By Heather Shiwarski

Student Government hosted a forum at the W. T. Young Library Gallery on Tuesday night for students and faculty to discuss possible changes to the University Studies Program.

A panel of faculty members led an audience of about 30 in the discussion. The panel included Latin American studies professor Susan Carvalho, mathematics professor Carl Lee, Associate Dean for New Economy Initiatives and Innovations Management Bruce Walcott and Assistant Provost Richard Greissman.

The USP curriculum was made in the 1980s and was good back then, Carvalho said, but the current program does not have relevant issues that prepare students for the future.

The proposal for the new program would implement a 10-class, 30-credit USP requirement. Currently there is a 45-credit requirement. It also includes four areas of study, where as now there are nine.

These four areas would be intellectual inquiry, communication, quantitative reasoning and citizenship.

In a presentation, Carvalho said intellectual inquiry would be similar to a humanities or social science course. The classes would focus on problem solving and using multiple complex answers, she said.

The communication requirement would differ by bringing more of an oral communication component to the curriculum.

Quantitative reasoning would implement mathematical statistics that can be used in everyday life. Lee said this class would teach how to solve real problems like how to pay a mortgage or interpret statistics.

Citizenship would replace the cross-cultural requirement, according to the presentation. These classes would teach concepts like civic engagement and cross-national comparative issues.

Some students were concerned that this curriculum could be too specialized and that students would not get a university-wide experience.

Alan Walters, an accounting freshman, said he attended the forum to get an idea of what changes might be made.

“I came out to see what kind of classes will be offered in the new curriculum,” said Walters. “I wanted to see if it would be harder and just to get some information.”

The proposal will be presented to the University Senate in November. If passed, it would be implemented around 2010. Although these courses will be offered to current UK students, it will in no way affect their USP requirements.

Carvalho said she felt the forum was a success and was very happy with the turnout and sincerity of the questions asked. Greissman said the student input from the forum added to the discussion of the proposal.

“We heard new questions from students that we haven’t heard from faculty in 30 meetings,” said Greissman.