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After a semester of revisions, the University Curriculum Committee (UCC) voted to approve an updated General Education (GenEd) model at a meeting on April 3. 

The committee unanimously approved the model, which will replace the current GenEd domain model, in effect since 2013. The new model is set to be adopted by the University in Fall 2027, UCC Chair Aline Davis, a biology professor, said. 

Referring to the current GenEd system, Davis said the domain model “is very specific about this. [In domain GenEd], this is everything we want people to touch. There were a couple of problems with it. For one thing, it was a little more restrictive with how it was lined up.” 

Davis said when the University originally adopted the model, it was believed it would provide students with flexibility. “But then, students got a little pinched because they had to find specific courses to fulfill specific domains that fit around their schedules and fit around their work, and oftentimes, that was a little more difficult.” 

The new model, which was previously proposed by the General Education Advisory Board (GEAB), chaired by English Professor Patricia Lynne, was withdrawn because UCC  “did not come to a consensus about what they wanted GenEd to look like. It did not match what the GEAB wanted or what the GEAB had approved,” Davis said.   

After the model was withdrawn, a memo was sent to GEAB outlining areas that needed revision, Davis said. 

At the beginning of this academic year, a revised model was submitted to UCC, which incorporated many of the changes requested by UCC.

Lynne said during last year's UCC proceedings, "There was too much controversy, and the way UCC was running, it was not going to move forward as it was. So it was sent back to the General Education Advisory Board with the idea that we would reconsider and bring forward what we felt was best, and we reconsidered and brought forward about the same thing."

Regarding the new model, Lynne said, "One of the things that the General Education Advisory Board is supporting, supported, and I have supported, is the amount of student choice in this model that we stop telling you what you need to take, and we instead start asking you to think about what you want to take."

The “core” model consists of 10 GenEd courses, making up one-third of the institution's degree requirements as outlined by Framingham State’s accrediting body, the New England Commission of Higher Education. The University mandates a minimum of 30 credits to obtain a bachelor's degree. 

Davis said the model is also aimed at providing more choices for students. “What we have done with this model is give students the power back. We want to give you the ability to make your decisions.

“My philosophy on GenEd is it is an opportunity for you to learn new things, and most of all, it is an opportunity for you to put interests together,” she added. “What this model does that the [previous] domain model doesn't is if you find that new interest, you can actually pursue it a little bit more than what you could have done.”

Davis said the model is “not flashy, but I actually think it's going to be more functional.”

At the core of the model, students will be required to take a RAMS first-year or honors seminar, a Composition II or writing course, one math course, and a world language course. Students will also take two courses in the humanities, two social and behavioral science courses, and two mathematics or science courses. 

The new model also allows for more departmental flexibility, removing the restriction that students cannot take two courses with the same prefix in GenEd, Davis said. 

Lynne said with the new model, “it's going to become much more about ‘what do I want to do. What's a skill set that's going to complement my major? my professional goals? What am I just jazzed by?’" When students plan their academic schedule.

Additionally, the laboratory science requirement is removed from the new model. “We had a really long discussion about that, and that was probably one of the closest votes,” Davis said. 

She added, “We had a lot of students who, due to their major, due to their internships, due to their working schedule, finding an additional three hours during the semester to take a course … was really problematic.” 

She added labs, which typically run from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., are “really tight for athletes.” 

The removal of the laboratory requirement from GenEd does not remove it as a major requirement. 

“If there is any particular program that believes that their students should be taking a laboratory course, you make it a major-related requirement. … There's nothing holding programs from doing that if they believe the loss of the lab is going to cause a major issue for their students,” Davis said. 

This model was approved by the All-University Committee on April 10, 8-1-0. It will be sent to the provost and president for institutional approval and adoption.