of
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through the approval process. “We had to come up with our own review process because the core curriculum belongs to all faculty members on campus,” Huddleston said. “We knew the new core needed to meet the mission of the university, meet all assessments and stay consistent with the state core so it would be easy for students to transfer in or out of the university.” Huddleston said Schreiner’s core curriculum is shifting from a traditional specified core—everyone taking the same core classes— to an outcomes-based core. “The faculty had seven weeks to submit new plans and courses for majors,” Huddleston said. “The entire faculty saw it as an exciting opportunity to enable students to achieve their outcomes
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without burdening them with a lot of hours. It was remarkable how everyone worked together to create the new core curriculum.” The new core was approved by the board of trustees during its February meeting, and it will go into effect this fall. “Juniors and seniors won’t benefit as much from the new core curriculum as sophomores and freshmen,” Huddleston said. “But we’re excited students will have more time within their degree plans for new opportunities.” Dr. David Smith, dean of the Cailloux School of Professional Studies and professor of graphic design, said although the core curriculum will still teach problem solving, critical thinking and communication skills, it will open
up a lot of new doors to students, and he believes they will be extremely excited about that prospect. “A lot of research states students are more interested when they make the choices than when they are prescribed,” he said. “The students will be more interested and engaged in their education.” Once the core curriculum is active this fall, Huddleston said the real work will begin with evaluating the new system and making sure it accomplishes what it was designed to accomplish. “This is a big change—a big step,” she said. “We still have to assess the core curriculum because how one student gets his or her degree won’t look the same from person to person. I think students will be excited because the faculty is excited.”
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