Several of UNC's academic curriculum guidelines may see changes

Some tweaking of the academic curriculum could make planning course schedules a little less hectic for UNC students.

The administrative boards of the General College and College of Arts and Sciences met Oct. 13 to discuss revisions to the curriculum.

The revisions, if ultimately approved, would affect requirements for Supplemental Education, foreign language and General Education requirements, as well as the number of lifetime fitness courses a student can take.

All revisions passed through the board, but that’s only the first step of the process.

“This was an open and transparent process,” said Bobbi Owen, senior associate dean for undergraduate education, in an e-mail. “All of the draft reports and materials were shared in advance which made the outcome less surprising.”

Supplemental Education

The largest revision involves the Supplemental Education requirement. Under the suggested change, only students pursuing solely a B.A. degree, or a B.S. degree in psychology, would have to fill the requirement.

The requirement was implemented in 2006 with the goal of helping students see connections between their major and other fields, said Erika Lindemann, associate dean for undergraduate curricula. But now it is evident that many students already do.

“More students now than when this was implemented in 2006 are seeking double majors, or are picking up a minor and certainly are taking more coursework that is interdisciplinary,” she said.

Joshua Ford, an undergraduate student representative on the board, said that, if implemented, this change would be good for students.

“I think it’s going to be hard to find a student who isn’t happy with the revision of the Supplemental Education requirement,” he said.

But it’s not a guarantee yet, Lindemann said.

“Seniors should not say, ‘This is going to go away and I shouldn’t bother with it,’” she said. “That is bad advice.”

She estimated that, if approved, the change would affect about 600 students.

Foreign languages

Under the proposal, placing into at least the fourth level of a language would satisfy the three-semester requirement. Currently, even students who place into the fourth level have to take the class to satisfy the foreign language requirement.

The board also suggested doing away with an intensive foreign language requirement, which Lindemann said hasn’t been implemented previously because of a lack of funding.

General Education

UNC currently offers some courses that fill as many as four General Education requirements.

Lindemann said that all current and future courses would eventually fulfill a maximum of two.

She said the criteria that constitutes a General Education requirement are often no longer there.

Lifetime fitness courses

Another change would limit students to one Lifetime Fitness course, instead of two, since the instruction modules for each class are identical.

The next step

Karen Gil, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, will review then pass along the revisions to the Educational Policy Committee, which will then send them to the Faculty Council, Lindemann said.

Approval from the council is the last step, and the recommendations it approves will be implemented.

Owen said that the earliest the approved recommendations would be implemented is the fall of 2011.

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.