Need for Reform

The current General Education requirements were established in 2008/2009, which overhauled a previous general education curriculum establish in 1998. We now have nearly 15 years of experience with the current program.? With drastic shifts in demographics, technology, and society at large during this period, it is time to update this curriculum.?

Across the United States, there has been a 3.4% decline in 4-year public institution enrollment. And, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many incoming students will need greater support than prior classes. This is especially true of much of Cleveland State’s traditional student population, especially those from the Cleveland Metropolitan School District and the inner ring suburbs. A Core Curriculum often functions as the first engagement students have with a university's education and it is aimed at providing foundational knowledge and skills. Thus, while all parts of the university should be responding to these changes, the Core Curriculum especially deserves our attention.

The GenEd08 report noted several perceptions of the previous general education program, which it aimed to remedy. This included faculty, administrators, and students seeing the program “not as a positive, formative experience, but as a hurdle over which each student must jump.” Unfortunately, feedback from students suggests that perception remains. Relatedly, they suggested the need to improve advising, staff more general education courses with full-time faculty, and simplify the program requirements.