Sex, drugs, booze -- the course

English composition and similar traditional general education courses are no longer the only means for students to meet curriculum requirements since fall 2011. 

Provost Brenda Allen led the general education reform.

The reform is a 60-60 model which requires students to take 60 hours of general education courses and 60 hours in their major.

"Students can get through general education without going to summer school," said Fred-Rick Roundtree, freshmen dean and instructor of Interdisciplinary Studies. 

The curriculum has gone unchanged for so many years.  With the reform, Winston-Salem State is putting the "L" back in liberal arts Roundtree said.

The general education reform allows students to choose content according to their interests and meet their requirements within those interests.

"Even though we have freedom, we still have structure," Roundtree said.

"It's like a partnership."

The reform has created general education courses that never existed before on this campus.

In addition to new general education courses, Living and Learning seminars are a requirement for incoming students. LLS courses are "do" courses that engage students inside and outside the classroom. Some of the course options include: Blame it on the Boogie; Who wants to be a Millionaire; Deeper than Rap; and Sex, Drugs, and Booze.

"It [the curriculum] revolutionized how we advise students," Roundtree said. 

The advising process uses the "So You're Interested" worksheet to guide students through course selection.

Faculty and staff members across all disciplines can advise incoming freshmen students of any major.

In the future, Roundtree said he would like to use avatars to advise students.

This year, course assessments will be used to evaluate how well the courses line up with their intended outcomes.  Courses that do not meet general education outcomes will undergo realignment until the course meets or exceeds the assessment Roundtree said.

"All of this was done with our students in mind," Roundtree said.  "We always put them first." 

For students, the reform change could impact their job outlook because it caters to the wishes of the private sector. 

"In order for our students to be prepared in their careers, universities have to keep up with what the private sector is asking of graduates," Roundtree said.

Not everyone on campus is in agreement with the reform.

"I argue that there is somewhat of an academic civil war on this campus," said William Boone, assistant professor in the English Department. 

One upperclassmen student is not so optimistic about the new changes.

"When you have professors teaching subjects that aren't in their specialty, students aren't getting the same attention and care,"said Sierra Williamson a junior psychology major from Oxford, N.C.

 "The new courses seem to have a focus on the secondary subject and the emphasis is an afterthought." 

Boone said the focus of the reform is not about fighting to preserve the old, but embracing a change that can benefit students' education.

It's about students choosing the classes that interest them most and combining those interests with the skills they need in the real world Boone said. 

"It [new general education requirements] made it easier for students to get lost and confused," said Carlita Johnson clinical laboratory science major from Savannah.  

"At the same time, it gives students more freedom about which classes they want to take," she said.

Boone said that a true scholar is not only a master of traditional texts like Shakespeare, but can also analyze a more modern text such as Tupac Shakur lyrics.

"Does memorizing Romeo and Juliet make a student a critical thinker?" Boone asked.  A critical thinker can analyze a number of different texts." 

Boone said he has always welcomed the reform wholeheartedly.

"I'm an educator for change. Period," Boone said.

This change allows students to vote for their class preferences with registration.

"I don't think that Black students will be hindered, handicapped if they don't take traditional courses," Boone said.

The University's low retention and graduation rates suggest a need for change Boone said.

"I am very, very excited and enthused about the reform," Boone said.

"If it's good enough for the Ivy League, it's good enough for WSSU," Roundtree said.

The reform was designed to allow the faculty to drive the curriculum.  

"The general education reform sparks my own research interests as a professor," Boone said.

Boone created the Masculinity, Resistance, and African American Cultural Texts course to focus on one aspect of African American studies; this course's primary goal is critical thinking.