Students in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences will be allowed to use some 300-level classes to fulfill distribution requirements after faculty members unanimously approved Wednesday a change to the school’s distribution system.
The decision stands to broaden the selection of classes that fulfill distribution requirements available to students. Only 100- and 200-level classes currently can fulfill requirements in the school’s six distribution areas.
“Limiting 300-level classes just because they have a 300 in front of them doesn’t seem like the reasonable thing to do,” said Craig Bina, Weinberg’s outgoing associate dean of undergraduate studies.
According to the proposal that faculty voted on, individual departments within Weinberg will be asked which 300-level classes should satisfy a requirement and a faculty subcommittee will make the final decision.
Some faculty members raised concerns about a possible unmanageable spike in the number of students entering upper-level courses. Others said too many students unprepared for a 300-level class might enroll and perform poorly. But the faculty resolved these concerns before the vote.
“I don’t think there will be a surge in 300-level courses because I think students will want to take classes in which they have background,” Bina said.
Additionally, the change likely will lead to more strictly enforced prerequisite requirements for upper-level courses to stop unprepared students from enrolling in difficult courses, the proposal states.
The proposal cites a number of problems in Weinberg’s current distribution requirement system that Wednesday’s decision could fix. In some areas of study, such as humanities or social sciences, confusion exists about the distinction between 200- and 300-level courses. Although 300-level classes ostensibly are more challenging and specialized, inconsistencies across departments blur the numerical labels.
In addition, a mechanism in CAESAR gradually will be activated next year that blocks students from enrolling in courses without satisfying prerequisites, Bina said. In the past, students have enrolled in a class without fulfilling its prerequisites. As a result some prerequisites were interpreted as mere “suggestions,” he said.
The decision will not count courses retroactively, Bina said.
Economics Prof. Robert Coen, who played a role in formulating an earlier system of distribution requirements, told the faculty that the change is far from revolutionary.
“When I first saw the proposal, I wondered, ‘Are we just remodeling the kitchen or are we taking a wrecking ball to it?'” he said. “Now, I’m leaning toward the former.”
Faculty also voted to table a proposal that would limit the number of Advanced Placement credits awarded toward a Weinberg degree until the next faculty meeting Fall Quarter. Currently, 12 AP credits may be used to satisfy degree requirements. The proposal calls for this number to be reduced to four and raises the possibility for the use of AP credits to be phased out altogether.
Faculty tabled the measure to give Weinberg Dean Daniel Linzer time to meet with deans from the university’s five other schools. Linzer and other deans will discuss the possibility of changing the AP credit system university-wide.
In addition, faculty approved the creation of two new minors: one in Environmental Policy and Culture and the other in Global Health Studies. Both minors are interdisciplinary. Classes in environmental policy and culture will draw from environmental science, history, anthropology and other courses already offered.
The Global Health Studies minor will require students to take a series of new core courses in international health. The program also will require time spent abroad involving experience with public health. NU already offers programs in public health in countries such as Mexico, China and South Africa, which could serve as destinations for students who opt for the minor.
Faculty also discussed a proposal that reduces the number of AP credits that can be used toward fulfilling distribution requirements from six to two. The proposal will be discussed again at the next faculty meeting during Fall Quarter.
