2—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Nov. 6., 1985
limination of-RDRs:shoOld - : : OtoVidoe,..trpno: - ..410,10A, - ... , :', f .
.'.\:
By COLLEEN BARRY
Collegian Staff Writer +
Eliminating the baccalaureate degree re- Fall Semester 1988 and, replaced by courses Students are offered no choice.
quirements in favor of courses supporting the recommended by each department and ap- "This destroys the idea of general educe=
concept of general education is only the first proved by the curricular affairs committee, tion," 'Covert said.
step in strengthening what many view as'an said Jerry Covert, committee chairman. Students looking for guidance in choosing
inadequate undergraduate curriculum. Before courses are approved, they must be courses might find they will be encouraged to
The process of replacing BDRs criticized consistent with.th,e senate definition of gener- take courses that they know have some
for not supplying students with a framework al education, which calls for courses that will thematic or sequential link. A formal linkage
to place their.knowledge began last spring "aid students in developing intellectual cu- process failed in the senate last spring.
when the Faculty . Senate adopted objectives riosity, strengthen the ability to think and a The BDR system has been called a ' smor
and a definition of general education. Imple- deeper sense of aesthetic appreciation." gasbord" of course offerings from which
menting courses and adopting course criteria The actual selection will be based on a students may not be making connections.
is now the job of the senate committee on more concrete criteria for evaluating general Covert said this arose because the process
curricular affairs. education courses, based on the criteria used of accepting BDRs ,is continual —at any time
"The senate is trying •to make a graduating' for BDRs. It will, however, be updated so that a new course may be proposed and added to
student a more liberally educated adult," it more closely corresponds to the objectives the list. In some ways the open proposal was
said senate Executive Secretary George Bu- of general education, Covert said. positive, because it provided flexibility. How
gyi. - For example, while no 400-level course may ever, "it created an advising nightmare,"
Jay Clark, president of the Undergraduate be used as a BDR, the general education because no• one was ever certain what
Student Government's Academic Assembly, criteria may allow this. courses were on the list and which were not.
said "general education should get students In addition, according to the BDR . criteria, To more closely control the general educe
to relate things that are not related and teach some departments specify which courses , tion list, course proposals for 1988-89 will be
them how to think, to be able to make a point meet the BDR requirement for a particular closed in January of 1987 and approved by the
BDR . debate' . - ,KO$ - -.. 'Boonri,ed..:threetloo.6o.o
By ALAN J. CRAVER
Collegian Staff Writer
expanded to give students more of a
choice. Today, the senate is again
General education at the Universi- forming a more definitive list of
ty has once again moved into the courses. •
spotlight as administrators and Fac- In 1954, the senate, then called the
ulty Senate members examine the University Senate, studied changes
standard academic requirements for that could be made *in the standard
undergraduates. requirements students must corn-
The . senate is developing criteria plete to graduate. The study, known
for general education requirementi as the Callenbach Report, became
in preparation for the elimination of the basis of the University's require
the bachelor degree requirements. ments until the early 19705.
Its .objective is to give students a The Callenbach Report was formed
more common educational back- on the premise thal the University,
ground by providing more definitive then very research oriented,. must
courses to fulfill requirements. prepare students to adapt to the
Administrators and senate mem- changes and the needs of society. It
hers' have debated the issues sur- stressed that students need a broad
rounding standard academic range of studies to emphasize socie
requirements since the early 19505. ty's structure through science, litera-
The arguments have wavered be- ture and fine arts. ,
tween implementing more flexible or The report called for testing fresh
more definitive requirements. men and transfer students inreading,
. . . the University must prepare students to adapt
to the changes and the needs of society... .
—The University's theory of academic requirements in the
1950 s
The debate has made it difficult to writing, elementary computation, lit
form recommendations changing the erature and fine art.
requirements because many diverse Students were also required to pass
viewpoints influence the University's a test in several areas of general
decisions.. education, such as social and physi-
Since the early 19505, the senate has cal science and personal and commu
completed fbur reports to provide nity health.
students with standard academic re- Students would not necessarily
quirements to meet the needs of so- have to take a fine arts course if they
ciety, according to George Bugyi, the gained knowledge of fine arts by
senate's executive secretary. another means such as independent
Bugyi said the reports shared the studies, but they would still be tested
same philosophy by creating require-, under the Callenbach Report.
ments for communication skills, Students had to pass a comprehen
mathematics, arts and humanities sive examination in their sixth se
and health and physical education. mester to determine their listening
The attitudes of those four reports and speaking skills. They also were
have come full circle, Bugyi said. In required to take a comprehensive test
the '1950s and 19605, the number of on elementary mathematics and
available courses to fill standard quantitative thinking in their third
-academic requirements was small. semester. Students would have to
Other schools' requirements found
By ALAN J.CRAVER
Collegi;an Staff Writer
The University's current baccalaureate degree
requirement program, now under study for revi
sion by the administration and Faculty Senate, is
similar to the standard requirements of similar
universities nationwide, according to a survey
conducted by the University's vice provost.
Carol Cartwright, dean of undergraduate pro
grams, conducted a survey of large public re
search institutions such as Penn State last Fall
Semester.
The survey was conducted to assist the Faculty
Senate in determining how Penn State's baccalau
reate degree requirement program compared to
other universities.
"Generally speaking, on paper, Penn State
stacks up pretty well," Cartwright said.
Only a few universities, such as the University of
North Carolina, require more than the Universi
ty's 46-credit BDR program, Cartwright said.
Most universities require about the same amount
or less than that.
Although the University's program is similar to
other universities, Cartwright said it is difficult to
determine how effective the programs are in
operation because the survey did not study the
programs' degree of success.
However,• the survey showed that Penn State
does not have requirements that some universities
already offer, such as linkage, intensive writing
courses and a separate college all students enter
before admission to a major.
According to the survey, the University of Texas
and the University of Washington both require
and argue for it." ,
Because of the failure of BDRs to do many
of these things, the list will be eliminated by
In the 19705, the list of courses was
students to complete credits in courses with a
substantial writing component. A writing compo
nent is included in Penn State's move toward
general education.
Washington also requires students •to take at
least 18 credits in natural sciences, social sciences
and humanities courses that are linked. Linkage
requires students to take courses, such as history,
in a specified order so students learn several
points of view on a similar topic.
Steven Olswang, vice provost at. Washington,
said, "Rather than receiving fragmented informa
tion from a smorgasbord of options, students can
get an overview of a variety of perspectives on the
same topic."
Penn State's Faculty Senate in April voted down
a measure that would have introduced linkage to
courses at the University.
Olswang said the intensive writing• courses allow
students to take either five credits in English
composition courses or two courses that interest
them and meet the writing requirement. •
For example, a history major could take two
history courses with intensive writing rather than
English composition, Olswang said.
The administration at Washington started its
general education program in 1984 to bring a
semblance of order to its requirements and to
provide students with common knowledge, Ols
wang said.
Before the program was implemented, Olswang
said, faculty members and administors were dis
satisfied that students did not gain an early expo
sure to more integrated ideas.
Cynthia De:men, assistant to the associate dean
for general education at the University of North
major. In the microbiology major, to fulfill
the BDR requirement for quantification a
student must take Math 140. and Math 141.
take a remedial course if the test
showed it necessary.
In the early 19705, the senate
formed the Cunningham Committee
to review and update - the require
ments.
The new committee decided that
the Callenbach Report was ineffec
tive because it had not been carried
out as . planned.
The committee said BDRs needed
to be more flexible than the Callen
bach Report requirements. In con
trast with its predecessor, the
Cunningham committee adopted the
view that general education is not
feasible for all students and that the
University should not attempt to pro
duce the "the well-rounded citizen"
in four years of diverse educational
exposure.
Bugyi said the Cunningham Report
allowed students more freedom in
meeting standard academic require
menti by expanding the number of
courses available.
At the same time, Bugyi said, the viewed again in 1977.
Cunningham Report became more They were revised then as the BDR
specific in defining its seven objet- 111 study, which set the requirements
tives of personal and social devel- . now in effect for University students.
opments. This most recent report found that
Students should learn to commu- the flexibility of baccalaureate re
nicate better with others, learn better quirements needs to be preserved
physical and recreational activities 'and that specialization should be
and learn 'the importance of a well- 4voided. •
balanced diet and detecting sickness, The report said requirements
according to the objectives under should provide students with useful
personal development. skills for the future, enable students
The social objectives said students to develop an understanding of them
•should learn about civilization, cul- selves, others and the environment,
ture and' society through courses in and help students devolop a capacity
the general sciences, humanities and to integrate learning with past and
arts, psychology, sociology and an- present experiences.
thropology. To meet these goals, the report
The Cunningham Report concluded recommended that students be re
that• the ^ University should outline quired to take nine credits in commu
certain general requirements for a' nications, six credits quantifications
baccalaureate degree. Those require- and four credits in health and physi
ments should be in diversified areas cal education. Students would also be
and courses should be chosen by the required to complete - 27 credits in
colleges and departments. "distribution or breadth courses,"
The Cunningham Report recom- including nine credits in natural sci
mendations were expected to gO in ences and six credits each in arts,
effect by the 1972-73 academic year. humanities, and social and behav-
Instead, an Ad Hoc Committee on ioral sciences.
BDR -II was formed •to revise the
Cunningham Report because it was
too vague.
The BDR II committee used the
revised report as a basis for a new
plan, recommending that baccalau
reate requirements should be more
rigorous, consistent and specific than
the requirements under. the Callen
bach Report. •
The BDR II committee concluded
that general education should extend
students' horizons and complement
their specialization in a professional
or academic discipline.
The BDR II recommended a total
43 credits in communications, quanti
, fications, natural science, technologi
cal concepts, arts and humanities,
• social and behavioral science and
health science and physical education
to complete the baccalaureate re
'quirements.
The BDR II recommendations,
which the senate passed in 1973, said
the BDR requirements should be re-
similar to BDRs
Carolina, said that university's general education
program is divided into two components -- basic
skills and perspectives. •
Basic skills require students to complete courses
in English, mathematics and three semesters of a
foreign language. Perspectives require students to
take courses in the natural sciences, philosophy,
social sciences, culture and fine arts.
"I think that the students wonder why they have
to take all these courses like a foreign , language
when they want to concentrate on their. major,"
Dessen said. "But we feel they will be glad they
took these courses to benefit them in the long run."
UNC's administration instituted its general edu
cation program because it believed students
needed more educational direction and structure,
Dessen said. •
James Hamilton, assistant provost for under
graduate education at Michigan State. University,
said the university requires students • to complete
45 credits in its general education program.
• Hamilton said MSU requires• students to com
plete 9 to 16 credits in each category of arts and
humanities; biological, physical and mathemati
cal science, and social and behavioral science.
Michigan State also requires students to complete
nine credits in written and, oral communication.
All students enter the university undergraduate
division upon admission to the. University, Hamil
ton said. Students must coinplete 85 credits before
being admitted to their major.
Other universities surveyed include the Univer
sity of Texas, the University of Michigan, the
University of Minnesota, . Ohio State University
and the University of Illinois.
following May. Covert said that should make
departments consider more closely the
courses they include on the list.
, However, to avoid being locked into inap
propriate or ineffective class offerings, the
committee will reopen course proposals in
August 1989 after the courses are in place
for one year. In addition, the prograni will be
reviewed each August by the curricular af
fairs committee, Covert said.
While University President Bryce Jordan
has said the national trend of general educa
tion is toward fewer choices, Covert could not
say if the course, list will be shortened.
Depending on how many pr9posals the com
mittee receives, the list might be lengthened.
The thrust by the senate for a new general
education program especially considering
recent criticism that the administration is
favoring the University's research mission
allows some to be optimistic about the future
of undergraduate education.
"It is an invitation for faculty who say
instruction is equal value to research to take
action," said Anne Herrington, assistant pro-
Writing-intensive cowses
part . .of geherai..e:••••.- Om . -..
By COLLEEN BARRY
Collegian Staff Writer
While the future of general educa
tion is still in the planning stage,
concrete plans for the addition of
writing-intensive courses to the un
dergraduate curriculum are being
made.
Last spring, the Faculty Senate
recognized that courses other than
English should emphasize the ability
to write and passed a recommenda
tion specifying that writing across the
curriculum should be included in a
general education program.
The assumption behind the propo
sal is that writing is a more effective
way of 'learning because it forces
students to put information in their
own terms, according to Anne Her
rington, chairwoman of the Writing
Across the Curriculum subcommittee
and associate professor of English.
In addition, she said, "There is an
awareness that students are not writ
ing very much in other classes."
"I believe that one of the most
important things a student can take
away with them is the ability to
write," said Arthur Goldschmidt, fac
ulty senator and assistant professor
of history.
Instruction would be a key element
implementing writing across the cur
riculum.
"We have to avoid a situation
where students are asked to write a
lot without intruction and guidance,"
Herrington said.
This differs from classes that re
quire a term paper as part of the
course work, because there would be
interaction and feedback throughout
the semester.
The first step of the committee
work defining the aim of the pro
gram and how it would fit into gener
al education is almost complete;
Herrington said.
One option would require under
graduates to take from one to three
writing-intensive courses on any lev
el. Or students could be required to
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fessor of English.
Bugyi said general education will enhance
the missions of the University, which are
undergraduate instruction, research and
service.
However, Covert said that in some in
stances, genefal education is hard to sell.
"Some administrators do not see the rele
vance of general education for anyone, be
cause it is not quantifiable. You can give a
test to see how much a ,student retained of
Shakespeqre;s sonnets, but you cannot assess
the personal fulfillment," he said.
Ideally, a general education curriclum
would offer courses that are relevant to both
a math major and a natural science major.
However, some administrators disagree, Co
vert said. •
In addition, the committee is looking into
revising the general education requirements
filr associate degree students. StudentS now
choose from courses borrowed from the the
•BDA list that have not been evaluated for the
associate degree programs.
take a designated number of writing
intensive courses as 'alternatives to ,
the 200-level English courses.
The committee -is now developing
criteria for writing-intensive courses.
"If the University adopts some
concept of writing across the curric
ulum, the committee. feels it is very
important that every department be
comes involved," Herrington said.
She added that she would like to see
writing required on all levels so stu
dents learn to integrate courses. De
pending on the instructors, some
classes ,may be writing intensive in
some sections and not in others.
While committee members consid
er the feasiblity of a University-wide
writing requirement, some faculty
Members have already begun imple
menting writing skills into their tea
ching 'on a voluntary basis.
Courses in which• writing is being
used range from Chemistry 12 to
Political SCience 417 to Mineral Engi
neering 451, Herrington said.
John Lowe, associate professor of
chemistry, • has integrated writing
into his Honors Chemistry 12 course.
He said writing is a powerful learning
device if there is editing andfeedback
during the writing process.
"If the payoff educationally is sig
nificant enough
,to make it worth
while," he said, he would, probably
continue to emphasize writing in his
honors class.
observations of how well writing
works in these courses confirms what
was suspected about using writing in
courses other than English: Writing
must be clearly integrated with no
digtinctions between content and the
quality of writing, Herrington said.
Training instructors for writing-in
tensive courses is very important,
said Goldschmidt, whose History 471
is writing-intensive.
Herrington pointed out that "most
of the faculty involved (at this point)
care about teaching and want to be
involved. The challenge now to
develop a sound general education
program.".
.~
w~
campus briefs
Jordan to speak in
North Halls
University President Bryce Jordan
will address North Halls residents at
7:30 tonight in the Warnock Lounge
as the final part of a series called
"Communication BreakdoWn" spon
sored by the Renaissance Interest
House.
Jordan will speak about University
issues and how they relate to commu
nication with students, said Eric
James, interest house pregident.
Hellenic Society
sponsors lecture
The Hellenic Society will sponsor a
lecture on "Cyprus and Greek-Ameri
can Relations" by 'a British journalist
at 7:30 tonight in 301 HUB.
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Christopher Hitchens will discuss.
American relations with Cyprus, an
East Mediterranean island under
Turkish rule since 1974. .
About 40,000 Turkish troops remain
in northern Cyprus, said society Pres
ident Andreas Theophanous.
Theophanous said University stu
dents should be informed about the
existing minority rule in Cyprus and
the United States' position.
The Greek 'Cypriots, who make up
82 percent of the 840,000 -people on the
island, are ruled by Turkish Cypriots,
who account for 18 - percent of the
population, he said.
The United States is neutral at this
time because Turkey is a NATO ally,
The'ophanous said. ,
' "Cypriots are refugees in their own
country," Theophanous said.
The Hellenic Society is made up of
60 students who are from Greece and
Cyprus or are Greek-Americans.
—by Vicki Potties
New editor will be
named tonight
Candidates for editor of The Daily
Collegian for 1986 will
,be interviewed
at 7 tonight in 101 Carnegie.
The 12-member Collegian, Inc.
Board of Directors will interview
each candidate and will announce the
new editor after private deliberation,
Collegian General Manager Gerry
Hamilton said.
The six candidates are Nan Crystal
Arens, Kimberly Bower, Richard
Douma Jr., Anita Huslin, Jeanette
Krebs and Megan O'Matz. All are
staff members.
The new editor will assume duties
Dec. 10 after the Fall Semester final
press run.
Slaciairie ctatis-
Lost Lotti,rtikts...
RPIN
ikllo
The board Will interview business
manager candidates for the Collegian
at 7 tomorrow night in 101 Carnegie.
The new business manager will he
announced immediately following
that meeting. •
Business manager candiates are
Roland Deal Jr., Kathleen Heilman,
William Landis Jr. and Susan Sham-
Han.
—by W.T. Holland
Rosenblatt to tour
residence halls
Undergraduate Student Govern
ment President David Rosenblatt will
talk to all residence hall area gorern
ment officers and constituents be
tween 6 and 9 Thursday night.
Rosenblatt said the stops will give
students an opportunity to voice con
cerns about various, issues and allow
DAILY SPECIALS!!
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him to speak on topics that have not
been given as much attention, such as
the 14-week calendar and the teach
ing Fellow award, an alumni/student
award to recognize teaching excel
lence. •
Judge may reconsider
Comitz sentence
A Centre County judge who sen
tenced Sharon Kay Comitz to eight to
20 years imprisonment with psychiat
ric treatment for the murder of her
infant son will decide today if he will
reconsider the sentence.
Centre County. President Judge
Charles C. Brown Jr. said the attor
neys for Comitz, 28, of Osceola Mills
filed an appeal Monday to reconsider'
the Oct. 25 sentencing and review a
psychiatric report from Dr. Joseph
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The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Nov. 6, 1985-3
Silverman of Altoona, which Brown
did not have at the time of the sen
tencing.
Comitz pleaded guilty in June to the
third-degree murder of her one
month-old ,son Garrett, whose body
was found Jan. 4 in a mountain
stream near Philipsburg. Comitz told
police a day earlier the baby was
kidnapped from her car parked out
side a department store in Decatur
Township:
Attorney Richard H. Milgrub of
Dußois, representing Comitz, said he
and attorney Earl D. Lees Jr. of
Clearfield will ask that Comitz re
ceive a lesser sentence.
—by W.T. Holland
The sentencing may be appealed to
the state superior court if Brown
denies the request, Milgrub said.
Comitz is being held at the Clearfield
County Prison.
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