The University of Wyoming will see changes to its university studies program requirements by the fall of 2014.
The program undergoes changes about every 10 years as the university examines the program and adjusts it to fit the current needs of the university.
“I’ve been here about 30 years and we’ve made revisions at least three times,” Carol Frost, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education and Budgets, said. “We look at what we want for our students or our employees and what needs to be changed.”
The revisions that are currently taking place have been underway since November of 2010 and are in the third task force stage.
“We’re trying to be really thoughtful with this program, which is why we have had three different major task forces, not just one,” Frost said.
The first task force was responsible for discussing and figuring out the general education requirements and finding out what worked best for Wyoming. According to the USP Review and Revision web site, faculty members on this task force were asked to address three questions: What learning outcomes should UW’s baccalaureate program promote? How amenable are the outcomes to assessment? How many credits should a well prepared and well organized candidate have to take to complete UW’s general education requirements?
In its 2011 report, this task force decided upon two primary learning outcomes which consist of breadth of knowledge and competencies. For breadth of knowledge, students will take courses pertaining to art, language, social sciences, science, and technology. For competencies, students will take classes that focus on developing written and oral communication skills, quantitative reasoning, information literacy, as well as critical and creative thinking and critical analysis.
According to a report released in 2012 by the task force, the intended outcomes are for students to be involved in individual and team learning, problem solving, academic responsibility, as well as a sense of community contribution and a cultivation of personal health and wellness.
Frost said the first year is considered to be most important because that is when students will take foundation courses and then build their skills from there. As a result, freshmen also will need to take a First Year Seminar.
“The First Year Seminar will be any topic that a faculty member is really passionate about. For example, some students in majors such as kinesiology were interested in health and wellness,” Frost said. “It really doesn’t matter at all what the topic is as long students learn how to look for information on that topic, write about it, and talk about it.”
The second task force was responsible for looking into the First Year Seminar as well as the 30 total credit hours that will be needed to fulfill the university studies program requirements.
“This new program will be considerably more streamlined than the current one. It will be much easier, there will be many more choices, and will offer more flexibility,” Frost said.
Another goal for the new program was to make it easier for transfer students and students who transfer with associate’s degrees will be seen as already having completed the first year general education requirements for UW. It also will make it easier for students to meet the USP requirements and still graduate within four years.
“We want students to have mastered certain skills and have certain knowledge, but we also don’t want this program to cause students to not graduate on time,” Frost said.
The third task force met just within the past month and is responsible for figuring out the best way to implement the new program. If all goes according to plan, the new program should begin in the fall of 2014.
As for students who are attending the university when the new program is implemented, they will have the opportunity to choose which program they prefer.
“That’s always been the deal,” Frost said. “Students are welcome to switch to the new program if they choose or stick with the old one.”
