Changes in the common curriculum have some faculty members concerned about their jobs. While the changes will add some courses as requirements for all students, it will eliminate some as well to make room for the new ones.

“The implementation will be phased in over five years, beginning in Academic Year 2012-2013.  The only exception to this timeline is that the first-year seminars are already in place as of 2010-11. No other changes will be put in place until fall 2012,” said Lydia Voigt, senior vice provost, in an e-mail to The Maroon.

These changes are normal, for universities to make, according to Voigt.

“Like most universities, Loyola continuously reviews its curriculum to ensure that it is consistent with the emerging trends in the liberal arts and sciences and in the world outside the academy,” said Voigt.  She added that Loyola has a responsibility to periodically review the curriculum. 

Students currently enrolled in the university will not be affected by this change, according to Voigt.

“Freshmen entering Loyola in the academic year 2012-2013 will be the first group of students to be affected by these changes,” Voigt said. Current Loyola students will not be affected by the changes.

“However, once the new common curriculum is implemented, students who entered prior to 2012-2013 will have the option (with approval of their advisor) to select the new common curriculum course instead of its older version.”

In an e-mail to The Maroon, Robert Gnuse, religious studies professor, expressed his concern about the changes.

“All I know for sure is that our department will lose a required course and go from nine to six hours,” he said. “There will be a loss of faculty and it has some of us very concerned. I’m not sure what is going on currently in the common curriculum committee.”

Voigt said that while there are changes in the common curriculum, it will not be completely different.

“The gateway to the new common curriculum is the interdisciplinary first-year seminar, a course in which students explore topics through the lenses of multiple disciplines,” Voigt said.

The College of Humanities and Natural Sciences will have a required common curriculum course for all students dealing with scientific questions from different views in natural and social sciences. This will include a one-hour lab.

“Another new requirement includes a science process course that is also interdisciplinary in design but will offer an overview of the process of scientific inquiry from the perspective of various disciplines in the natural and social sciences,” said Voigt.

There will be new requirements within the colleges that deal with ethics in the field the student is majoring in.

Students will also be required to take a class dealing with the arts.

“A new creative arts and cultures requirement will offer students opportunities to choose from among studio and applied arts courses, and creative writing courses in addition to traditional arts appreciation courses,” Voigt said. “And across the new common curriculum, courses will be revised to include a greater emphasis on global understandings, diversity and the Catholic tradition. Other enhancements include expanding service learning opportunities, upper level seminars and senior year experience.”

Janna Saslaw, associate professor of music theory and secretary of the University Senate, agrees with the changes.

“The change that is most on the minds of the people in the College of Music and Fine Arts is a new fine arts requirement,” she said. “It’s designed to help students experience performing the arts or to learn the history or the cultural context of the arts.”

She added that this point was not brought up by a member of her department. The Senate, according to Saslaw, was not involved in the approval.

“The Senate actually did not give its official opinion, which is fine,” she said. “It just went through a different process.”

It was, instead, discussed and approved in a separate committee.

The idea to revise the common curriculum came up prior to 2004-2005.

“The Common Curriculum Revision Committee began its work in 2004-05.  That committee presented suggested revisions to the provost at the end of academic year 2008-09,” Voigt said. “At that point, a Common Curriculum Implementation Task Force was created to develop a multi-year, multi-phase plan to implement the new Common Curriculum.”

Voigt explained that the final product is the result of discussions by the Common Curriculum Revision Committee, Common Curriculum Task Force, the provost and students.

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected]