A new core curriculum reducing some liberal arts requirements was approved by the University of Alabama faculty on Wednesday.
The new core is planned to launch in Fall 2025. The current core curriculum has been in place since 1997.
The UA General Education Taskforce (GET) began reviewing UA's core curriculum requirements in 2018 and concluded the university should reduce the number of required core credit hours.
According to a news release, eligible faculty were asked to participate in a secure and anonymous online vote. Of 1,570 eligible, 1,042 faculty voted in the referendum, with 60% of faculty voting in favor of the proposed general education core curriculum.
"The faculty's approval of the new general education core signals the beginning of a transformation in undergraduate education at UA," said Dr. Jim Dalton, UA executive vice president and provost, said in a statement. "I am confident that our faculty will continue to innovate inside and outside the classroom to provide a rich learning environment and that the changes will allow our students to be more flexible in shaping their learning experiences while staying on track to graduate in four years."
According to the University of Alabama, the curriculum change will allow students to take more classes in their majors, minors or pursue a double major.
The proposed core curriculum would maintain the number of credit hours required for written composition but reduce the requirement for intensive writing to three credit hours for some and eliminate the requirement for others.
Students would only have to take a foreign language if they did not take a foreign language in high school.
The proposed curriculum also reduces requirements for credit hours in humanities, literature and fine arts courses and history and social and behavioral sciences courses from 12 to 9 credit hours to graduate.
It would also require students to earn two credit hours in "UA first-year experience," which they can earn by taking two one-hour courses in their first year of school.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email caleb.taylor@1819News.com.
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