In a resolution presented to Faculty Senate, the deans of each college at Ohio University unanimously decided OU's Tier III program is inadequate and will no longer be a graduation requirement after August 2006.
Faculty Senator David Ingram, chair of the Education Policy and Student Affairs Committee, said he, along with the committee, has been charged with creating a new policy regarding Tier III.
The deans feel the school doesn't have the resources to deliver the Tier III courses
he said. There just aren't enough classes to accommodate student demand.
Ingram presented a first reading of the resolution to the senate on Sept. 20. After the resolution is revised, it will be presented for a second reading and moved to the floor for a vote.
The resolution also stated that the cost for Tier III requirements is more than $100,000 because of the $1,000 stipend given to faculty per course taught.
Students still will have to meet the requirements outlined in their specific catalogue, but after Tier III is eliminated, students who want to take those classes will have to look for alternatives.
Students who still wish to take a Tier III course after they are eliminated will hopefully be able to take courses within the new General Education program Ingram said. However that has not yet been approved by the General Education Council.
The General Education program is a new curriculum that will replace the current Tier I, II and III process in 2006 with the following categories: Foundational Skills; Breadth of Knowledge; Perspectives; and Research and Creative Activity.
Ingram said students who still want to take a Tier III course would hopefully be able to take courses under the Perspectives category instead.
The General Education program, although approved by the faculty senate, is only in its preliminary stages of implementation, said Ken Sampson, General Educationcouncil member.
We are currently creating a Web-based approval process to qualify existing courses in the current program
Sampson said. Faculty members are putting together proposals for their classes that they would like to have rolled over into the new program.
Sampson said the General Education program's implementation should have no effect on those under the current Tier program because the university must abide by the curriculum given to next year's freshmen class for at least five years.
There will be a five-year transition period where some students will be on the old system and the General Education program
Sampson said. All the classes from the old program should remain for those who still need them.
Visual Communications Professor Michael Williams, a new member to the General Education Council, said the program is definitely a step in the right direction.
The new program will give students the option to look beyond traditional courses
he said. Yes
the process has been time consuming
but I think it's worth the while.
17
Archives
