Students give input on core revisions
By Amy Johnson
Staff Reporter

The leadership and citizenship requirement was the main talking point at the student forum on the core curriculum proposal Tuesday, but most core committee members say they are still unsure how to incorporate it into the classroom.

“We’re still kind of where we were before,” said Shannon Shipp, a geology professor and core committee member. “The issue needs more exploration.”

Although two e-mails were sent to students in as many weeks, only six attended the open meeting to catch a preview of the core recommendations.

Still, the requirement caught the eye of those students attending.

“The mission, vision and values component has my attention,” said Brad Thompson, a junior radio-TV-film major and president-elect of the Student Government Association. “I don’t understand it, but I like it.”

Nowell Donovan, geology professor and core committee member, said this addition to the core has caused the greatest amount of debate because leadership and citizenship are difficult to apply in the classroom. He asked for feedback from students.

Shipp said the core is generally thought of as academics only and that it will be difficult to incorporate leadership into classrooms in all departments.

“A lot of our discussion involves the question ‘What is the academic component of leadership?’” he said.

Raquel Torres, a senior e-business major, said leadership skills are valuable for all majors.

“Leadership teaches you the skills that help you manage academics,” she said. “The fact that academics and leadership is still separate is discouraging, especially for student leaders.”

Thompson said he’s learned valuable leadership skills outside of the classroom through involvement in student organizations.

“I’m a strong believer that you can’t learn leadership in the classroom,” he said. “It teaches you the skills you need to survive in the real world once (you) get out (of college).”

Torres said practical application, such as a real world project within a student’s major, is the best way to teach these skills.

“You can’t learn leadership by listening to lectures,” she said. “It’s not what you teach, it’s what you make students do.”

Ben Mason, a senior economics major, said leadership should be taught inside the classroom, but all departments might not be able to teach it in a hands-on manner.

“Leadership skills should be learned in class because they couldn’t be managed if left solely up to students,” he said. “I don’t think every student can have practical application of leadership. I don’t think something like that could be applied to every major.”

Shipp said practical application and involvement in organizations are not the only ways for students to learn how to be leaders.

Thompson said the requirement fulfills the mission statement of the university and will improve TCU.

“The mission, vision and values component is a big step toward streamlining civic engagement in the TCU community,” he said. “If more students become involved and get connected to the university it would help with retention rates.”

Amy Johnson