Most students can agree on one thing: the General Education program needs work.
The program is useful in that it helps students explore their interests. Many students base their choice of major or minor off of their experiences with the program. However, the current rigidity of the program leaves many frustrated and leads some to undervalue the experience it provides.
But good news could be on the way. AU has created plans, which currently await several rounds of official approval, to revamp the program. As students that have experienced the system first-hand, we approve of the proposed adjustments to the program and strongly urge the faculty to consider these changes.
The proposed changes to the program include doing away with the current tiered cluster system, the addition of sophomore seminars and other classes as options into the five foundational areas. The changes, if approved, will go into effect for the class of 2016 and will become an option for those returning students starting the fall 2012 semester.
As most of us can attest to, the cluster system often causes us some sort of frustration, rage, or combination of the two. Some of us have been locked into uninteresting second-level classes because there was a class in the first level that seemed slightly interesting. Others among us have accidentally taken a class in the wrong cluster and have ended up wasting elective credits. In short, it’s annoying and we approve of eliminating them.
In addition, many of the corresponding first- and second-level classes in specific clusters don’t necessarily correspond with each other. For example, in the Social Institutions and Behavior subject area, you can take Understanding Mass Media as a first level class and Microeconomics as a second level class, and in the Natural Sciences subject area, you can take Psychology as a Natural Science followed by Astronomy. While we like having the option of taking two classes that may be completely different within a subject area, it does not make any sense to have unrelated 100-levels as prerequisites for 200-levels. Adapting the program to a more flexible model will clear up unnecessary confusion.
While we approve of the plan to eliminate clusters, we also applaud the proposed addition of new classes to subject areas, as well as the creation of sophomore seminars. By adding more classes to the General Education repertoire, the University is giving us a greater opportunity to explore subject areas outside of our majors (or helping those of us that may not know what our major is yet), which is the spirit of the program to begin with.
Thus far, AU has presented a well-thought out plan to create a “more integrative learning experience” at the heart of our college degree program. While it is still pending approval, we wholeheartedly support this endeavor. For students to fully appreciate and benefit from this fairly comprehensive base program, it is essential for greater flexibility to be implemented.
