My sincerest apologies for the oversight in my last article “It’s about time, California students protest tuition hikes” where I wrote that Focused Inquiry was a one-credit course (it is in fact a six-credit course). Vice provost Marolla was kind enough to point this out to me in the letter on the first page.
Three years ago students were voluntarily asked to take University 101, which was a one-credit course along with English 101 and other core curriculum. I made an unwarranted assumption that University 101 was replaced by Focused Inquiry and therefore held the same number of credits.
This oversight will not, however, stop me from enumerating much more detailed criticisms of the vice provost’s position that, “We are the envy of large universities throughout the country” in any respect.
First, I have not heard so long a laundry list of benefits for a general education course until I read the vice provost’s letter; benefits that I believe should be standards in curriculum rather than boasts that fail to mention the status quo. English 200 (currently University 200 and a part of core curriculum according to the provost) is a basic research and writing course that I was required to take in 2007. I fail to find the special consideration in VCU’s curriculum by teaching its students skills that they should already be proficient in if they are attending such a peerless university. These skills include writing a bibliography, structuring a research paper, and how to use the student library.
Second, while the core curriculum does cover essential skills necessary for college and professional careers in many fields, I find it hard to believe it requires 21 credit hours, almost two semesters of courses, to cover material that is already largely covered at the high school level.Resources spent on hiring faculty to teach redundant and basic classes could be better spent on staffing faculty to teach upper level courses, where there is a shortage of class space.
Third, in reality VCU has one of the lowest graduation rates of all Virginia colleges (47 percent according to a report released in June 2009 by the American Enterprise Institute) and has the lowest graduation rate of all Virginia Research Universities.That is 9.7 percent lower than the state average.
Fourth, I think it a highly dubious policy to call a program a “resounding success” after only two years of implementation. I encourage all students who have taken Focused Inquiry or are currently taking it to write in The Commonwealth Times to remark on the quality of the class before the jury is closed on its success.
As the vice provost said, “It is a work in progress.” In the long run, the success of VCU will depend on the advancement of its graduates, not the grades of its current students or the number of attendees it retains. The reputation of the school is also measured by how well students feel they have been prepared for the real world, and whether the price they paid for that preparation was worth it. My argument is that the education received is disproportionate to the cost incurred, and that the benefits are diminished every additional year. This is happening at a national level, and VCU should hardly be patting itself on the back for keeping its head above water.
As a final note I would also like to applaud students who pressured the administration to keep Cabell Library open 24/7. Cabell will now remain open all night for the duration of finals, thanks to your efforts. Simply by threatening action we have exercised our muscles as an engaged student body. It is a wonderful example of how student activism drives the spirit of the university, not the policies that its administration dictates.