SMU student senate members Kyle Bennett and Erica Briceno begin their meeting on Monday in Hughes-Trigg Student Center. (Stuart Palley)

Members of the General Education Curriculum review committee met with Student Senate yesterday to gather suggestions from the students.

The current GEC curriculum has been in effect since 1997.

The committee will submit their proposals for a new curriculum to the Provost by April 25. Associate Provost Tom W. Tunks said the committee hopes to have a consensus on the goals of the new GEC by the end of this semester. For now, the committee is gathering opinions and data.

Once the proposal is submitted, the Provost will review it and take it to the Faculty Senate. If the proposed changes are accepted, the new GEC curriculum will take effect Fall 2010 at the earliest, according to Tunks.

SERVICE COMPONENT

Student Body Vice President Patrick Kobler spoke on the possibility of a service component, which would require community service. Kobler cited the many benefits of community service, including “learning to work with other people.”

Sen. Eric Park suggested more classes with a service component that are tied into the curriculum.

Student Body President Rob Hayden said community service could be offered as a choice for wellness, noting it was “very beneficial” and was a good way to meet people.

CULTURAL FORMATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES

Sen. Bullock thinks more choices in CFs should be offered, including classes geared towards careers.

Bullock also said the curriculum should be set up in a way that each class fits in a category, asking “why would I waste my tuition money to take [a class that wouldn’t fit]?”

“Not everyone is a chemist,” Membership Chair Peter Goldschmidt said, suggesting that the new GEC could offer the option to pass or fail on perspectives so that students could take classes that they might not ordinarily take because of concerns for their GPA.

Goldschmidt said the new GEC should encourage learning.

Student Senate Parliamentarian Kyle Bennett noted that the current GEC lacks a section on current issues. Bennett wants classes that focus on topics such as globalization, taxes, and other issues that are affecting today’s civilization.

Many senators expressed dissatisfaction with the information technology component. Hayden said most students already know how to work with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Sen. Jakin Vela suggested replacing the ITS class with a career counseling class that would help students figure out what they were going to do once they completed their degree.

HONORS

Goldschmidt also wants the committee to look at the honors classes. He suggested a set of requirements to potentially make any class an honors class. This could mean extra reading or assignments for those wanting the class to be counted as honors.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT

While schools such as the Meadows School of the Arts require a foreign language component, it is not part of the GEC. Bullock said he thinks students should be required to take a foreign language.

Hayden suggested foreign language classes that featured studies in the culture, as well as a conversational approach to learning the language instead of learning colors and counting.

PUBLIC SPEAKING

Chief of Staff Ordner said he thinks a public speaking class should be required of all students, regardless of major. Ordner said the class was “something that has been really crucial” to him and that he has taken and used the skills he learned.

Sen. Derek K. Hubbard said any required public speaking class should focus on the actual production and oration rather than types of speech.