As the new semester begins, new students will have more to worry about than just finding their classes.
Beginning this fall, incoming freshmen and transfer students will be required to take an approved international-themed class before they can graduate.
The U’s international programs website states that the requirement was designed “to give students a broad base of knowledge about global issues and about global perspectives.”
Although a diversity requirement is already in place at the U, administrators say it focuses on diversity in the U.S. The international requirement will have an external focus.
“Most people in other parts of the planet know something about the United States,” said John Francis, associate director of undergraduate affairs. “We as Americans tend not to know as much about other places. If I were to say to an American, ‘Tell me about?what’s going on in Sri Lanka, Guinea, or Paraguay,’ most Americans wouldn’t be able to respond. But if I asked people from the same countries, ‘Who is Anna Nicole Smith?’ they’re going to know.”
Even though the international requirement cannot double as the diversity requirement, it can be used to fulfill a requirement for a specific major. For example, students who take Biology 3460 or global environmental issues can satisfy both the international requirement and the physical and life sciences requirement.
Transfer students might be able to use a course they have taken elsewhere to satisfy the international requirement.
Students who feel they have taken a course that would fulfill the international requirement can meet with student advisers and submit a petition for an exception to the requirement. A group of faculty comprising the International Requirement Committee will decide whether another institution’s course can fulfill the requirement.
Johanna Watzinger-Tharp, chair of the International Requirement Committee and associate dean of undergraduate studies, hopes students will not feel the new requirement is just another obstacle in their path toward graduation.
“We don’t want to implement a requirement and then have courses that students don’t have good experiences in,” Tharp said.
As students fulfill the requirement and interest in international issues grows, Tharp said she hopes students look at other opportunities the U offers, such as study abroad programs. Many such programs offered at the U will fulfill the requirement.
Students who were enrolled at the U prior to Fall Semester 2007 are exempt from the new requirement provided they graduate by 2013. After that point, all students will have to take an approved international-themed course.