DU announced changes in graduation requirements that will affect students graduating in Fall 2010 or later. 

These changes will include the elimination of the Creative Expressions requirement and two of the non- writing intensive Core classes. 

Students still must complete the writing intensive Core requirement, which will be renamed Advanced Seminars. This requirement must be completed on campus and not from another university or abroad. These classes will still be on specific topics and remain small with around 15 students.

These courses will still count as credits towards a bachelor’s degree for anyone who has already completed them. 

According to Jennifer Karas, associate provost and common curriculum central committee chair, these changes were voted on by a faculty committee. This committee met for a total of 1,500 hours reviewing the current curriculum and gathering student and faculty opinions. The committee found that students wanted more flexibility in the classes they could take and the classes they are able to take abroad.

“We talked about what was working and what we could do better.  We decided it was time to revisit some of this curriculum and make some changes,” said Karas. 

The classes available when registering for Spring Quarter 2010 will remain the same. 

According to Karas there will be added options to fulfill the required Arts and Humanities and Social Science foundations courses as well as the Advanced Seminar classes when registering for Fall Quarter 2010. 

These courses will no longer be labeled AHUM or SOCS individually, but for example HIST for a course dealing with history, or RLGS for a course about religious studies. 

“Students will be able to see what classes really are without having to guess,” said Karas.

Student will still be able to search for classes that are eligible to fill the two areas when searching for classes on WebCentral. 

“People can still search for classes the same way, so it won’t be confusing, but there will be a lot more options for students to take,” said Karas.

Students graduating in March, June or August of this year will have no change in curriculum. 

Appointments can be made with the Center for Academic and Career Development to answer any questions about the upcoming changes.  More information will be available in April at du.edu/commoncurriculum.