Reply to comment

To explain our new curriculum, we created two different surveys, one for the professors and one for the students. Unfortunately, non of the teachers responded, but we received 50 responses to the student survey. We presented our mission statement at the top of the survey, and then made each question one of our proposed changes to the curriculum. After each proposal we asked if students agree or disagree with the change, and then asked them to explain their response.

We first asked about requiring that all new professor hires have experience in two disciplines, so that all of the Emily Balch Seminars can be interdisciplinary. 2/3rd of students disagreed with this plan, claiming that professors wouldn't be as focused on their first discipline, and it would hurt their work.

Then we asked about keeping the two years of language requirement, but restructuring the classes to focus on culture. The response was mixed, with 66% agreeing with the proposal and 34% disagreeing. Most people stated that they wanted the classes to have people who really wanted to be there, and they wanted to make the language requirement just one year instead.

Next, we asked about improving Bi-Co relations to make the two schools more cohesive for students majoring, taking classes, or living on the opposite campus. While most people agreed with the idea (78%) many then commented that they want the two colleges to still be of their own entity, or that they want priority in classes to go to the students who actually attend that school.

The next question was about requiring two half- semesters of Praxis courses, and people were almost split down the middle, with 56% agreeing with the proposal. Most complained that it would be too difficult to find place to work that fit their major, or that people shouldn't be forced in to doing "community service" (their own words).

Finally, we asked about requiring outside work with the senior thesis, which most disagreed with, at 82%. They stated that seniors had enough work, and that it would be hard again to find real world applications.

Overall, their wasn't much agreeance with our plans, and I wonder if students are avoiding changes or avoiding the hassle of having extra work.