Degree requirement changes approved

The Bloomington Faculty Council approved sweeping new general education requirements for IU students Wednesday.\nThe requirements include "common ground" courses that all students will be required to take regardless of major and "shared goals," which will be made part of current coursework.\n"Common ground" courses include three credits in English composition, three to four credits of mathematical modeling, six credits of arts and humanities, six credits of social and historical studies and five to six credits of natural and mathematical sciences. There is also a requirement that students complete the second-year level of a world language, six credits in world culture or an approved study-abroad experience, according to a press release. \n"This recognizes that over the years it can create a problem when students start off in one direction and go in another later only to find their previous coursework doesn't fit," BFC President Ted Miller said. \nIt's unclear if this will increase or decrease the general education requirements of most degrees, Miller said. In addition, departments are free to add their own requirements.\nIU President Adam Herbert, who has lobbied for such changes since he took office in 2003, applauded the new requirements in a statement Wednesday.\n"I am very proud of our faculty," Herbert said. "These new standards will serve the Bloomington campus well. The quality, depth and breadth of this general education curriculum will become a major student recruitment tool. It will foster the intellectual growth and development of our students. It also will facilitate transferability and better accommodate changes in academic majors."\nThe goal of the new requirements is to ensure students are better educated about more subjects and thus better prepared for their future careers, said IU Director of Media Relations Larry MacIntyre. \n"This relates to seeing IU graduates fully grounded in the basics and to ensure graduates are intellectually well-rounded," he said.\nThe requirements will also enhance the attractiveness of an IU degree, he said.\n"This is not based on what students want, this is based on ensuring the value of an IU degree remains high in future years," \nMacIntyre said.\nThe new general education requirements will go into effect with the incoming class of 2011, which will also be the first class subjected to stricter admissions standards, also passed recently by the board of trustees.