The University Program currently requires students to take courses in four groups: Group I: Humanities, Group II: Natural Sciences, Group III: Social Sciences and Group IV: Integrative and Area Studies. Each group has two or three subgroups.

Students enrolled at Central Michigan University in 2014 will not have to fulfill the Group IV-A requirement for Integrative and Multidisciplinary Studies, and according to the description found on the general education website, these classes are “studies concerned with the examination of an issue from an integrative or multidisciplinary viewpoint.”

George Ronan, Director of General Education, said the group was chosen for elimination because of its vague description.

“The subgroup didn’t seem well-articulated with the rest of the University Program,” he said. “There was no specific content tied into it and wasn’t specific enough to keep.”

Ronan said the evaluation of the University Program is long overdue.

“We’re re-evaluating every single course in the University Program,” Ronan said. “Typically, a general education program should be evaluated every seven years, but ours hasn’t been touched since its development in the ’70s.”

Rockford junior Ashleigh Kline said the removal of the subgroup will allow students to focus more on their majors without wasting time taking classes that may not apply to requirements in their area of study.

“In most countries, students go directly into their major after high school. They are able to concentrate on learning as much as possible in their area of interest in the shortest amount of time instead of taking classes that don’t matter,” Kline said. “We should have that same opportunity.”

Catherine Kelley, a South Lyon sophomore, supports the removal of subgroup IV-A and said all subgroups should be removed.

“I think university programs should have the requirements to take the standard English, math, lab and speech class, but the subcategories aren’t needed,” she said. “We really should be focusing on the requirements for our degrees instead of wasting money on classes we don’t need. Especially IV-A classes — I’ve never personally learned a single useful thing from a class in that category, nor have I heard of someone who has.”

Removal of the subgroup brings hope that the University Program will be completed more efficiently by students.

“We’re all about efficiency and effectiveness,” Ronan said. “That’s why we cut group IV-A. Without it, the University Program is more continuous with courses students have to take elsewhere in their education, and students can hopefully merge credits.”

I will step into a world of financial uncertainty with only a vague outline of what will happen next. This uncertainty is both exciting and frightening, but I feel college has given me the necessary skills to survive.

There is, however, one event that my higher education never prepared me for: The Zombie Apocalypse.

I know it may sound crazy, but I feel that Central Michigan University should have done a better job of warning me about such an event.

This is an issue that I have been thinking about for years. Why has my university prepared me for the dog-eat-dog world of post graduation and not the zombie-bite-human-human-kill-zombie world of a global undead outbreak?

It might sound ludicrous, and probably is, but the zombie apocalypse could happen. I’m not saying it will happen, but it could.

When I enrolled at CMU, the University Program was explained to me as a system of classes that will make me a more “well-rounded student” upon graduation.

I will leave here with a little bit of knowledge about a lot of things. This, for the most part was good. Things I learned about in my UP courses? Jet streams, religion, mathematics and even everyone’s favorite protocol droid C-3PO.

I learned about a “Star Wars” character. But no zombies?

CMU should consider adding a course to it’s Recreation, Parks and Leisure program, perhaps RPL 359Z: “Basic Zombie Defense and Safe House Fortification.”

This class would be unbelievably paramount if an outbreak were to occur. Not only would I be prepared, but hundreds others would be as well.

That would create a network of people who know how to survive when needed. We would be able to weather the storm of the undead.

I have done my own research on how to survive, and even a quiz on Facebook said I would be a survivor. But if I had formal, professional training there would be no doubt I could save myself and others.

Think about it, CMU. It could happen.

The university started them in fall 2008. There were two sections of classes, both taught by foreign language instructor Ghada Ibrahim.

The class was successful and, this year, two sections of Arabic are being offered again. About 30 students were enrolled both years.

Instructors who teach Middle East-related subjects encourage students to learn the language. The class, FLN 197E, was approved two weeks into the semester to receive IV-Group B credits, which makes it more appealing to students.

“There is increasing interest of students who have taken other related subjects in history, religion and political science to supplement these courses with learning this pivotal language,” Ibrahim said. “There is an idea to develop either a minor or a certificate of Middle East Studies engaging all the mentioned departments.”

For now, FLN 197E is held in the fall as a introductory course and FLN 297E as the next level.

Offering intermediate class depends only on demand. An intermediate class may be offered next year if there is enough interest, Ibrahim said.

Lexington junior Justin Regan took both the fall and spring Arabic classes.

“As a political science student with a particular interest in the Middle East, I feel that the class was an extremely useful starting point — something of a springboard to later steps,” Regan said. “Professor Ibrahim was an absolutely amazing instructor with a wealth of knowledge on the language and culture, and she incorporated both these things into the study.”

She would often discuss the historical or religious rationale behind cultural differences between the West and the Middle East and, as a Muslim, was often able to give a perspective that gets missed or ignored in America, Regan said.

Continued studies

Half the students who took the introductory class took the second level, and several of them applied for a study abroad program. Many of them are in the Middle East now or ready to go in the spring, Ibrahim said.

“I’m traveling to Jordan next semester in order to continue my study of the language, which I find not only incredibly beautiful, but also very practical considering my interest in foreign relations,” Regan said. “I could have gone with no cultural knowledge or understanding of the language, but (Ibrahim) has given me a leg up that will allow me to go above and beyond what I could have done alone.”

Houghton Lake senior Michelle Fitzgerald also took advantage of both classes.

“I am a Spanish minor and love learning languages,” Fitzgerald said. “It was definitely interesting and very fun.”

Fitzgerald said she learned a lot about Islam and Muslim culture, including food and traditions of Arabic-speaking countries.

Besides the language, students also learn cultural advantages and awareness.

“I think, in this country, we make too many assumptions about Islamic culture and don’t really take the time to learn about it so also in that regard this class was very useful,” Fitzgerald said.

The A-Senate, which held its first meeting of the year, would like to receive a plan as soon as possible in order to apply the changes to the program, said Phil Squattrito, A-Senate chairman and chemistry professor.

With the changes, incoming students will have a different curriculum to complete.

Some variations include the creation of a competency requirement in quantitative reasoning, a reduction in the number of courses in the UP, the elimination of one subgroup in a UP, the elimination of the written English competency requirement, called Writing Across the UP, and its replacement by a new requirement called Writing Intensive Courses in the UP.

The plan was approved May 5 by the General Education Program. It is expected to address procedures and timetables for evaluation and approval of quantitative reasoning competency courses, University Program courses and writing intensive courses.

The General Education Council proposed several revisions to the General Education Program of the university on March 2, 2008.

The A-Senate proposed to receive a written draft from the General Education Subcommittee of the Undergraduate Curriculum Committee of the plan no later than Dec. 1 for further consideration and feedback.

According to an Academic Senate document, the revision will be beneficial to students by concentrating on the general education program’s resources into a smaller number of courses.

Rushing it?

Robert Stecker, professor of philosophy and religion, disapproved of the Dec. 1 deadline at the meeting.

“It may be rushed,” he said.

Voting was done by voice at the meeting, and Stecker was the only senator who opposed. Stecker proposed the deadline to be reassigned during the spring semester, before or after spring break.

It is a long process that takes time, Stecker said.

“The vast majority of the senate agreed that the suitable deadline for the implementation plan is the end of the semester,” said Phil Squattrito, chairman of A-Senate.

Interim journalism department chairman Tim Boudreau initially agreed with Stecker’s opposition.

“After Phil explained that the chairman of the General Education Committee said it would be a priority and that it would get done, I felt that there was no need to push back the deadline,” Boudreau said.