<p>Inside Higher ed article focuses on the University of Texas at Austin and the initiative to create and implement a new approach to the freshman and sophomore academic experience. The Faculty Council, made up of faculty members from each college, "set in motion what would be the first substantial undergraduate curriculum change in a quarter century through the adoption of a core body of knowledge deemed to be essential to a well-balanced education." The proposed changes wouldn’t go into effect until at least 2010.</p>
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A task force headed by William Powers, the university’s current president, released a report last October recommending that Texas work to bring coherence to general education. Fast forward to Monday, when a faculty group overwhelmingly voted in favor of a plan approved by an education policy committee that is designed to bring commonality to the first- and second-year curriculum...</p>
<p>The amended motion, which requires a few additional steps before taking effect, would require students to take two interdisciplinary “signature courses” — called such because they are “intended to add a unique signature to an undergraduate’s first and second year at Texas,” said Linda Golden, chair of the Faculty Council. A freshman course would focus on a contemporary issue; a sophomore course would be narrower in scope. An example included in the proposal: “Making Sense of Life,” which would combine religious and philosophical approaches to ethics with government studies and English.</p>
<p>A second component of the plan calls for a requirement that students take a series of courses in writing, quantitative reasoning, global cultures, cultural diversity, ethics and leadership, and independent inquiry. Students would also be encouraged, but not required, to follow thematic strands that are intended to give them an area of expertise within the undergraduate core. (A provision in the plan for an additional science and technology requirement was removed and sent back for review because some deemed it confusing.)</p>
<p>Golden, who is a professor of marketing administration, said the proposed new courses are intentionally broadly defined so that the university’s dean of undergraduate studies can work with individual colleges to make the requirements compatible with current major requirements. “We’ve given a skeleton, and with the approval, we’re opening the doors for colleges to provide the flesh,” Golden said.</p>
<p>The education policy committee said because students are already short on time, it does not want additional credit hours added as a result of the proposed changes. Ben G. Streetman, dean of the College of Engineering, said the new requirements might mean restrictions on what electives colleges can offer.
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