In addition, each semester every student receives a computerized printout called an automated degree audit. The ADA lists requirements that have been completed and requirements remaining to be completed in each curriculum category (see self-study library for an example of an ADA). In the Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students, 94 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they understood their degree requirements and 84 percent reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their advisor's knowledge of the requirements in the major.
University policy requires that a student earn 25 percent of required credit hours and at least thirty of his or her last forty-five hours of credit through NCSU courses [4.1.2.11].
NCSU's general education requirements do not require that each student in a major take the same set of courses, but rather that each student elect specific courses from approved or acceptable lists of courses in each of the major disciplinary categories. This ensures that each student elects courses from outside his or her major [4.1.2.10]. Nine semester hours of unrestricted electives are currently required, but in fall 1994, to encourage more breadth in undergraduate curricula, these hours will be redistributed among three categories of directed electives, as follows: Three hours will be added to the natural science requirements, three hours will be added to the humanities and social science requirement, and three hours will be assigned to a new category, science, technology, and human values.
The fall 1994 change in the core curriculum comes after a long history of institutional concern and action on issues related to the core curriculum or general education requirements. In 1978 the subject of the Provost's Forum was "Is there something missing in the education and development of students (undergraduate and graduate level) attending NCSU?" An ad hoc Committee on Baccalaureate Degree Requirements further studied the question. On October 6, 1980, another committee, the Provost's Forum Committee on the Core Curriculum submitted its report (see self-study library).
The recommendations of the Commission of Humanities and Social Sciences (1984-85) led to formation of the Commission on Undergraduate Education. The recommendations of that commission led to further discussion, and in 1988 to the formation of the Council on Undergraduate Education. The report of this council, which enumerated general education requirements for all NCSU students, was approved by the Council of Deans and the provost in May 1992. Implementation of the recommendations contained in this report, including the new general education requirements, is scheduled to become effective for new undergraduate students who enroll during or after summer and fall 1994 (see self-study library for the list of new general education requirements).
The new general education requirements to be implemented in fall 1994 address acquisition of fundamental mathematical skills by requiring two mathematics courses [4.1.2.7]. In the past, competence in oral communication, while broadly accepted as an important goal for all graduates and ensured by degree requirements in many degree programs, has been addressed in some curricula only informally. The new general education requirements to be implemented in fall 1994, however, formalize verbal communication competence for all. The new writing and speaking requirements are as follows:
Writing and speaking are powerful ways of understanding ourselves and our world. It is through writing and speaking that various disciplines and professions define the knowledge and methodologies that characterize them. Because communication arts are central to learning and to engaging in the productive life of a community, students must: (1) learn to use writing and speaking as ways of generating, critiquing, and refining ideas, both their own and those of others; (2) understand and use the conventions and standards governing written and spoken discourse across academic disciplines; (3) develop the critical reading, writing, and speaking abilities necessary for participating effectively in a discipline; (4) develop a repertoire of strategies for addressing the concerns of audiences in the many contexts of contemporary lifeacademic, professional, and civic.Implementation of these new general education requirements has been made more difficult in some curricula because it is taking place at a time when the total number of credit hours required for graduation in a four-year degree program is being capped by directive of the UNC General Administration at 128 hours.Requirement (9 hours): (1) two semesters of composition and rhetoric during the freshman year; (2) one semester of advanced writing, speech, or a foreign language (FL-201 or higher in the student's first foreign language or any FL-course in a second language).
In addition, because the faculty and administration recognize that meeting these goals requires students to engage in writing and speaking across the curriculum, communication requirements should be integral to all courses used by students to fulfill the humanities and social sciences requirements.
Further, in order that skills develop broadly and consistently along with the individual's increasing knowledge of subject matter, all upper-division courses offered in the University should incorporate a significant communications requirement, and at least one major written paper should be required in every curriculum in both the junior and senior years [4.1.2.7].
In many technical curricula, departments are challenged to find room under the 128-hour ceiling for both the new general education requirements and the courses required for a professionally responsible or accredited degree program.
The self-study surveys of faculty and undergraduates conducted during fall 1992 asked respondents about the importance of developing computer competence. Of those surveyed, 87 percent of faculty and 91 percent of undergraduate students in all of the colleges and schools responded that computer competence was an important goal. But although over 80 percent of the students in the Colleges of Engineering, Forest Resources, and Textiles agreed that their courses had helped them achieve this goal, fewer than 50 percent of the students in Agriculture and Life Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Design responded affirmatively. The student response was confirmed by the results of the faculty survey. A higher percentage of the faculty in Engineering, Forest Resources, and Textiles said that they required computer use in their courses. The new general education requirements to be implemented in fall 1994 address the issue of computer competence for all undergraduates by requiring all curricula to explain how students will gain computer competence appropriate to their discipline [4.1.2.7].
Recommendation 5.10: NCSU should ensure that students in all schools and colleges achieve appropriate levels of computer competence.
Coursework in the major field and in related areas sufficient to satisfy the objectives of the program should be included in the curriculum. The curriculum should demonstrate required rigor and depth by appropriate distribution of introductory and advanced coursework.
The major field of study may consist of courses specifically required and/or of courses to be selected from a specified group of courses. Individual courses or groups of courses designated as part of the major requirements may be courses offered by the major department (or interdisciplinary program) or collateral courses equally central to the major field of study. [4.1.2.7; 4.1.2.8]
The first paragraph of the above-cited policy emphasizes "rigor and depth." This stipulation guarantees that an adequate number of advanced courses be required in each curriculum [4.1.2.9].
Because the University is about to implement a new general education program, long in the making, this committee sees no need to make recommendations in this area. The value of the new requirements should be assessed after they have been in place for several years.
As NCSU has begun to consider how to raise this to a higher percentage, the UNC General Administration has become concerned about the number of years it takes to earn a degree at all campuses in the UNC system, including NCSU. Both student behaviors and attitudes contribute to the length of time to graduation. For example, phantom majors frequently pile up hours pursuing admission to degree tracks for which they may never qualify, and then must take additional courses to meet requirements for the curricula in which they eventually earn degrees. Other students delay graduation for personal or financial reasons by taking reduced loads, or take the attitude that the baccalaureate degree is a five-year degree.
The Self-Study Survey of Undergraduate Students asked how many years the respondent anticipated taking to complete his or her degree. Only 27 percent responded four years; 53 percent responded four to five years; and 12 percent responded more than five years. In answer to a different question, however, 84 percent of survey respondents replied that their undergraduate degree would be completed in "a reasonable period of time." A more extensive description of this issue can be found on p. 86 of the Undergraduate Catalog.
In response to legislation enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in 1992, the UNC Board of Governors has adopted a "Plan to Improve Graduation Rates in the University of North Carolina." This document includes policies designed to decrease the time taken for completion of degrees at all of the institutions within the UNC system. Included in these new policies is the expectation that full-time students will enroll in at least fifteen credit hours each semester instead of the current twelve. All curricula leading to the baccalaureate degree designated as four-year curricula will be limited to a maximum of 128 hours; more hours will require special approval by the Board of Governors. A number of currently approved curricula will need to be modified to conform to this policy. Some departments may opt to have their programs designated as five-year programs.
In short, NCSU is dealing with two different concerns in regard to graduation. The faculty have focused on increasing the overall graduation percentages at NCSU, hoping to see perhaps 70 percent of NCSU's undergraduates finish successfully. Individual colleges have worked to promote this goal by establishing specific college goals and plans for achieving them. At the same time, however, the UNC General Administration has focused on having those students who do graduate make more rapid progress toward graduation.
NCSU must ensure that its two efforts (to increase the percentage of admitted students who graduate, and to decrease the number of semesters to graduation) enhance rather than compete with each other. For instance, more than half of NCSU's undergraduate students are enrolled in either scientific or technical disciplines, with substantial requirements in mathematics and in science courses with laboratory sections in addition to regular class hours. For all students, the general education requirements include substantially more rigorous requirements in mathematics and the natural sciences than is characteristic of many liberal arts campuses. Efforts to shorten time to graduation that do not take into account the particular rigors of the NCSU curricula might have the effect of decreasing the overall number of students who do eventually graduate.
In addition, many of NCSU's students choose to attend this institution because its urban setting provides them work opportunities that at once enable them to pay the cost of higher education while at the same time making it more likely that they will enroll as part-time students, extending their time to degree in the process. Other students seek work opportunities through internships or cooperative education programs to enrich their academic programs or to enhance their career potential upon graduation.
NCSU should gather data on graduation percentages and time taken toward the degree from comparable institutionsurban land-grant universities where substantial percentages of undergraduate students are enrolled in scientific or technical curriculain addition to comparisons with other UNC system institutions. NCSU's policies in this area should reflect the fact that the University cannot guarantee academic success; students must take adult responsibility for their own academic success, viewing the University as a resource for learning
At the same time, however, NCSU should accept responsibility for encouraging students' academic success, both by coordinating existing efforts and pursuing new initiatives. A variety of efforts now underway in NCSU's schools and colleges, including activities described in this self-study, would benefit from University recognition and support. In order to promote academic success by the highest possible percentage of those students it enrolls, and in the shortest reasonable time, NCSU should also pursue new initiatives recommended in this document, such as universitywide teaching and writing centers.
Recommendation 5.11: NCSU should encourage students to make appropriate, timely progress toward their degrees, and should develop a campuswide strategy for coordinating local and institutionwide educational-support activities.
