GCSU to review future core curriculum

A recent state Board of Regents decision has prompted a GCSU task force to review the school’s future core curriculum. In October, the regents approved a revision of the University System of Georgia’s core curriculum. Fulfilling core curriculum requirements is vital to earning a degree at GCSU, as well as other colleges and universities, so the task force’s job is an important one.
Dr. Sandra Jordan, provost and vice president for Academic Affairs, is heading up the look at the new core curriculum for GCSU.
“The university undertook a review of the general education curriculum several years ago, but the finalization of that plan was delayed because the USG was considering changes,” Jordan said. “Now that the Board of Regents has finalized its core curriculum, it’s time for us to review ours and determine how well it aligns with the new model.”
From now through spring of 2011, all four-year institutions will be revising their existing core curriculums and will submit their required core learning outcomes to the Council on General Education for approval. In the fall of 2011, the new core will be implemented at all four-year schools, and two-year schools will be required to begin evaluating their core in dealing with transfer students. The new core will take full effect at all colleges beginning in the fall of 2012. Once that process is complete, schools will be required to report assessments of their core to the Council on General Education no later than every seven years.
Even though a new core is being implemented, there will be no effect on current GCSU students.
“Our policies state that a student completes the degree requirements as described in the catalog that was current when that student first matriculated into the university, unless that student chooses to migrate to the most current catalog,” Jordan said.
Overall, Jordan said she is pleased with the direction of the USG and the new core curriculum.
“They are providing each institution more leeway to shape their general education curricula around their distinctive mission,” Jordan said. “We want a curriculum that meets the needs of 21st century students, reinforces intentional learning and reflects our distinctive liberal arts mission.”
To help with evaluating the core curriculum, Jordan has set up a task force group, consisting of faculty from each college. The task force is being chaired by Dr. Julia Metzker and also includes Dr. Ken Procter, Dr. Kalina Manoylov, Dr. Robert Blumenthal, Dr. Elaine Whitaker, Dr. Craig Pascoe, Dr. Ben Scafidi, Dr. Sunita Manian, Dr. Lisa Griffin, Dr. Marianne Edwards, Dr. Elissa Auerbach, Dr. Steve Elliott-Gower and Dr. Mike Digby.
“There are a variety of ways that campuses organize themselves to undertake a review of the core curriculum, and this team is taking measure of where we were in the previous process so we can determine how to move forward,” Jordan said. “They are also hosting faculty meetings to update the campus on the new curriculum requirements.”
Procter, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said that in addition to developing a core curriculum consistent with the school’s mission, another important goal is developing one consistent with other institutions within the USG.
“From the Board of Regents point of view, we want to make sure that students transferring in or out of GCSU will have their core credits counted. That expectation is there to make things easier for students,” Procter said. “I think we want to have something special that keeps with the goals of a public liberal arts institution. We just need to make sure we balance that with the USG’s goals.”
Procter added that the task force itself is not implementing a new core.
“We’re simply advising the provost on what the next course of action should be,” Procter said.
According to officials, the revised core will still allot 42 hours of credits and guarantee transfer of core courses. It will look mostly the same as the current one, with Area A containing communication and quantitative skills and Area B containing institutional options. Area C consists of the humanities and fine arts with ethics being added in, while Area D consists of natural sciences, math and technology. Area E deals with social sciences, and Area F consists of lower division major requirements.
Three new learning initiatives have been placed into the revised curriculum: U.S. perspectives, global perspectives and critical thinking. The U.S. and global perspective aspects are considered overlay requirements and consist of courses found in Areas A-E. The critical thinking area will be developed by each individual institution within the USG.

Posted by Scotty Thompson on Jan 29 2010. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry