New credit system will change credit requirements

Soon, students will be able to take four, four-credit classes under a new credit system.
“The underlying concern was that the current schedule makes it very difficult for both students and faculty to engage in serious academic pursuits,” said Michael Grossman, an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science.

The new structure would benefit both the faculty and the students.
“Specifically, from the student perspective, the impression was that students were taking too many classes to really become involved in any of them to the level we would want,” Grossman continued.

“Having students take fewer courses during a semester should allow them to concentrate more on each course and go into more depth with course content thus they will focus on depth of skill rather than breadth of knowledge. 

From the faculty’s perspective, we could provide greater content in longer classes and go into more depth in the topics we cover.  Since class time will be increased by 50 minutes per week, faculty could use that 50 minutes to incorporate experiential learning activities, more hands-on material, or deliver additional material so students are better prepared when they graduate.”

The general education requirements would change as well as the requirements for majoring in a particular field.

“The credit requirements for the major/minors will increase,” Grossman said.
“Majors will be a maximum of 44 credits and minors will be a maximum of 20 credits.  In practical terms, with a move to four-credit classes this will mean that the number of classes that will need to be taken in the majors will stay relatively the same size. 

The overall number of credits needed to graduate will also rise to 128 credits.  This will allow students to take 4 classes a semester, as opposed to the current 5 classes a semester, and still graduate in 4 years.”

When should students expect this change?

“The transition will be implemented concurrently with the revision of the General Education requirements,” concluded Grossman.

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