Missing requirement

Students in the College of Arts and Sciences know the general education requirements: finite mathematics, elementary composition, at least a couple semesters of a foreign language and so on. But if you are in the School of Education, foreign languages are not required. And music, business and journalism students, to name a few, all have some similar requirements, but their differences prevent students from moving freely between other majors. Until recently, each school has had the autonomy to prescribe its own interpretation of minimal student competence. \nThis has been somewhat of a problem for many students who find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer variety of avenues to pursue. Though a student might have come to Bloomington to learn from the prodigies in the Jacobs School of Music, after a few semesters he might find his interests have changed to biology or business or both. Unfortunately, changing majors essentially invalidates some previously earned credits, and making up for lost time often means a fifth year at IU.\nHowever, beginning next fall, the general education requirements for incoming freshmen will be standardized across the entire Bloomington campus. The plan will make it easier for a) students to move in and out of colleges on campus, and b) credits to transfer among satellite schools and the Ivy Tech system. And these new requirements will be determined by a committee composed, proportionately, of representatives from each of the University's schools. There is just one thing that has been overlooked in this grand scheme: we, the students.\nWhile we might have a couple of representatives on the General Education Committee (one undergraduate, one graduate), the Bloomington Faculty Council has decided that these representatives will lack a vote in any decisions the committee undertakes -- more than a small oversight considering who these changes actually affect. David Nordloh, associate dean of the faculties, disagrees, having said: "It is the faculty's responsibility to define degrees." \nWhereas it might be the faculty's responsibility to define degrees, it is the students' responsibility to earn them. How many faculty members have had to transfer credits from IU-Purdue University Indianapolis recently or Ivy Tech? Few, if any. On the other hand, many students transfer in and out of Bloomington every year -- some with greater success than others. To simply give students an advisory position on the committee's future decisions is to neglect the very purpose of the committee.\nNot that the council's position is surprising -- it often vigorously defends what it believes to be its jurisdiction. But students are not demanding final control over the curriculum -- that would be absurd. What we are asking for is not to be marginalized as "advisers." The only way to ensure we're heard is giving us the ability to vote against detrimental changes to the general education requirements. \nSometime the BFC is going to have to realize that administration, faculty and students are all equal parts of a working university. What affects one, affects all.