Students must be kept informed on curriculum changes

On Dec. 7, 2021, the Joint Faculty Senate passed three motions that enacted changes to the Integrations Curriculum. Of the three, two amendments provided waivers for the Benedictine Raven and Global requirements to the classes of 2024 and 2025. The final motion removed the prerequisite of Theological Explorations for the Benedictine Raven, a change which will apply to all classes going forward.

The Record is reporting on these Integrations Curriculum changes for the first time in this week’s issue.

Failing to report on the December motions was a signficant oversight on our part. The Record has taken steps to ensure that no such oversight happens again, including sending a reporter to future Joint Faculty Senate (JFS) meetings when possible, and when not possible, obtaining the agenda.

However, The Record is not the only entity that failed to report on the changes. Perhaps more significantly, there was never an official announcement from the administration or Registrar’s Office.

The administration and Registrar’s Office have a responsibility to announce academic changes to students, particularly something as significant as change to the Integrations Curriculum.

The administration and Office of the Registrar’s lack of announcement is logical from a point of self interest. The motions were passed after spring 2022 registration, and an announcement likely would have resulted in a significant number of students adding or dropping classes.

However, while it may have been logical, it definitely wasn’t acceptable. It is now past the drop period. There are currently students in a class solely to fulfill a Global or Benedictine Raven requirement that they no longer have to obtain in order to graduate. Are those students learning? Certainly. Could they be taking classes that are of more significant benefit to them, such as classes within their major or Integrations Curriculum classes? Yes.

Additionally, three months following the initial JFS vote, DegreeWorks is not updated to accurately depict curriculum requirements. The display of December’s alterations is essential to student success, timely graduation and the broader liberal arts experience. It’s our hope that all of the Integrations Curriculum modifications are changed in DegreeWorks in time for students to start planning for fall 2022 registration. Considering that all students use DegreeWorks as a significant class planning resource, a lack of an update would significantly hinder student success.

All of this discourse surrounding the Integrations Curriculum is valuable, but it’s important to remember that the most important conversations and feedback come from students.

Sourcing from informal interviews in the absence of data, an overwhelming majority of students appear to be dissatisfied with the Integrations Curriculum.

Admitting that something had good intentions and didn’t work out the way it was supposed to is an essential step to progress. Such is the case in this situation.

That’s why the Editorial Board is appreciative of the changes enacted by the Joint Faculty Senate. Working to solve the curriculum’s issues of size and complexity will greatly help students, and we want to acknowledge the efforts that were made in order to enact these changes.

In the same breath, we are appreciative of the work that everyone involved has done to craft and implement this curriculum. However, rationalizing the maintenance of the current curriculum on the sole basis of people’s hard work is fundamentally wrong.

If it’s not working, it’s not working. We must recognize that hard work pales in comparison to results.