The Faculty Senate voted Friday to recommend a minimum of 120 credit hours for any degree from Mississippi State University in response to a 124-credit-hour cap mandated by the State College Board.
The University Committee on Courses and Curricula and leadership of the Faculty Senate had asked the provost that the university’s response to the degree change be “faculty run,” Senate President Mark Goodman said.
Colleges and departmens bulid their curricula on top of the university’s core requirements. The group agreed that changing university core requirements would allow departments and colleges the most flexibility with their programs.
“Essentially what we decided was to cut the core to minimize the impact on the quality of the MSU degree and to minimize the chaos that would occur,” Goodman said.
The UCCC made the first proposal which went to thSenate Friday, suggesting that the University Core Curriculum drop from 45 to 33 credit hours by eliminating 12 credit hours-three hours in science, computer literacy, speech and junior/senior level writing.
The Senate’s proposal kept three credit hours in science, which dropped university core requirements from 45 to 36 hours. The recommendation now heads to the provost.
“Certain parts of the core are mandated by the IHL, and we can’t touch that,” Goodman said. “The proficiency requirements could be shifted to the majors.”
Many requirements, such as junior/senior level writing and computer literacy have already shifted to major requirements, Goodman said.
Walter Diehl, Senate parliamentarian, lobbied to keep science as part of the university core because of its relevance and impact on society, he said.
“In the 21st century, science is critically important to citizens just being adults. The number of issues that one has to think about in terms of environmental issues require a knowledge of science that most students don’t have when they get to college; cutting that requirement makes the situation worse,” Diehl said.
After the provost and president make a decision, all the departments and colleges will review their cores based on the new guidelines. Each degree program at the university will have to have its paperwork changed, Goodman said.
In other business, Ray Hayes, vice president of finance and administration, presented a conceptual proposal to limit traffic through the center of campus by using a system of gated parking lots.
The proposal also includes plans to expand commuter parking, increase the transit system by two buses, raise the price of parking decals and make parking an auxiliary function of the university.