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• Volume VXII, No. UW Guilford College, Greensboro. N.C December 6,1977^^
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Daryl Kent explains new core requirement.
New Humanities Requirement Despite Objections
BY JOAN CURCIO
Despite objection by a
majority of students, the faculty
voted last Wednesday to add
another humanities require
ment to the core curriculum,
bringing the number of required
courses to fourteen and rein
stating a former requirement.
For students now attending
Guilford, the humanities
requirement consists of two
courses, one from history,
classics, or a foreign language,
and one from philosophy or
religion. But the humanities
requirement for future Guil
ford students will be comprised
of three courses: one required
history and two courses com
bining the three disciplines of
philosophy, religion and litera
ture.
The Faculty also approved
another change in the core
curriculum which will make
mandatory the fulfillment of
the core curriculum require
ments in the division in which
the student's major lies.
Previous to this change, a
student was exempt from the
core curriculum requirements
in his area.
From the point of view of
Daryl Kent, Assistant Academic
Dean, the new policy is "a
very minor revision." The
change does not add to the
total number of courses
needed to graduate, but
decreases the number of free
electives from eleven to ten for
most majors. Kent feels that
"too many students are pur
suing a relatively narrow range
of interests and missing out on
the great wealth which is
traditionally part of a liberal
arts education."
The majority of students
already fulfill the core curri
culum requirements in their
division, according to Kent.
Also, he estimates that 85%
of the student body currently
elects to take a history, so the
required history course will
affect relatively few students.
He approves of the require
ment because "it seems,
somehow, that we are short
changing students if we don't
expose them to the historical
process, whether it be
American History, European
History, or African History."
Despite the small number
of students who will be affected
by the change, students in
general are opposed to the
revision, according to Amie
Fort, President of the Commu
nity Senate. Before
Thanksgiving, the Senate
handed out notices to the
students that a proposal to
change the core curriculum
would go before the faculty.
In response, many students
handed in written objections
to the change; some senators
collected signatures on
petitions from the dorms they
Quakers Open Doors to Adults
Did you know that there are
a few hundred people going to
Guilford (taking tests, having
to preregister and even eating
Nabs,) that you probably don't
know? They have great light
ing, yellow paint and a colored
television in their lounge,
much of which was partially
funded by their student
government. I am speaking of
the Urban Center and it's
students.
But who are these people,
really? Although they are
adult students many of whom
wish to move up in their
present firms rather than switch
jobs, 70.4% of the enrollment
are taking over twelve hours
of credit. The majority of
Urban Center students are
represent and submitted them
to the Clerk's Committee of
the faculty. According to
Kent, "nothing was said in the
faculty meeting about the
student petitions."
Bruce Stewart, Academic
Dean, explained that there are
more important issues involved
int his curriculum change than
simply the addition of a required
history course. "The core
curriculum is used to keep
the institution in balance,"
he stated.
"There are three dimensions
to the curriculum which must
be considered in changing the
core curriculum. First of all,
there is the pedagogical
aspect - what is educationally
sound."
The second dimension of
the core curriculum is "what is
politically possible." Bruce
Stewart realizes that the
faculty "have an expertise in
their fields which is critical
and needs to be respected."
He added, "These are questions
where good men can disagree."
"The last dimension of the
curriculum which must be taken
into consideration is what is
economically possible'. One
responsibility of the adminis
tration is to maintain a stable
and balanced faculty."
Stewart explained that
student interests change
frequently, but the school
majoring in Administration of
Justice, Accounting, and
Management. Several are
coming back for their second
degrees while others audit
classes "just for the fun of
it." The present enrollment
is 552 and 30% of these are
women.
There is no difference
between degrees attained
through the Urban Center and
those earned in the regular
Guilford program as all
students come in different
entrances and leave through
the same exit. Therefore there
must be similar credentials for
all applicants. If an individual's
SAT's are more than five years
old he/she must take SCATS
(School and College level
"can not hire and fire faculty
every two or three years to
meet these interests. The core
curriculum is used to keep
adjusting the way in which the
ship is listing."
By channeling students
into areas where there is
decreasing student interest,
the core curriculum can "keep
changes in the faculty to a
minimum."
Stewart added, "we never
promised anybody about gett
ing a job. The first purpose
of a liberal arts education is to
set people free."
Selection Committee Selected
The Dean's Search Commit
tee was recently established
and its members selected.
Grimsley Hobbs, President of
the College, met with the
Clerk's Committee telling
them of his intention to set
up such a committee and ask
ing for suggestions as to its
composition.
The Clerk's Committee
made some tentative proposals
and, at a joint meeting of that
committee with the Faculty
Affairs Committee on Novem
ber 9, the President proposed
a committee structure which
after slight modification was
accepted.
The Search Committee
consists of John Stoneburner
Ability Tests). !r> addition
there are College Level Examin
ation Tests in which older
student can gain credit for
"knowledge gained outside of
a classroom."
There must be some evi
dence that a "special student"
(or one who has been out of
school for several years does
not have recent tests) can
perform academically, before
the Admissions Sub-committee
will approve them for Guilford
courses. The Urban Center
follows closely the work of all
of its students and in particular,
offers tutorial services, which
is provided by Dana scholars.
The Urban Center Student
Government aided in funding
a tutorial center in the base
ment of the library.
One of the most popular
ways to finance an Urban
Center education is through
Tuition Remission. In this
program certain major corpora
tions reimburse their employees
for full tuition.
The most significant
difference between the main
campus and urban center is
that the Urban Center is
specially prepared for adult
counseling. There are many
job and family conflicts as
these students generally are
late . registering and 11
people withdrew or cancelled
this past semester, after
registration.
Continued on 3
(Chairman); Daryl Kent
(Administrative representative);
Paul Reynolds (trustee
liaison); Jerry Godard, Beth
Keiser and Paul Zopf (appointed
by the Faculty Affairs Commit
tee); and Ted Benfey (ex
officio).
The appointment of the
Academic Dean is critical;
selection should not be hurhed,
but should advance with deli
berate speed. The committee's
first duty is to settle the
matter of procedure, after
which all members of the
Guilford community will be
asked to submit nominations.
In the interviewing of
candidates, faculty and
students will be involved.