Draft suggests core-course learning goals
FAYETTEVILLE — Core educational requirements under a draft proposal from University of Arkansas, Fayetteville faculty members would formally emphasize ethical reasoning, diversity in the United States and global awareness.
Ten learning goals for UA undergraduates have been developed over the past year by a group of 13 faculty members, said David Jolliffe, chairman of the General Education Core Curriculum Committee.
He said at a town hallstyle meeting Wednesday that the ideas have yet to be formally presented for approval, with the immediate goal to get more feedback on the measures.
Jolliffe, an English professor, said approval would involve the university’s faculty senate, a larger group that has no further meetings scheduled for this academic year.
He said that the goals complement the state’s existing minimum core requirements, which consist of 35 semester hours fulfilling five areas: English/communication, mathematics, science, fine arts/humanities and social science.
“Those hours will still be there,” Jolliffe said. But “rather than simply courses you need to take, we’ve reshaped it so that we’re thinking about this as goals that students achieve when taking these courses.”
Students at UA need a minimum of 120 credit hours to graduate.
The committee recommended “core” goals tied to understanding academic subjects, plus “value-added” goals relating to ethics and critical thinking, diversity and international awareness.
Other recommendations include having students take more courses with a “substantial writing/speaking/ multimodal communication component,” support for an electronic portfolio system and the creation of thematic links between courses satisfying requirements.
Thursday’s story about Pulaski County Circuit Judge Wendell Griffen’s ethics complaints against Attorney General Leslie Rutledge and the seven members of the Arkansas Supreme Court incorrectly described the relationship between the high court and the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission. The commission operates independently of the Supreme Court. The commission was established by voter-approved Amendment 66 of the state Constitution in 1988 to investigate allegations of ethical and professional misconduct among the judiciary and recommend disciplinary action to the Supreme Court. The story also incorrectly described the racial breakdown of the five Pulaski County Circuit Court judges who decided criminal cases. There are two black judges and three white judges.