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The Undergraduate Committee for the Curriculum of Liberal Education (UCCLE) is currently discussing ways to improve the system.
“People have been talking about what they don’t like about the CLE for years. We are just now getting to the drafting stage, so that we can have something to show staff and students for feedback,” said Dan Thorp, Director of Curriculum for Liberal Education.
For the past 25 years, Virginia Tech has been operating under the Curriculum for Liberal Education (CLE) with only small changes made along the way, frustrating some students.
Due to CLE requirements, Brandon Weidemann, a sophomore finance major, barely took classes in his major during his freshman year.
"I don't see the point (in CLE's). I think college years could be eliminated two to three years if used in your major," said Weidemann, "If I know I want finance, let me jump in."
The CLE system has always been a distributive model, or what Jill Sible, Assistant Vice President for Undergraduate Education, likes to call a "cafeteria model." Students have broad area requirements with endless classes to choose from whether it relates to their major or not.
“I think in a broader sense, it’s the fact that the CLE courses often don’t have relevance for students,” Sible said.
In order to improve the CLE, the hope is to begin integrating general education courses with specific majors across campus.
“There seems to be this notion that general education is something you kind of have to hold your nose and just get it over with," Thorp said. "That’s what we want to change. We think it’s a mistake to encourage students to believe that knowledge is compartmentalized.”
By providing integrated education, the UCCLE also intends to combine technology and increased discourse, both oral and written, into a more common general education for students across campus.
This idea has been in the works for about two years, and could take a few years to take effect. After this current draft is complete, the ideas will be released to the public for a response period this spring. Eventually, courses will need to be created and passed through university governance.
“In the past, there was faculty and students grumbling about the CLE, but there was nobody in the higher administration that really seemed to think it was a high priority,” Thorp said. “Now, people that are responsible for undergraduate education really want this to happen, so we hit the ground running.”
With all of these improvements in mind, the UCCLE plans to keep the CLE requirement between 33 and 36 hours, as is required for accreditation.
“We want to change the nature of the CLE experience, rather than the duration,” explained Thorp.
Thorp and Sible agree that the reason for making these changes is based around the improvement and expansion of each student’s career at Tech, but they also hope that this will challenge teachers to think differently about what happens in the classroom.
“The idea is that a student should be well rounded, so we want to take the opportunity when you come to a university to learn deeply and broadly,” Sible said. “We want to give students the opportunity to be the authors of their own education, and to make meaning across the different courses and have a more integrated and engaged experience.”
Follow this writer on Twitter @lesliemccrea
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 8 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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www . collegiatetimes . com/stories/21217/cles-fail-to-meet-potential
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www . collegiatetimes . com / stories / 13426 / liberal-education-serves-as-strong-learning-foundation
www . collegiatetimes . com / stories / 19808 / cle-program-is-good-for-students
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The reason you aren't "jumping" into finance is because of the structure of Pamplin College of Business.
The college of business has certain requirements.
Taking business core core classes (ACIS BIT ECON MATH) are designated as prerequisites but for some Pamplin students they do not count as in-major courses. Every business major (ACIS BIT ECON FIN HTM MGT MKTG) take freshman & sophomore year.
Intro Psych or Soc course
Taking 2 additional "social science" courses
Public speaking COMM
Also there is this thing called upper division clearance.
All of the aforementioned are in addition to CLE requirements.
It is the way the college is. As a former business major most students don't get into in-major classes until junior year.
Junior and senior year are where the focus is placed on in-major classes for most other majors at VT.
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"Students have broad area requirements with endless classes to choose from whether it relates to their major or not."
There are differences among the colleges in how the CLE is to be fulfilled. For example, some colleges and departments specify that certain CLE courses must be taken for particular majors. Some colleges also have additional requirements that go beyond the Curriculum for Liberal Education.
"In order to improve the CLE, the hope is to begin integrating general education courses with specific majors across campus"
"UCCLE also intends to combine technology and increased discourse, both oral and written, into a more common general education for students across campus."
Please see the above
"In the past, there was faculty and students grumbling about the CLE, but there was nobody in the higher administration that really seemed to think it was a high priority"
"Now, people that are responsible for undergraduate education really want this to happen, so we hit the ground running"
"That’s what we want to change."
"We want to take the opportunity when you come to a university to learn deeply and broadly."
"People have been talking about what they don’t like about the CLE for years. We are just now getting to the drafting stage."
Who is "we"
Students? Faculty? Administrators? University Council? CSA? CUSP? UCCLE?
"Courses will need to be created and passed through university governance."
The people that created the problem to begin with?
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The idea is that a student should be well rounded, so we want to take the opportunity when you come to a university to learn deeply and broadly.” "We think it’s a mistake to encourage students to believe that knowledge is compartmentalized.”
“We want to give students the opportunity to be the authors of their own education, and to make meaning across the different courses and have a more integrated and engaged experience.”
"With all of these improvements in mind, the UCCLE plans to keep the CLE requirement between 33 and 36 hours, as is required for accreditation."
Okay then
“I think in a broader sense, it’s the fact that the CLE courses often don’t have relevance for students,” Sible said.
Dr. Sible I respectfully disagree. Again someone with a STEM background or students in the College of Engineering or College of Science etc. is a supposed to gain what exactly from the CLE's?
It is some or rather several students not all that do not like CLE's.
Students are to take CLE's courses as a part of "Satisfactory "Progress towards a Degree according to policy 6305 & Policy 91.
Earn X number credit hours and maintain an overall 2.0 GPA
Accredition for what? Natural sciences courses; calculus for the College of Engineering?
There is more to this story...
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Those easy "joke" classes are going to go away is what I am getting from this. I'll miss: Music Appreciation, Survey of Music,The Creative Process, Appalachian Studies, Creativity & Aesthetic Experience, Insects & Human Society, Human Sexuality, and so on.
Anyway, it maybe time that students start to look at community colleges or other institutions as a means to complete CLE's.
I know that VA community college students and other transfer students sometimes don't fit well with CLE's.
Hey you can only transfer so many credits to Tech because VT wants you to take some if not most of your classes at Virginia Tech.
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I do not know about the College of Business but for Engineering we have to take certain courses too.
EnGE 1024 Enge 1114 Chem 1035/1045 Phys 2305/2306.
Engineering students are General Engineering students until the complete requirements and have a high GPA.
Engineers can take upwards of 17 or 18 credits a semester in order to graduate in 4-5 years.
You can't simply just enter your Engineering department's discipline.
Notice that sometimes colleges and departments requiring certain CLE's courses for certain majors is good becasue of the overlap with college/department requirements.
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The Curriculum of Liberal Education / University Core curriculum
are a University requirement.
The colleges & departments were able to adjust degree major programs to suit students' needs in order to complete the CLE requirement. By intergrating some courses with majors you will solve one prolem while creating another. Courses will be restricted to that major(s). You can bet that force add(s) won't work then.
By creating courses same thing
the overall result is you be getting rid of classes that meet the CLE requirement of X area.
Most likely it won't be CLE Areas 1,3,4,5.
If it was such a problem then why are you all of a sudden doing something about it?
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www.cle.prov. vt. edu/
www.cle.prov. vt. edu/guides/index.html
www.cle.prov. vt. edu/guides/faq.html
www.cle.prov. vt. edu/purpose.html
www.cle.prov. vt. edu/guides/12-13/VT_CLE_Guide_12-13.pdf
registrar. vt. edu/undergraduate/checksheets/college/index.html
www.policies. vt. edu/6305.pdf
www.policies. vt. edu/policymemos/ppm91.html
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What is wrong with the courses we have now?
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Brandon, if you don't want the broad education offered by a 4 year degree, then just get an associate's degree. But you can't get one in finance because the business world wants their workers to be broadly trained and have an understanding of links between finance and many other aspects. You can't get that if you only take finance classes...
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No, it's called if you want a degree from a solid university like VT, you need to take at least half of your classes here. That simple. That's why VT wants you to take most of your classes here. They don't want you running around the world with no knowledge with a degree from VT but you took most of your classes at Middle of Nowhere Community College.
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You don't get. No one is running around the world nor wasting their time in a community college. You Karen dismissed those that want to take courses elsewhere (aboard) or students that are simply saving money by going to community college. You also seemly dismissed an associate degree because of the "prestige" of a degree from Virginia Tech. The value of a VT degree is subjective.
Oh so community college is in "the middle of nowhere"?
You may want to rethink what you just said.
With that attitude those who might want transfer to VT might go elsewhere after all VT is a solid education.
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If VT only made you take the technical classes required for your degree, they'd be one step closer to being an ITT Tech.
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@G-funk VT is a technical school remember?
The Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College
Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Nice try
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