Faculty Sen. may adjust current core curriculum proposal

By Trigie Ealey
Arizona Daily Wildcat
December 3, 1996

Katherine K. Gardiner
 Arizona Daily Wildcat

Ann Weekes, director of the UA humanities program and chair of the instruction and curriculum policy committee, speaks about proposed changes in the general education requirements for undergraduate students at yesterday's Faculty Senate meeting.

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After years of work, the UA Faculty Senate came close to deciding yesterday to start over from scratch with the current core curriculum proposal.

The proposal states that students complete six courses in the first tier of general education by the mid-point of their program and four courses in the second tier by the end of their program.

Sen. Michael Schiffer, anthropology professor, proposed all faculty choose between the latest proposal and the current system. He withdrew the proposal until the next meeting, so the proposal will have more faculty input.

Sen. Donald Davis, hydrology and water resources professor, said at a time when other aspects of governance are being decentralized, this is an area where central control is being tightened.

Sen. Robert Feltham, professor emeritus of chemistry, said economic issues also need to be considered.

"By the end of the fiscal year, $10 million will be spent on AIC," he said.

Sen. Larry Schooley, electrical and computer engineering professor, said some general education requirements are not needed by some degrees, such as the foreign language requirement for engineering where English is most commonly used. He said engineers should be learning Hypertext Markup Language (a computer language for the Internet) writing instead of a second language.

"There should be a limited smorgasbord available," Schooley said. "Individual units could choose among it."

After an hour of discussion, the proposal was sent back to the senate's Instruction and Curriculum Policy Committee for adjustments. It will be presented at the Jan. 27 Senate meeting.

Weekes said fewer than 20 percent of students will graduate from the college they initially enroll in. She said that fact illustrates the need for a university-wide core curriculum.

In other action, the Faculty Senate:

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