Freshmen seminars still debated

The Special Committee on General Education (SCGE) spent five hours Tuesday night furthering their quest to fine tune general education at the University.

The goal generating most of the discussion concerned introducing students to the responsibility of student life at the University. Most committee members said first-year seminars, such as the one offered by the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, already incorporate the first four goals developed by the subcommittee.

The fifth goal is not completely addressed in existing seminars. This goal attempts to address social issues such as alcohol and drug abuse and sexual behavior -- topics some professors do not feel comfortable addressing, said John Moore, associate professor of English and comparative literature.

"If I were asked to talk on student behaviors, I'd be very ill at ease, having three children who learned to ignore me on important matters," he said. "My recommendation would be to accept your proposal with flexibility."

The SCGE has approved a mandatory first-year seminar as part of general education, but is still in the process of determining the content and amount of credits it should be worth.

"My understanding of (freshmen) seminar is it almost doesn't matter what you do in there," said Jeremy Cohen, a communications professor.

Getting to know the faculty better is as important to the students as the content of the seminar, he said.

The proposal of the first-year seminar subcommittee, headed by Bonnie MacEwan, associate librarian and Paul Clark, associate professor of labor studies and industrial relations, states credits for the seminar can vary from one to three.

The amount of credits assigned to a seminar should be based on its content, said SCGE chair Robert Pangborn.

"Tailor credit to what you expect to accomplish in the course," he said.

The SCGE also discussed writing across the curriculum, testing out of some general education courses, faculty incentives and course assessment; the SCGE did not arrive at a concrete decision concerning the subcommittees proposal.