College-wide change in major requirements for the BA

Following on the discussion at our Fall Chairs and Directors retreat, I am writing to formally request that you submit to the College Curriculum Committee on or before the date specified in the attached table, a change to your department’s bachelor of arts (BA) degree requirements to:

• not exceed 30 credits in the department (i.e., no more than 30 credits with the major’s prefix)
• not require more than two 200-level courses

The goal of this college-wide change is to promote curricular flexibility and encourage students to explore double majors, double minors, and certificates; it is a core component of an overall strategy to elevate our liberal arts education.  The overall strategy also includes direct and deliberate communication of liberal arts transferable skills, creation of single topic multidisciplinary courses for underclass persons, and reorganization of the College to encourage curricular innovation and collaboration.

The College offers 45 bachelor of arts majors, 10 bachelor of science majors, and a bachelors of music degree.  Approximately 80% of our graduates earn a BA.  Even among STEM-focused majors (including, BIO, CHEM, GEOL, PHYS, ZOO), over 60% of students pursue the BA.  Thus, the BA is by far our principle degree.  The number of credits required to satisfy the major in the BA varies widely across the college from a low of 30 (the College minimum*) to a high of 42.  The average number of required credits is 34 with a median of 33. Eleven of the 45 majors already require the College minimum of 30 credits.  The number of required 200-level courses also varies widely across the College from a low of 3 credits (1 course) to a high of 15 (5 courses).  The average number of credits required at the 200-level is 7 with a median of 6.  Fifteen majors require more than 6 credits at the 200-level.

Student flexibility.  Our entering students come to us having made a decision to study within the framework of the liberal arts.  Although some have a clear sense of their academic passion, many do not.  Thirty percent of our students will change majors and those students will sample coursework from several disciplines before selecting an area that resonates.   This is a good thing!  Our mission, in part, is to guide undergraduates by virtue of providing a broad and substantive exposure from which more focused interests can develop.

Reducing the required number of credits in major to 30 will give students more flexibility in their liberal arts curriculum.  Students may be encouraged to double major, double minor, or to pursue one of the new undergraduate certificates that are under development broadening and strengthening their liberal arts education.  Fewer credits required in the major and fewer 200-level requirements may reduce barriers to study abroad, internships, and research experiences.  Given that nearly a third of our students change their major three times, reducing the required number of credits to 30 and reducing the number of 200-level credits to 6 will allow students to more successfully navigate changes in their major and contribute to more timely graduation.

Department flexibility.  Eliminating 1 required course (3 credits) from each major that currently requires more than 30 credits will result in the freeing of over 50 CEs college-wide each academic year.  These CEs can be used to teach TAP or HCOL seminars that often fall on the shoulders of our less subscribed majors causing them to struggle to meet their curricular needs.  These CEs can also be used to innovate and strengthen our liberal arts offerings.  For example, faculty might pilot new courses, offer courses in interdisciplinary majors, team teach interdisciplinary courses, or create new courses in a major or minor.

What this request is not.

• An effort to eliminate faculty. The proposal does not include placing a limit on the number of courses that are offered in a department. Departments should continue to mount courses that students want, but not have to mount courses solely based on an obligation.
• An effort to dumb-down majors.  We must acknowledge that a major is not career preparation nor is it meant to provide complete disciplinary breadth or depth.  As mentioned, eleven of the 45 BA majors require the college minimum* of 30 credit hours.  These majors are rigorous.  In addition, students may still elect more than 30 hours and may still elect to complete more than 6 hours at the 200-level. Furthermore, every major has a set of learning outcomes that are competency rather than course based.
• Damaging to the teacher-scholar experience. While 200-level courses can and do involve topics closely related to a faculty member’s research interests, our scholarly expertise can and should be present across the curriculum. As mentioned, if students find the 200-level course experience most compelling, they will enroll in more than the minimum.
• Creating a loophole for students will circumvent the 200-level course experience with Honors research or internships.  Departments may set these requirements and not allow internship or Honors research to meet the 200-level requirements.

Finally, as departments work to make these changes they should also consider whether there are opportunities to add courses to the major from outside of the Department; I am happy to consider proposals that include only 30 credits within the course prefix, with additional credits taken in other departments. Several CAS majors already require students to complete courses from other departments recognizing that students benefit by making connections across traditional disciplinary boundaries.  However, care should be taken to not create a course burden that reduces the student’s flexibility in meeting the major requirements.

* College Guidelines for B.A. Majors

The department may not require more than 45 hours of coursework having the same prefix, nor more than 60 hours altogether, including all prerequisites, for the degree Bachelor of Arts. It must require at least 30 hours exclusive of hours that its majors are required to take in other departments. Foreign Languages may not require more than 45 hours above the first year. (Students are allowed to offer up to 45 hours of a language in addition to the first year.) The major need not contain any 200-level courses.

http://blog.uvm.edu/cas-ascurcomm/majors-minors-programs-certificates/majors-supplemental-information/