Camryn Clift
Contributing Writer
cclift@murraystate.edu
If the proposed University Studies Revision is fully approved, students could be taking as few as 32 credit hours for their general education courses.
In fall 2017, the Murray State administration formed the University Studies Review and Renewal Task Force for the purpose of reassessing the University Studies course requirements already in place, according to the University Studies Review and Renewal web page of Murray State’s website.
Murray State’s general education curriculum is labeled as “University Studies.” This term encompasses the variety of liberal arts courses every student is required to take that are designed to ensure that graduates of the University are informed and active citizens.
Renae Duncan, psychology professor and former associate provost, has been the chair of the workgroup for the three years the members have been working on this project.
“It was last revised about 15 years ago,” Duncan said. “And so we decided it was time to update the program.”
According to the University Studies Review and Renewal web page, there were 12 members of the workgroup that came together to work on the University Studies changes. Duncan said each academic college of the University had at least one representative on the Review and Renewal workgroup.
The main change of note is the reduction of course hours required for University Studies. The proposed curriculum has a minimum of 32 University Studies credit hours, according to the Recommended University Studies Program on Murray State’s website.
However, Duncan said the total credit hours required for graduation will remain the same, for accreditation purposes.
As for the newly freed credit hours created by this change, Duncan said that those hours are being placed under the care of the respective academic departments.
“Every single program is going to have to figure out what they’re going to do with those hours,” Duncan said.
The members of the Review and Renewal Task Force utilized a variety of sources while developing the revised coursework. Duncan said they surveyed faculty, students, alumni and staff; reviewed literature on what businesses and employers are looking for in graduates; reviewed literature on best practices in general education and liberal arts education; analyzed practices of peer institutions; and attended general education conferences on the latest trends and theory in general education courses.
Several draft versions were presented to groups around campus, and the workgroup conducted forums for faculty, staff and students in order to receive community feedback to aid the revision process, Duncan said.
So far, the Academic Council has approved the final version of the University Studies curriculum proposed by the task force, Duncan said. If the Board of Regents approves the revisions as well, the new University Studies requirements will go into effect in Fall 2021.
Duncan said only those incoming undergraduate students that fall under the 2021-22 and later academic bulletins, and any student that changes their academic bulletin to those years, will be affected by the changes made.
The complete academic bulletin with the revised University Studies courses will most likely be posted in April 2021, Duncan said.
This new and streamlined University Studies curriculum might bring more changes to other academic standards of the University as well.
Warren Edminster, director of the Honors College and professor of English, expressed the possibility of changes to the honors curriculum if the final version of the revised University Studies were to be approved.
“It’s going to require us to reevaluate the Honors curriculum and consider some possible changes,” Edminster said. “We’ll just have to reconsider, and think about, you know, what is going to lead to the best education of our students and what is going to be realistic for our students to do.”
The members of the Review and Renewal workgroup put forth great effort to ensure this change was undertaken in the proper manner.
“It was taken very seriously,” Duncan said. “So that’s why we took so much time, we wanted to make sure that it was done well, that it was still providing, despite streamlining, still providing a solid gen ed liberal arts exposure to students, to help them experience new things and think about the world in different ways and think critically about themselves and the world. And so it was done with great care, great diligence, and we did it right. It was done well.”