USM to Evaluate its Core: Study of USM’s Core Curriculum
Funded by Davis Educational Foundation Gift
The University of Southern Maine recently received a gift of more than $92,000 from the Davis Educational Foundation to fund a project that will support faculty development in evaluating and restructuring USM’s Core Curriculum.
USM’s Core Curriculum, in use since the early 1980s, is a group of required courses for undergraduate students that develop skills in writing, critical thinking and the use of quantitative information. It also aims to develop a broad appreciation of diverse ways of knowing and methods of inquiry, and is presented largely through the College of Arts and Sciences, the Honors Program, the Russell Scholars Program and USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College.
USM has grown dramatically since the Core’s inception, both in terms of programs and students. Today, for example, nearly 40 percent of each entering class consists of transfer students who bring with them a significant number of credits that are applied toward Core Curriculum requirements. Consequently, it makes sense to ensure that all USM students are exposed to a coordinated and well-articulated common learning experience.
Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Joseph Wood notes that the core “must ensure shared cultural references, value diversity, and build competencies for long-term professional success, effective citizenship, and lifelong learning in an information-rich economy.”
As part of the project, faculty and administrators will identify barriers and incentives for participating in the delivery of general education at USM and develop a strategy for the ongoing evaluation of general education. Six workshops on subjects such as multiculturalism and the assessment of liberal learning will be presented by external scholars.
Review and revitalization of the Core Curriculum is part of USM’s long-range strategic plan to gain national recognition for the breadth, quality and accessibility of its programs that serve the region.
The Davis Educational Foundation was established by Stanton and Elizabeth Davis after his retirement as chairman of Shaw’s Supermarkets, Inc.
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