Gen-ed restructure

TSG has created a survey as a way for students to voice their opinions about the gen-ed program.

Since the implementation of the general education curriculum in 2008, many students have voiced  their frustration with gen-ed courses, which has prompted Temple Student Government to create a survey that will serve as proof as “a more concise consensus of student opinion regarding the gen-ed program,” as Khoury Johnson reports in “TSG survey to assess gen-ed,” page 1. The results of this survey will be presented to university officials and administration to advocate the demands that students have regarding the overall effectiveness of this program.

The Temple News urges students and university officials alike to take this survey seriously. The survey is 10 questions and will not take long to complete. The results of the survey have the potential to strengthen the program. As consumers of the university, students have the right and responsibility to have a say in the structure of the gen-ed program. Classes should be worth the amount of money and time that students invest in them.

Students should be wary of thinking of gen-eds as just an economic gain for the university, but rather curriculum that is both required and necessary to add to the enrichment of one’s education. As political science professor Alistair Howard said, “[Gen-ed classes] help lay intellectual foundations, not disciplinary foundations,” and “they are delivered in a way that will help you develop…skills that will apply in life more generally.” When considering the comments of Howard, students should recognize that gen-eds are instrumental to the overall package of a well-rounded education.

With that said, when the surveys arrive, give open and honest answers about how the gen-ed program can be more tailored to students’ needs, both financially and academically.