I read with interest your special report entitled “Is college getting any easier?”. I, for one, am concerned about the decrease in total coursework required to obtain a bachelor’s degree. While the upper division coursework within a major’s field of study is going to be defended to the max by each department (as would be expected), what I am concerned will suffer most will be the seemingly less essential non-major coursework, both upper and lower division. It is my concern that the so-called “total collegiate experience” will be deflated at the expense of a student’s often once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore a wide range of academic areas of study.

Of course, it is possible to take additional coursework beyond the requirements for a degree, although I suspect this will be the exception. I recall from my own bachelor’s degree that I opted to take Physics as an elective, even though I could have taken anything else; I’d already completed my required physical science requirements, and I can attest to the fact that Physics was not an easy course. However, I’d always wanted to know more about it, so I took it. Same reason I took a by-arrangement philosophy class under Dr. Mauldin on the study of St. Augustine.

My older brother once told me that college was the last paid-for vacation you get (assuming, of course, that your parents and/or scholarships are underwriting your years here at UTM). While studying for tests may not be your idea of a vacation, the fact is that college life provides a protective buffer from the so-called real world, affording you time to explore a wide range of academics. Your days at UTM will be over soon enough, and when you get that real job in that real career, your free time for academic exploration will most likely see a significant decline.

I am also concerned that the inevitable reduction in the study of liberal arts will negatively impact our society’s creative edge and the general ability to think for ourselves. We are already bombarded with mass media that would like to tell us what and how to think. In music and other art forms I suspect there are far more consumers than producers. In history, we are already familiar with the saying that those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it. The battle has already being fought numerous times in elementary, middle and high schools where budget-cutting seeks to eliminate art and music programs. I am concerned that there is a “trickle-up” effect into higher education. Give ‘em the basics, and get ‘em out. A cookie-cutter education.

Well, the fact that there is a reduction to 120 hours is a moot point. I could further decry the elimination of Computer Science 201 as a general prerequisite (the continual number of C’s, D’s and F’s testifies to the fact that being able to use a computer for the web, email and games does not equate to true computer literacy), but that is a done deal as well. I am not on a horse battling the windmills (if you have no idea what that means, then ask an English professor). I am simply encouraging you to take the advantage of getting as diverse an education you can. Unless it ever changes, taking a course or two beyond the minimum for being a full-time student costs you nothing extra (aside from books). That is not true at colleges that charge based on total credit hours regardless of part or full time status. For some students, they will discover their true calling and change majors, just by taking a course that is a little off the beaten path toward their original major.

UTM is a great school, regardless of how the system monkeys with its structure. Make the most of it.