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SILENCE
No input for curriculum revision

The faculty asked for students to speak up, but our response was a mere whisper.

Only six students attended a forum the Faculty Senate sponsored Tuesday on the core curriculum. The governing body is working on drafting a new core curriculum that’s slated to go into effect in 2004. It may be the most important decision the Faculty Senate makes this year.

Too bad most of us didn’t bother to show up to tell them what we wanted.

We, the students, will not be directly affected by the next core curriculum, but our successors will be. The long-term value of our degrees will also be affected — all the more reason to tell faculty what we think.

If the faculty can create the dynamic core they are aspiring to make, it is of obvious benefit to the university. To do that, a thorough assessment of the University Curriculum Requirements is necessary. That way nobody is fixing something that isn’t broke.

Faculty, for the most part, know what they think about the UCR. And they have an idea of what students think from past interaction with them. But we need to give faculty more information to work with.

We could have told them what we think about the proposed Leadership and Citizenship requirement the Faculty Senate is debating right now. We all seem to think leadership is important, but do we think it belongs in the core? If so, then how should we implement such a component? What is the most effective way of teaching leadership?

Those are tough questions, and the faculty needed our input. The few go-getters who shared their thoughts deserve applause.

But shame on the rest of us.