Faculty Senate Committee changes ESACT requisite

The latest decision to come out of the Special Committee on General Education concerns the exercise and sport activity/health education requirements.

The committee voted on a three credit flexible requirement yesterday. That means when the new general education system is implemented, students will have the choice to take either all health education courses, all ESACT courses or a combination of the two.

However the committee set the stipulation that all courses, in order to be approved by Faculty Senate, must contain three key components -- wellness, life-long learning and fitness.

"Critical thinking and practice toward contemporary health concerns is a (key criteria)," Cheryl Achterberg, professor of nutrition, said.

The three credit flexible option the committee voted on was one of four proposals: a four credit flexible option; eliminating any ESACT/health education requirement; or eliminating ESACT requirements only.

Coming to the decision of the three credit flexible option was not easy for the committee, evidenced by the long discussion before and after the decision. Jeremy Cohen, associate dean of the College of Communications and professor of communications said he and most of the committee members asked for student input before going to the general education meetings. But arriving at a decision that accommodates everyone is not easy.

"It's hard," he said. "And you can quote me on that."

--by Kerrylee Nadeau