Students love to complain about the constraints of Curriculum 2000, but only a few showed up at a forum Monday night to discuss possible solutions to the problems they have encountered with the three-year-old academic system.
Biology professor and Curriculum 2000 Review Committee Chair Dr. Steve Nowicki and student committee members Devon MacWilliam and Avery Reaves led the the first of three open forums to address students' questions and issues with the graduation requirements. The C2K committee, established last spring, is working to present possible solutions to resolve the most demanding conflicts that students have encountered under the system.
In holding these forums, the committee hopes to encourage student input about what major alterations should be made and how those proposed changes might be implemented. Each session is documented, anticipating any new concerns raised by students that the committee has been unaware of or any suggestions of possible solutions.
"The goal of Curriculum 2000 is to allow students to have a liberal arts experience and encourage a breadth in their education," Nowicki said. "And there are constraints to the curriculum, but the questions is, are they too constraining?"
In his reply to Nowicki's question, Alex Barna, a Duke Student Government cabinet member heading a similar task force, said, "The message of Curriculum 2000 seems to many students that it's okay to explore, but it must be done within these specified boundaries."
With the prompting of the C2K Committee members, the students attending the discussion came up with several major concerns that they had with the curriculum. Students expressed distress about the general difficulties that many have encountered in trying to get credits to transfer from courses they have taken studying abroad.
Students also raised concerns about the limitations placed on Robertson Scholars and their ability to take courses that really interest them at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, defeating part of the program's aim.
Another major concern which students discussed was the inconsistency in C2K class codings. One senior expressed her frustrations about classes that assigned at least twenty pages of writing, yet were not designated as possible options to fulfill the writing requirement.
Nowicki provided a historical perspective by explaining that there were many graduation requirements before Curriculum 2000 was implemented.
"Part of the goal of this curriculum is that professors want students to be stimulated the whole way through," he said. "The purpose of this committee is not to eliminate Curriculum 2000, but if there are too many constraints, how can we alleviate those constraints?"
The C2K Committee started soliciting students' opinions in June and said they have received generous feedback.
"The administration is serious about taking a critical look at this curriculum," Nowicki said. "If changes are to be made, they must be voted on by a council of Arts and Sciences faculty members. We hope to present concrete recommendations to them by November or December."
The C2K Committee speculated that the Arts and Sciences Council might vote on these changes at the beginning of next semester.
The committee will be conducting another forum tonight at 8:30 on East Campus at the White Lecture Hall and again on Wednesday night at 10 p.m. in room 139 of the Social Sciences building.
"A small, more interactive discussion is just as good as a large debate, however we hope that there will be a greater student turnout at the next two meetings," Reaves said.
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