General education plan will reduce UA to an extension of high school

I am writing this letter in response to the Faculty Senate approving a university-wide "general education" proposal ("Faculty Senate OK's general education plan", Tuesday). The chair of the Faculty Senate's Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee, Ann Weekes, claims these new requirements will make it easier for students to change colleges. While she may be correct, this means all students entering in fall 1998 will take the same classes for the first two years of their undergraduate career. Doesn't this new plan sound like an extension of high school? In fact, let's ask the Faculty Senate to change the name of this institution from the University of Arizona to the Extended High School of Arizona. The purpose of high school is for students to gain a broad education. The purpose of college is for students to learn a specific discipline. How can students specialize when they are forced to take so many classes that have absolutely nothing to do with their major? The combination of these new requirements and the Board of Regents cracking down on the number of units per degree program will result in students taking less upper division classes in their area of study. Consequently, students under this new plan will have less understanding of the topics in their major when they graduate, but, they would have been able to change to that major easily.

By Niraj Shah (letter)
Arizona Daily Wildcat
March 6, 1997