists of two major changes: the implementation of thematic categories and a reduction in the number of required general education credits.
The addition of three thematic categories, Creativity and Innovation, Critical Thinking and Analysis, and Global Perspectives, will be the most drastic change to come with the new program.
“This is going to allow for some development of these really important skills that are important in the workforce today,” said Associate Provost for Curriculum, Assessment and Academic Support Lisa Hunter. “These are what employers are looking for, and, by participating in these courses, students will likely have artifacts that they can show, using their professional portfolios to demonstrate to employers their ability to think critically and creative thinking, problem solving and definitely that global perspective piece.”
As Ex Officio for University Senate, Hunter has overseen the senate as it developed the changes to the program.
“This is a really nice way to allow for some interdisciplinary courses that prepare students with some of these important abilities and competencies in creative thinking and innovation, critical thinking and analysis and global perspectives,” said Hunter. “I think if I were a student, this would be one of the things I would be most excited about — the ability to explore some of these areas.”
With the addition of these themes, the new curriculum states that professors will be aiming to create “interdisciplinary ‘thematic cluster’ partnerships that [will] connect two separate courses either within a given theme or across two separate themes.”
“The idea [is] that students could take both courses at the same time and those teachers will be in communication with each other to be able to have the students in the class be looking at either the same theme through two different directions, or even through two separate themes,” said Robert Deemer, associate professor of music composition and chair of University Senate. “It’s the idea of linking general education courses interdisciplinarily.”
The new program also calls for the current 36-credit general education requirement to be dropped to 30, aligning Fredonia’s standards with those of SUNY. This reduction will allow students to have the option of potentially taking up a minor or, as Hunter explained, “choose courses that are complementary to [their] professional goals or to explore and expand in a new area.”
“Up until now,” said Deemer, “many gen ed courses have had the complaint that the focus in the class was on the specific subject matter and the acquisition of knowledge within that subject matter, as opposed to a general education where you are learning broader ideas and broader concepts and broader competencies through that content.”
Deemer recalls having similar feelings during his time as an undergraduate student.
“I would take a class and think, ‘Okay, I’m checking off this box on the list because they say I need to, because I need to be a well-rounded person,’” said Deemer.
Both the University Senate and General Education Committee have made it their goal to take away the negative connotation of college core curriculum (CCC) courses.
“I hope that we will be able to help students perceive this so that [they] see general education, as a whole, as a positive contribution to their education,” said Hunter. “In other words, instead of just seeing a checklist, students will see this as enhancing whatever major they are studying.”
So far, the students who have had the opportunity to read over the changes find them a bit confusing, but agree with the voting majority and believe that they will be beneficial to the campus.
“We spent a decent amount of time discussing the various ways to attribute a course to a class requirement, and I think that this discussion might have been where I got confused,” said Stephanie Willis, a junior public relations major and junior class president, in an email. “What I was able to gather from the new changes is that students will be required less classes in the CCC areas. I personally think that taking less CCCs will benefit students by letting them spend the extra time taking classes within their discipline.”
As sophomore class president, international studies and history double major Meghan Bartok was one of the students who sat in on the senate meeting to vote on the changes. She believes the lessened credit load will greatly benefit some students on campus, while the themes will embrace the schools diversity.
“I know some students worry about not being able to complete all of their gen. eds., especially if they are in a major that doesn’t have many classes that overlap and count for the major and a gen ed,” said Bartok in an email. “I also really like the new thematic elements. I feel that many classes already instill these themes, but having them as a requirement is nice because this will lead to a more well-rounded experience here at Fredonia. The Global Connections element is especially important for Fredonia because we have such a high number of exchange students here!
The positive remarks from the student representatives give Hunter confidence in the new program.
“The student members of the University Senate did speak up in favor, and that was really encouraging,” said Hunter. “For me, as the person overseeing gen ed, that’s really important to me — that the students are supportive of it and see it as a positive contribution to their education. That’s what the goal of the original revision committee was: to make this a positive change for students.”
The changes to the general education program may be able to help students finally answer the question they have been asking their teachers since kindergarten: “When will I ever need to know this?”
“We want our students here to be able to go out in the world once they graduate and actually be able to, as the mission says, form the foundation for lifelong learning,” said Deemer. “School doesn’t stop after four years here, and so we’re trying to give students the tools by which they can do it on their own once they’re done.”
While the University Senate may have its student members on board, the proposition had its fair share of skeptics.
“After 10 to 15 years of having courses and curricula formed around a preexisting structure, now you’re asking [the faculty members] to break that and to reconfigure it,” said Deemer. “That’s really hard. From their perspective, if it’s working, why fix it? I think a lot of it has to do with [the fact that] at the micro level it seems to work, but at the macro level, on a campus-wide basis, students have changed, the needs of the campus have changed, the needs of our students have changed.”
The addition of the thematic categories has been targeted as one of the issues of the changes.
“It’s a big paradigm shift,” said Deemer. “It’s not necessarily what the content is — it’s why the courses are being taught and what are the learning objectives of the courses, and that’s what the themes are for. We had a lot of people questioning whether or not the themes were important. I’ve always said that the themes are what made this program imperative for us, because otherwise then it does just become a little less [credits].”
Willis has confidence in the changes, but believes that, as the changes are put into place, it will require work from the Fredonia faculty in order for students to fully understand the changes.
“I think that any general education program requirements have the potential to be misunderstood by the students,” said Willis. “I hope to see information being given to the students during their orientations and by their advisers. I have had advisers that are very involved in what I am doing with my coursework, and I have had advisers that will just sign my papers and move on. I think the success of this program will depend on the work that the advisers put in to help the students understand what is required of them.”
Hunter, along with University Senate members Rhea Simmons, associate professor of psychological foundations, and KimMarie Cole, associate professor of English, will be spearheading a leadership team that will establish how the changes will be implemented in preparation for the Fall 2017 semester.
“Part of our job is to make sure that, whatever we do, it’s in the best interest of the students and doesn’t add time to their degree,” said Hunter. “That will be our major caveat as we explore this — whatever we do for current student[s] is friendly for them.”