New committee sets schedule for core to be revised
Members of the seventh committee meant to revise the core curriculum are urged to submit a proposal by the end of the semester.
Amy Johnson
Staff Reporter

The 11 newly elected members of a committee to revise the core curriculum will try to submit a proposal by Nov. 20, the chairwoman of the Faculty Senate said Thursday.

The members were charged with working with all departments and faculty in open forums at the semester’s first Faculty Senate meeting Thursday.

“The proposal will essentially be written by the end of the semester,” said Peggy Watson, Faculty Senate chairwoman.

The core curriculum committee will be the seventh body in two years other than the Senate to work on a revision of the core curriculum.

Most colleges are represented on the committee by one member, Watson said. Add Ran College of Humanities and Social Sciences, M. J. Neeley School of Business and the College of Science and Engineering have the greatest number of students, and therefore, are each represented by two members on the committee, she said.

Sally Fortenberry, chairwoman of the design, merchandising and textiles department, said representation is well distributed even though her department is not represented by a committee member. The body is made up in this manner to make it more manageable, Fortenberry said.

“You can’t have someone from every department on the committee,” she said. “It’s appropriate, not necessarily fair.”

The proposed document will then return to the Faculty Senate by the December meeting where the members will take as long as needed to debate it, Watson said. By next fall, courses should begin to be proposed by departments, and by fall 2004, the courses should be in place for incoming freshmen, Watson said.

Chancellor Michael Ferrari said a consensus can be reached in relatively short order.

“I’m hoping we can get some degree of closure on this matter by the end of the semester — certainly by the end of the year,” he said.

Watson said that committee members should have a past history with the core, by either working within the senate or on an earlier committee.

“Members should have an ability to see past one’s own discipline, to analyze the undergraduate experience as a whole,” she said.

In other business, Nadia Lahutsky, was elected unopposed to the position of Faculty Senate chairwoman-elect.