In November, the Skidmore News reported on the current state of the general education requirements that are currently under review. The Committee for Educational Policies and Planning (CEPP) is in the process of reviewing the requirements, and since November there have been some changes to the proposed new requirements.
The committee is “currently in the feedback stage after presenting a revised model incorporating earlier feedback,” said professor and spring semester chair of CEPP, Kelly Sheppard.
The four main sections for required course distribution have stayed the same since November. The current sections and general education course curriculum proposal are as follows:
Integrated Experiences
The First Year Experience with Wicked Problems (1 course)
The Bridge Experience: Power and Justice (1 course)
Senior Experience: Think Tanks (1 course)
Foundational
Foundational Quantitative Reasoning (0-2 courses)
Foundational Writing (0-2 courses)
Modes of Inquiry
Applied Quantitative Reasoning (1 course), Foundational QR prerequisite
Artistic Inquiry through Practice (1 course)
Close Reading and Writing (1 course), Foundational Writing prerequisite
Cultural Inquiry through Language (1 course)
Scientific Inquiry through Practice (1 course)
In the major
Information Literacy
Oral communication
Technology Literacy
Visual literacy
Writing in the major
Though the four categories have stayed the same, what has changed are some of the requirements for specific courses within each category. For example, “The Bridge Experience has been further developed with a lab practicum in the humanities/social sciences tied to Power & Justice” said Sheppard. Two other changes that have been added since November include the addition of a hands-on approach for the artistic inquiry course and the practical component of the scientific inquiry course. The Close Reading and Writing course has also been updated.
In November, when the Skidmore News reported of the requirements, a point of discussion was the Senior Think Tank. This has since been changed to the Senior Experience and “has also evolved to really get at the integrative experience we want all students to have during their final year at the College to cap their liberal education,” said Sheppard.
The changes and proposed courses mentioned above are not yet final and will continue to be revised. For them to become official, the faculty needs to vote on the changes to the all-college curriculum. This vote would take place at a faculty meeting. “Before a vote, CEPP would need to have a finalized curricular model to present. As CEPP is still revising the proposal, the earliest it would be voted on is later this semester or early in the fall semester,” said Sheppard.
Once the new curriculum is approved, it will not go into effect instantly as it will take time to implement. New courses will need to be developed and approved. “We are expecting that once voted on, it would take three years before the requirements would be in place,” Sheppard said. This means that if it were to be voted on this upcoming fall, the first class that would be under the new requirements would be the class of 2023, that would be entering Skidmore during the Fall of 2019.