Changes in GE requirements

By Carrie Porche Jones, On-Line Forty-Niner

Wednesday, September 30, 1998

The Office of Academic Affairs has devised a new general education requirement plan in an effort to alleviate student frustration and confusion.

The implementation of the revamped GE requirement program in the fall of 1999 for freshmen entering Cal State Long Beach means students will no longer have to blindly choose classes and then hope they have made the right choices.

"The current GE program is a smorgasbord. There is no cohesive thread that strings courses together. Students get confused," said Dr. Karl Anatol, provost and vice president of academic affairs.

Without a cohesive thread, Anatol said, students are unsure how what they have learned will help in their major field of study.

Under the new plan, freshmen will still have to take the required number of units. However, the units will be tied to a student's major area of study.

Margaret Merryfield, associate professor of chemistry, and coordinator of the general education implementation planning, said freshmen are required to see an adviser before they register.

"Students should go through the SOAR program. This is the first line of contact for students.

"Some things won't change, categories won't change," Merryfield said. "There are exciting possibilities, and the university is looking to make the subjects more coherent than what the menu offers now."