Change is underway for degree requirements at UD.

The Common Academic Program (CAP) is in the final stages of development with some facets being implemented as early as next school year. The program will change several general education requirements for all undergraduate students, including arts credits and communication modules.

Beginning as soon as 2013, the system of three one-credit communication modules will be eliminated and one three-credit course combining aspects of the existing classes of group decision making, public speaking and interviewing will be created. This class is being created to help make sure students are ready for the job force after graduation, according to Danielle Poe, a philosophy professor and member of the writing group task force for CAP.

"The class will better prepare students' oral communication and for getting a job," she said.

Also, instead of taking English 101 and 102, first-years will now enroll in a 100 level English class their freshman year and a 200-level course their sophomore year. Students who test into the equivalent of the current honors level English 114 or 198 will take a freshmen-only course of a 200 level English class their first semester.

These new English classes will focus on the importance of written communication, while a new required course will strengthen students' verbal communication and will replace the current communication modules.

The other possible changes include the addition of a lab to the science requirements for business and fine arts majors and the expansion of classes that fulfill required arts credits. Currently, arts faculty are working on creating one credit studio classes for students who have an interest in art but aren't planning on pursuing a career in it.

"We want to nurture students who aren't majoring in something but have an interest in it. Right now, it's not flexible enough," Poe said. "[General education requirements] as they are sometimes hinder that. There's not as much coordination between gen. ed. and major requirements as there should be."

The idea of CAP was first considered in 2005, when the university began to explore what students thought of the Catholic and Marianist education at UD. Through compiling results, seven learning outcomes of students were discovered which the university is now attempting to put into practice.

The learning outcomes are things all students at UD should gain in their time here, through their experience both in the classroom and out, according to Poe. This helps coordinate summaries of feedback about the program. The outcomes include diversity, community, vocation and practical wisdom, among others.

"For a long time in education, the focus was on what was being taught," Poe said. "Now, the focus is shifting to what [students] are learning."

CAP was then formed to look at how students were experiencing those seven learning outcomes while in the classroom. The first formal proposition was shaped in 2007, and has since been worked on by the Academic Policies Committee of the UD Academic Senate, which includes faculty, administration and students.

In the beginning of February, SGA and the Academic Policies Committee held CAP forums for students and non or pre-tenure track faculty so they could share their thoughts and ideas. That feedback is currently under consideration by the Academic Policies Committee, and they will soon be creating another proposal.

Though propositions are still ongoing at this time, a final proposal for the CAP will hopefully be approved by the full Academic Senate in May, according to Poe.

The goal of the CAP is to make a more meaningful connection between general education and major requirements, she said.

Junior Cat Kelly, a marketing major in the business school, likes all the possibilities CAP presents, especially the option of more arts classes.

"I like art, but in business you don't have a lot of spots to take it in your schedule," Kelly said. "Right now I'm only taking business classes and will be taking all marketing classes my last two semesters here."

Kelly also thought that a required lab could make students better well-rounded in science, and a combined communication class could have its perks as well. Many students who take these classes spend the five weeks of classes waiting for the end and for the free time that comes from it.

"In the five week classes, everyone kind of blows it off," Kelly said. "Combined communication classes would help you get used to both the class and the teacher."

To learn more about the Common Academic Plan, visit sga.udayton.edu and view the Academic Senate documents. To provide feedback, email the chair of the Academic Policies Committee at jhp@notes.udayton.edu.