C2K changes may become retroactive

For students who are struggling to meet the requirements set out by Curriculum 2000, Lady Luck may soon be paying a visit.

Robert Thompson, dean of Trinity College, said the University is considering retroactive application of the modified curriculum for students who matriculated under Curriculum 2000. The committee charged with reviewing C2K is still putting the finishing touches on a proposal for a revised curriculum, which they say would ease course requirements and increase flexibility within the curriculum.

"One of the premises of this revision is that more flexibility is needed. We wouldn't want to hold that back from somebody just because they matriculated before the new curriculum was implemented," Thompson said. "As we think about the changes we will be making to the curriculum, we are also thinking about to whom they will apply and when. It's an issue that is obviously of major interest to everybody."

Thompson noted that universities do not usually allow students to graduate under a different curriculum than the one under which they started their coursework. "Whatever curriculum you matriculate under is the one that governs you during your four years," he said. "You don't want to change directions midstream."

Biology professor Steve Nowicki, chair of the curriculum review committee, said although the committee did not operate under the assumption that the revised curriculum would apply to current students, the revision could nonetheless benefit many.

"The deans are concerned about the way the new curriculum impacts students who are already here, and don't want students to find themselves in a more difficult situation after the change," he said. "I don't think there's anyone around the University right now who wants to increase curricular demands on students."

The proposal for the revised curriculum reduces the total number of Area of Knowledge requirements from 12 to 10, adding Quantitative Studies as an Area of Knowledge but requiring only two courses in each of the five areas. In addition, the proposed revision reduces the number of Modes of Inquiry requirements--currently divided into Modes of Inquiry, Focused Inquiries and Competencies--from 16 to 18 to 12 to 14, Nowicki said.

Other, more minor, proposals could also increase flexibility within the curriculum. For instance, under the proposed revision students can benefit from all three of a course's cross-inquiry codes. A change in policy regarding transfer credits could also increase the curriculum's flexibility by allowing transferred credits to count toward Modes of Inquiry requirements.

Thompson said transfer credits would most likely apply only to classes that are taken after the new curriculum is approved. "If you're a junior and took two courses freshman summer, could you resurrect those courses and bring them forward to get Modes of Inquiry codes? Probably not," he said.

Avery Reaves, Duke Student Government vice president for academic affairs and a member of the curriculum review committee, said a number of freshmen have asked him whether they will be able to complete the revised curriculum in lieu of their own--occurrences he interpreted as interest in retroactive application of the new curriculum. Although Thompson said the new curriculum could potentially help sophomores and juniors as well, Reaves said upperclassmen have not shown the same interest in the new curriculum.

"A lot of people will get significantly through their Curriculum 2000 requirements in their first two years here," Reaves said. "Many juniors and seniors are locked into their curriculum in the sense that they have already fulfilled a lot of the requirements that we are looking to ease."

Thompson noted that it is too late for the revised curriculum to benefit members of the senior class, as they will graduate soon after the Arts and Sciences Council votes on the proposed revision.