Professors at Ursinus College in Pennsylvania are among a handful in the nation who are required by the universitywhere they work to teach a mandatory freshman liberal arts seminar, a program with an objective similar to AU's general education program, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
The course, entitled "Common Intellectual Experience," covers the philosophical implications of great works and thinkers - everything from Darwin to the Koran - throughout history. Professors from all fields teach the course.
The program was devised in the late 1990s by a group of Ursinus faculty members who wanted to replace the required humanities courses taken throughout the undergraduate years, similar to AU's General Education Program, with an intensive freshmen seminar. After much debate, most professors approved the idea and the program officially began in 2001, according to the Chronicle.
AU does not have a similar policy as far as requiring faculty to teach a particular course, according to Haig Mardirosian, AU's dean of academic affairs. Many professors have taught a general education course, and almost all new faculty do, Mardirosian said, but there is no requirement that any professor teaches anything.
Most AU professors teach high-level grad courses along with general education courses, he said. Professors are discouraged from teaching solely general education courses except under special circumstances.
"One size does not fit all in education, but in our case, as a medium-sized doctoral university, we find that having professors teach both high-level and general education courses improves the quality by bringing breadth and a new approach to both," Mardirosian said.
Professors with tenure were not required to participate in the Ursinus program, but 47 of the 60 decided to. New professors, however, must teach the class at least one semester out of every four semesters or will not be considered for tenure, according to the Chronicle.
Formulating the program has been a positive experience for all involved, said Kelly Whitman, a representative for Ursinus College.
"Professors learn outside of their own discipline while at the same time teaching," she said. "It is an excellent course, with a good deal of reading, writing and discussion - everyone gets a lot out of it."
According to college officials in the Chronicle, students show they strongly value the course in their evaluations of it. There has been some dissension among the professors at Ursinus but the majority also seems to agree with Whitman.
According to Whitman, the course is limited to 16 students per class. The college must have as many professors as possible teaching the course in order to keep the classes small, she said.
Lorien Baker, a sophomore in the Kogod School of Business, said gen-eds are a good idea because they give students a chance to find out what they like and what they are good at by taking classes in various subjects.
"I think that professors should be able to teach what they are good at in their area and in gen-eds," Baker said. "If they don't teach what they know and what they are good at, they are not going to be able to teach it as well and then it is not going to help the students"
