Faculty Senate passes new core curriculum proposal
Sarah Chacko
Staff Reporter

Faculty Senate members passed the new core curriculum plan proposed Thursday by the Core Curriculum Committee against minor opposition.

While the proposal will still undergo scrutiny and possible modifications, the Faculty Senate accepted the proposal at its present stage and will move it forward for review by all faculty and colleges.

“You can nitpick this thing to death, but I’m delighted that the basic plan was passed,” said Chancellor Michael Ferrari, who attended the meeting to oversee the decision.

The proposed core has three main parts: Essential Competencies, Human Experiences and Endeavors and a Heritage, Mission, Vision and Values overlay.

The Core Curriculum Committee said in a report to the Faculty Senate that the Essential Competencies Curriculum emphasizes the need to provide clear communication and analysis. The Human Experiences and Endeavors Curriculum studying the arts, humanities, social sciences and natural sciences, the report stated.

Nowell Donovan, head of the Core Curriculum Committee presented the changes of the current University Core Requirements to the Faculty Senate. Required religion, history and language courses were eliminated and incorporated to an extent into the new Heritage, Mission, Vision and Values overlay, Donovan, a geology professor, said.

According to the proposed core plan, the new overlay includes three areas of tradition: religious, historical and literal. It also involves cultural awareness, global awareness and citizenship and social values.

Donovan said the overlay model allows students to couple various categories. For example, within the requirement of fine arts, a student can take a course that could also give credit for historical traditions.

Donovan said the committee tried to move away from tying certain courses to certain departments. Religion and history can be experienced outside of the department, such as the History of Science or Religion in Art, he said.

Carol Thompson, chairwoman of the sociology, criminal justice and anthropology department, said the proposed core encourages and strengthens an interdisciplinary approach.

However, Gene Smith, a history professor, expressed concern that historical traditions was too broad a range. History courses taken for credit outside the department, such as History of Film, may have value, but do not provide as much training as traditional history courses, he said.

Jeffrey Todd, a German and French professor, said the lack of a language requirement shows TCU’s degree of commitment to language.

“Global awareness is central to TCU’s mission,” Todd said. “It’s ironic that they directly and vehemently disregard a language requirement.”

William Koehler, provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs, said while he supports the design, there are still details to work out.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for learning in a different context, especially in missions and values,” Koehler said

s.e.chacko@tcu.edu