Students/professors opinions on the core curriculum.

Freshman Kate Norek came to CSU this year and declared speech

communication as her major.

But like many other incoming freshmen, she was unsure of her

chosen major, so she signed up for a few of the core curriculum

classes required at CSU in addition to her speech communication

classes.

“I took a really good health class and I’ve been thinking I

might change my major,” she said. “I would have never been

interested in (the health) field if I hadn’t taken that class.”

Norek is a student who feels that the required All-University

Core Curriculum is a necessary part of the college experience.

“The majority of kids don’t know what to do (in college) and the

core curriculum helps them figure it out,” Norek said.

The 2004 Core Curriculum report on objectives and criteria

states these classes are designed to improve students’ academic

skills and present them with different areas of knowledge. It also

states the classes are important to the overall undergraduate

education experience.

With the intention of receiving a well-rounded education,

students are required to take classes focusing on biological and

social sciences, humanities, history, cultural awareness and

health.

Junior Kyle Babsler knows his computer science major will

prepare him for his future career, and said the core classes he has

taken were not needed.

“Why do I have to take all these other classes when I know what

I want to be?”

Frank Towers, a U.S. history professor, said these classes do

more than educate a student on a subject.

“Taking a general set of classes about things like society,

nature, economics and science give an overall knowledge of the

world you live in,” Towers said. “And that’s really valuable.”

Towers also said these classes are important to increasing a

student’s writing, reading and critical thinking abilities.

Kathy Hutcheson, a professor who teaches EXCC145, a core

curriculum health and wellness class, said a variety of classes are

needed in a university system.

“It’s very important that students are exposed to a variety of

things – that’s what defines an educated person,” she said. “(Core

classes are) what really separates a specialized school from a

university.”

Brent Kaslon, a sophomore landscape and horticulture major, said

many of the subjects he learned in high school were repeated in

core classes he took at CSU.

“We’ve learned them all in high school, they’re not really

needed,” he said. However, Kaslon also said the core classes are a

good idea to give students a broader outlook on college, adding

that when students take these classes, they “get a taste of

everything.”

Some students, like Jessica Rossman, a junior graphic design

major, do not take the core classes as seriously as they do ones

for their major.

“I don’t pay as much attention in (the core curriculum) classes

as I do to the ones in my major,” she said. Rossman said the

classes that pertain to her major are her priority, and the core

classes come second.