The General Studies program could be experiencing some new course changes in the near future.

Although the proposed changes to the entire General Studies program was voted down Oct. 28, 2011, all faculty and staff will vote on suggested improvements to the first-year core on Tuesday, May 8.

Jeffrey Coker, director of the General Studies Program, said he believes change is good to maintain the high-quality program.

[box]Timeline of General Studies Proposal

2010 - Elon faculty members vote in favor of the New General Studies Mission Statement and Goals

August 2011 - General Studies curriculum is reevaluated

October 28, 2011 – Proposed changes to the General Studies curriculum voted down

November 11, 2011 - General Studies Council meets to discuss the possibility of implementing some of the proposed changes

May 8, 2012 - Faculty and staff will vote on suggested improvements to first-year core[/box]

“We want to have the very best program that we can,” he said. “With that, we are constantly looking for ways to improve.”

Changes will include revisions to The Global Experience and College Writing courses and the elimination of Health and Wellness from the required general studies course list.

Jean Schwind, chair of the University Curriculum Committee, is among those who worked to develop the changes to the General Studies proposal.

“It’s our job to make sure the curriculum is consistent with the mission of the university,” she said.

One of the proposed revisions is the complete restructuring of the College Writing course, whose title would be renamed to “Writing: Argument and Inquiry.” The class will focus more on preparing students to develop their argumentative and research skills along with their writing, and will be open to any professor on campus to teach.

“We want this to be a core class for life to teach students how to write better at Elon and in the real world,” Coker said.

The changes suggested for the Global Experience course include more focus on the global changes in the current world and to align more closely with the stated mission and goals of the General Studies Program, which are to help students cultivate the intellectual curiosity, abilities and knowledge required for lifelong learning as global citizens.

The last major change proposed is the removal of Health and Wellness from the First-Year Core. The course will remain available for students to take, but it will be a four-hour course entitled “Perspectives in Personal and Global Health.” Students will be encouraged to take this course, but it will no longer be required for all first-year students.

“The General Studies program has been in place for 16 years now,” Schwind said. “We are always finding new ways of teaching and learning.”

If these changes are unanimously approved by faculty and staff, the new First-Year Core will be in effect for the 2013-2014 school year.

The changes being suggested are ones that were least controversial in the original proposal, according to Schwind.

The initial proposal included additional required language courses, two experiential learning requirements and different and broader elective subcategories, which would have increased the requirement from 58 hours to a total of 64 hours. The faculty approved of a revision to the mission and goals of the program in December 2010, but ultimately rejected the proposed curriculum.

The transition to implement these new changes to the First-Year Core is expected to be completed within three years.