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I Volume 29 Issue 6
March 11, 1999
Ranges to
UNCA's general
ed a possibility
By Mike Bryant
Staff Writer
I UNCA officials have initiated a review
Ind evaluation of the 16-year-old general
Iducation requirements for students.
“The university has started the process
ibr a full evaluation of the general educa-
lion or core curriculum required for an
lindergraduate degree from UNCA,” said
fom Cochran, associate vice chancellor of
Icademic affairs. “The last completion of a
limilar review of general education courses
|t UNCA occurred in 1983.”
A committee of university administra
tors and faculty members will complete
Ihe evaluation over the next two or three
tears, according to Cochran.
“The review committee will be com-
brised of both administrators and faculty,”
laid Cochran. “A completed study may
lake as much as three years. There needs to
pe a great deal of input and discussion in
Ihis process.”
lUNCA students are currently required to
lomplete approximately 58 credit hours of
leneral education at the present, accord
ing to Cochran.
“The present core curriculum require-
nents are in the areas of English, arts,
loreign language, health and fitness, hu-
nanities, library research, mathematics,
natural science, and social science, said
Zochran. “These areas of course study
nust continue to embody and define the
nission of UNCA to offer an undergradu-
bte liberal arts education of the highest
Duality to its students.”
I The review of the core curriculum is not
ihe only program assessment that is taking
place at the university, according to
Cochran.
“The faculty members in each of the
ppproximately 28 departments of the uni
versity evaluate their courses and programs
pbout every 10 years,” said Cochran. Gen
erally, there are three departments simul-
Itaneously conducting these evaluations
curing each school year.”
These reviews are conducted with input
pnd dialogue from all interested parties,
Recording to Cochran.
1 “Faculty and administrators are sensitive
Ito the opinions and suggestions of stu-
Idents in their evaluations, said Cochran.
[ We encourage conversation among all
Ithe parties involved in the academic set-
Iting to better and more effectively accom
plish the mission of our university.
Student reaction to a evaluation of the
general education requirements centered
nostly on one specific area.
I would really like to see a reduction in
|the number of hours in the area of hu-
nanities,” said David Dickson, a senior
psychology major. “If half of that require
ment could be used as electives or some-
Ithing else, I believe students would have an
opportunity to take some courses that
might be more beneficial to them. I realize
that UNCA prides itself on being a fine
liberal arts school, but 16 hours of humani
ties is just a bit excessive as a requirement
in general education.”
“The general education requirements at
UNCA are pretty much the same as at
other schools, except maybe for the hu
manities,” said Erin Donath, a post-gradu-
ate elementary education major.
“The only comments that I hear from
UNCA students about course requirements
seem to be about the number of classes in
humanities that they have to take,” Donath
said.
This would be a great opportunity for the
university to incorporate some needed
changes in general education, according to
Dickson.
“Now would be the time to carefully look
at the general education requirements of
the other schools in the UNC system,” said
Dickson. “I think it would help to com
pare our core curriculum requirements with
those of the other institutions in North
Carolina. I believe some course changes in
this area would be well received by a major
ity of students at UNCA.”
One of the obvious dilemmas in chang
ing general education requirements is main
taining the unique mission of the univer
sity, according to Cochran.
According to the UNCA admissions
handbook for 1998-99, “In its 30 years as
UNCA, the university has maintained a
distinctive position within the 16-member
UNC system in its primary mission: to
offer an undergraduate liberal arts educa
tion of superior quality for serious and able
students.”
The mission of UNCA is not only recog
nized within North Carolina, but nation
ally as well, according to the admissions
handbook. “The Carnegie Foundation
for the Advancement of Teaching classi
fies UNCA as a Liberal Arts I University,
one of 162 American higher education
institutions so noted for excellence and
highly qualified students,” according to
the admissions handbook.
“The University of North Carolina sys
tem has designated UNCA as its under
graduate liberal arts university, the only
North Carolina public university as
signed this role. The 1998 Fiske Guide
to Colleges says, ‘The University of
North Carolina at Asheville is a strong
public liberal arts university that offers
rigorous academics, small classes and a
beautiful setting all at an incredibly low
price.’”
The university should not be afraid of
change in any area that would embrace
its mission in the academic community,
according to Cochran.
“At the very heart of the liberal arts
education is the attempt to inform stu
dents of the vast diversity which exists
within the world they live,” said Cochran.
“Any changes that might be made from the
university’s review should strengthen, not
weaken, this undertaking.”
Alternative snowman
PHOTO BY SCOT WARING
The snow Tuesday provided some UNCA students with a new means of artistic expression. The univer
sity cancelled classes Tuesday due to inclement weather.
Concerns about campus
diversity addressed
By Emma Jones
staff Writer
Open forums at UNCA are exploring the
issue of maintianing campus diversity, a
mission that many UNCA students be
lieve the university has fallen behind.
“I think the administration needs to
take an active role in listening to what
the minority students on this campus
say,” said Shanta Robinson, a junior
sociology major.
“We are trying to channel this toward
what we are going to do and how we are
going to do it,” said Pitts at last Friday’s
meeting in the Laurel Forum. “This issue
doesn’t get answered in some definitive
way in a meeting,” said James Pitts, vice
chancellor of academic affairs.
The open forums on diversity arose from
a diversity conference attended last No
vember by a group of students, staff, and
faculty. Main focuses of the conference
included suggestions for faculty diversifi
cation and curricular modification.
“I thought the part of the conference that
was most beneficial to UNCA was the
administration’s discussions on how to
diversify faculty,” said Robinson. “If you
want to have minority students, you need
to have minority faculty for those students
to talk to.”
“My solution would be to have professors
who are open to people’s opinions,” said
Marquis McGee, a senior psychology ma
jor, at the forum. “Hire diverse faculty and
staff who teach in their area of expertise.”
As a supplement to faculty diversifica
tion, curricular modification is a more
quickly attained goal and is being thor
oughly discussed in all sectors of the university,
according to Eric lovacchini, vice chancellor of
See DIVERSITY page 10
Recent donations keep fundraising on track
By Meghan Cummings
staff Writer
J UNCA’s fundraising cam.paign is
leaking strong steps toward reach-
ling its goal of $8 million in five
^ears.
J We are on track for an $8 million
■campaign,” said Alex Comfort, as
sistant vice chancellor of develop-
|rnent.
The campaign is designed to gen
erate much-needed financial re
sources for scholarships, techno
logical advances in classrooms, and
to support faculty initiatives, ac
cording to a brochure produced by
the campaign coordinators.
“We have wonderful people at
UNCA and wonderful opportuni
ties,” said Linda Nelms, associate
professor of management and ac
counting who also works for the
fundraising campaign. “Some of
those opportunities suffer from a
lack of resources. All of us feel that
problem at different times as we
work to develop a learning com
munity.”
Despite the fact that the school is
funded by the state, UNCA relies
on the money created by
fundraising, according to Comfort.
“Everybody thinks the state pays
for everything, but they don t,
said Comfort. “The state provides
around 47 percent or 48 percent of
our budget, that’s all. We’ve got to
find it in other areas.”
The capital campaign has had
many recent successes, and is about
one-third of the way toward its
goal, according to Comfort.
“These gifts that have come in
recently are very strong,” said Com
fort. “They’re right on line with
what we expected to get.”
Some of the largest recent gifts
include $100,000 to be given over
four years from NationsBank to
build a multimedia classroom in
Owen Hall, and $80,000 from the
Eaton Corporation to construct a
new lab for engineering, physics,
chemistry, and other sciences, ac
cording to Comfort,
“The Eaton gift is the second larg
est gift given this year by the Eaton
Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio,
said Comfort.
A recent gift of $50,000 given by
the Independent Insurance Agents
of North Carolina, a professional
trade organization, has gone spe
cifically toward increasing the
money available for scholarships,
according to a news release from
UNCA’s public information of
fice.
Another significant scholarship
donation of $200,000 will be used
to create an endowed scholarship
for students from Polk County,
according to Comfort.
Increasing the amount of money
available for scholarships is impor
tant in moving the school toward
higher academic standards by help-
ing students who have to hold a
See FUNDING page 10
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