Finish this phrase: "I don't like Core Curriculum requirements because ..."
We've all heard the complaints - it seems about any Ball State University student can find an ending to the above sentence.
"It doesn't have anything to do with my major."
"l learned all this general information in high school."
"The classes are boring."
While some of these arguments are more shameful than others, the university has still spent three years and two task forces to improve the curriculum to meet student and faculty requests. However, as with any major change at an institution this size, the seemingly endless levels of bureaucracy could keep a revised core curriculum from seeing the light of day any time in the near future.
The issue at hand now is not whether the changes will be satisfactory; it is whether or not the changes will be approved in time to be put into effect with the upcoming 2008 Course Catalog and Fall 2008 semester classes.
Although no definite changes have been released, the new University Core Curriculum will focus on building skills that will actually help in the real world. Of course, Ball State students will be well versed in their particular area of study when they complete a degree here; with the new core curriculum, students will also be well versed in general knowledge, which is extremely important to almost every job.
Some concerns have been raised about details in the proposal, but for most any new curriculum that replaces the current unsatisfactory program, things can only go up.
This is the area the university must be concerned with now.
Imagine a situation where the changes were good and the old, dated Core Curriculum was ready to be changed for the better, but failed to pass through the multiple stages of approval in time. This presents a possibility that could keep students in an outdated program for another unnecessary delay.
Now that the curriculum has been drafted, it has to pass through at least five levels of approval. It is important to make sure everything is just right in the new curriculum, but five stages of improvement seems a bit like overkill.
The pressure now falls to the faculty who sit on the numerous decision-making entities - without their willingness for cooperation and compromise, the current Core Curriculum will continue to preside in school catalogs through the deadline and change will be delayed even longer.
If the curriculum gets stuck in phase two or three - or even three or four - of the approval stages the opportunity for improvement will likely be missed.
To put things in perspective, Ball State students have been living with the current Core Curriculum for 22 years with no changes. Now, alterations have been in the works for three years; yet there are still no official changes.
Students waited long enough for the changes to even be considered in the first place. The university would do well to make sure it doesn't have to wait any longer for them to take effect this time around.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
