Core classes aim for diverse education | The Nevada Sagebrush

The University of Nevada, Reno is currently working to overhaul the school?s core curriculum in an effort to update and modernize its learning goals. With both faculty and students? opinions in mind, UNR is looking to add aspects of technology, ethics and globalization to the core curriculum as well as some changes to the core humanities requirements.

Although the new curriculum is not planned to be implemented until Fall 2014, the process began in Spring 2010 when UNR administrators looked at other core curriculum programs across the country to compare to its own.

A survey of faculty and students, which yielded more than 3,000 student responses, led to the implementation of the General Education Task Force, a committee made up of faculty members from every college on campus.

?There are two plans: the Silver plan and the Blue plan,? said UNR President Marc Johnson. ?The Silver Plan is coursework designed with distributive qualities that pertain to particular goals for the student to achieve by the time they graduate. The Blue Plan is similar but eventually prepares students for advanced coursework in their particular major.?

Johnson said there is also a ?modified status quo,? which would keep the current core curriculum, but would add components in information technology, ethical judgment and globalization. Each plan also reduced the core humanities requirement from nine to six credits.

Students currently enrolled at UNR will not be affected by whichever plan is chosen. But students like Riki Aquino, a neuroscience major, still have opinions about the requirements for core humanities.

?What I?ve heard is that they?re cutting some of the core humanities requirements and a lot of people see them as useless courses that they?ve had to take to adjust their schedules for or push back other classes for,? Aquino said. ?If affects everyone because with diversity credits, you can take so many different ones, but with core humanities, you have to take those.?

Alex Coronel, an English major, said that liberal arts students should not be required to take core humanities classes at all because it overlaps with what is already taught in English, history and philosophy classes.

?I didn?t really enjoy core humanities, but I still think it?s necessary,? Coronel said. ?As much as some students hate the core curriculum or even hate core humanities, the point of going to college is to broaden your perspective and give you a general knowledge of the world ,and sometimes if you?re not forced to learn those things, you never will.?

The General Education Task Force will vote in April on the two plans with the potential capability to combine them. After this voting process, the faculty will then take its vote.

While the survey of faculty was conducted nearly three years ago, that will be the extent of student involvement in the decision making process for the new curriculum. Johnson believes this is fortunate for students.

?The responses from the students and faculty were actually quite similar,? Johnson said. ?After the committee votes on the plans, the faculty will ultimately decide what plan is best since they are the ones teaching it.?

Stephanie Self can be reached at news@nevadasagebrush.com.

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Source: http://nevadasagebrush.com/blog/2013/03/25/core-classes-aim-for-diverse-education/

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