The second part of the Provost's opening remarks concerned general education. He urged the Council to revisit the issue. Although he has a high view of the college and its accomplishments, he does not believe this was a good CAS initiative. He indicated that there were courses with no clear educational justification given university requirements in their areas. This puts the total number of hours too high, creates complexity, makes minors difficult, makes transfers difficult, and raises the danger of lost enrollments.
Students now have inadequate options.
More specifically, he noted that the additional CAS requirements for language are acceptable, those for philosophy and non-Western marginally justifiable, and those for the additional literature and two social sciences courses with no justification whatever given their representation in university general education. D. Boehm-Davis inquired about the extent of leveraging of faculty positions based on research dollars. He did stress the dangers of using soft money as an issue in hiring. D. Struppa added that CAS currently has two faculty in psychology on soft money and a plan for up to five in the sciences. R. Gabel expressed his surprise at the Provost's views on general education and that he wished they had been presented earlier.