Curriculum Committee Nears Goals

By Brook Corwin

Staff Writer

A steering committee composed of faculty and students plans to propose a revised UNC undergraduate curriculum this academic year.

The revisions, which are part of a curriculum review process that began in fall 2000, will be proposed to the Faculty Council and could be implemented as early as fall 2003.

"It is my intention to propose the revised curriculum to the Faculty Council by 2002," said Laurie McNeil, a physics professor and chairwoman of the steering committee. "Whether or not they will accept it remains to be seen."

To complete that proposal, McNeil said she will break the steering committee into several subcommittees early next month. The subcommittees will focus on integrating specific academic goals into the curriculum.

Identifying the curriculum's mission occupied the bulk of the committee's work during the past year, said Don Garrett, a philosophy professor and member of the steering committee. "The general procedure (last year) was to establish goals for the curriculum, and now we're looking at how to address those goals."

The revised curriculum's lengthy list of objectives is broken down into three categories: foundations, approaches and connections. Members of the committee said most of the changes in the curriculum are found in the connections section, which incorporates interdisciplinary study, student internships and community service into the curriculum.

Garrett said by incorporating more varied educational experiences into the curriculum, the committee could avoid making additions to the list of perspective courses that are required for graduation.

"I don't think the committee wants there to be a greater amount of class hours devoted to fulfilling General College requirements than has already been the case," he said. "They want to have more courses that are interrelated."

Tom Tweed, associate dean of the undergraduate curriculum, said the committee also is looking at revising the requirements for arts and sciences perspectives, which are fulfilled after General College requirements are completed.

"We're rethinking the names and numbers of the perspective requirements," he said. "Not every one of the curriculum's goals has to have a requirement, but the question is how they can be incorporated through other means."

But Garrett said there has not been any discussion about making specific changes to the curriculum's requirements because the subcommittees have not yet been formed. "That's at a level we haven't gotten to," he said. "I'm surprised we haven't talked about it yet."

McNeil said students could become involved in the revision process by filling a number of empty positions on the subcommittees. There are only two undergraduate students on the current steering committee.

She also said the committee might conduct open forums during the year for students to give input on specific changes. "It all depends on whether the subcommittees get their work done," she said.

Tweed added that with all revisions to the curriculum slated to be proposed by the end of the year, the next several months will strongly influence the course of study for future UNC students. "We're moving into the most exciting phase of the three-year process."

The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu.