As part of Longwood University’s Academic Strategic Plan (ASP), the university is set to perform a general education curriculum review in the near future.
Dr. Ken Perkins, vice president for Academic Affairs, said the ASP is a “guiding document for a number of goals and objectives for the academic affairs area” with the curriculum review being a major goal. He said the review is still in the preliminary stages.
According to Perkins, the university’s general education curriculum has not undergone revision in more than a decade.
Perkins said the curriculum review came to fruition because section A.2.1 of the ASP calls for the university to “reconfigure the general education curriculum” by aligning “general education requirements with the needs of 21st century stakeholders.” While Perkins said specific changes have not yet been decided upon, section C.3.1 of the ASP dictates, “Evaluate the current curricular engagement relating to diversity, inclusion and external communities; make appropriate improvements.” Perkins said the review is a process that will take a few years. “The thing about a general education revision is [that] the process is extremely important, and certainly starting off right is important,” Perkins explained.
Overall, Perkins said the plan is for the revised curriculum to “better engage our students and to add rigor, strengthen the curriculum; make it relevant.”
As for President W. Taylor Reveley IV’s role in the curriculum review, Perkins said, “The president has made the revision of general education a centerpiece on his plans for increased retention.” At the Sept. 13-14 Board of Visitors meeting, according to the official meeting minutes, Reveley stressed the importance of the upcoming revision curriculum. Reveley reportedly related the review to the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan, the goal of which is to advance undergraduate research and academic inquiry. He said undergraduate research is set to be a major aspect of a Longwood University education. The current general education curriculum consists of 14 goals. The respective goals require students to choose courses to correspond with each goal. The specific nature of these goals can be found on the university’s General Education web page.
Check The Rotunda in the coming weeks for updates on curriculum revision.
