The decision to remove Goal 12 from the General Education program was approved in Spring 2010. Students coming into Longwood this year have 14 goals to complete instead of the previous 15. Part of the proposal for changing the goal included a period between the approval of change and implementation of change to make sure all departments on campus were prepared for the adjustment.
Chair of the General Education Committee and Professor of French Dr. McRae Amoss said part of the rationale behind removing the goal was because various departments on campus were able to specify the course that students in a program would need to take. Amoss said, "That made that goal a little different anyway."
He noted some departments would require a specific course a student needed to take to satisfy the goal requirement took away from the true essence of what the General Education program was intended to reinforce—the freedom for students to select a course of their choosing when applicable. However, this was only with some departments. "For students whose major didn't specify a course, they were free to choose."
Verbatim, the definition of Goal 12 was, "The development, through upper-level study in the humanities or the social sciences, of specialized knowledge and skills relevant to the student's broad course of study."
Amoss said the goal was treated by some departments as an "adjunct" and students were not given an opportunity to survey other courses from the goal unless they were taken as electives. Further, he said the goal was very broad and difficult to assess.
"By taking goal 12 out of the General Education program, it meant there were three extra hours that needed to be filled." Amoss said the change allows departments to decide what to do with those needed hours. Many departments elected to have the extra credits count toward general electives, needed in addition to the major requirements and general education requirements necessary for graduation.
The change was not an overnight decision. "People had asked about the purpose of the goal over the years," Amoss said. The goal had been in place since the 2001-2002 academic catalog. In 2009-2010, a review of the whole General Education program took place.
During this time, the entire General Education program was viewed from three different perspectives. The reviewers looked from the point of view of groups with ideas and different requirement specifications, from the point of view of peer institutions, and from the point of view of the program itself to ensure integrity was maintained and no overlapping was taking place.
Amoss said it was difficult to have a justification of Goal 12 once the review was complete. The change was not meant to smudge the reputation of the General Education program at the university. "The General Education program reflects what faculty think Longwood University graduates should have knowledge in or skills in," Amoss said. "That's still what we see as most important."
