A co-curricular plan to general education

Implemented in fall 2012 for incoming freshmen only, MyCore, BU’s revised general education program, now has 1,850 students enrolled.

By the end of their first year, freshmen in the program had an average of 27 points achieved toward the minimum 40 GEPs required. At the end of the 2012-13 academic year, approximately 50,000 GEPs were obtained by students provided they passed the courses.

There are 165 GEP approved courses in more than 38 disciplines that meet the 10 General Education Goals: communications, information literacy, analytical and quantitative skills, cultural diversity, natural sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities, second language, healthy living and citizenship. Transfer students are expected to be enrolled in MyCore starting fall 2014.

MyCore is designed to provide students with a “deeper understanding” of the world by teaching them to become lifelong learners through the skills and high-level thinking acquired through the program. Learn more about MyCore’s value and progress at bloomu.edu/general_education.

A tie for all occasions

The students lined up early, ready with plenty of questions for me. About 100 of them even wore ties. Well, sort of.

Members of the Community Government Association, sponsor of a recent “Meet the President” event, and students lucky enough to win one of the giveaways, wore specially made necktie T-shirts with a popular quote from the movie Independence Day on the back: “If I had known I was gonna meet the president, I would’ve worn a tie.”

It was a classic symbol of our student body here at Bloomsburg University. The shirts were thoughtful and creative, as well as humorous. It was a great touch to a wonderful campus event to help kick off the fall semester.

Spearheaded by Justine Albright, a CGA executive board member, the student leadership organized a two-hour meet-and-greet outside our Warren Student Services Center. It was an open invitation to all students, so we weren’t sure how many would accept without having a formal RSVP in place.

I must say we were pleased to see so many students take time between classes and lunch to spend a few minutes getting to know me. CGA estimates roughly a 1,000 students in attendance, and we had students lined up to talk for more than an hour.

Some of the most common questions were:

• What are the goals for the year for the school?
• How did you become president?
• Were you ever a professor and what did you teach?
• What is your vision for Bloomsburg in the future?

I also thought it was interesting how many wanted my advice on different things. Among the most common questions were about their majors and whether they should take a minor. One that has stuck in my mind was from a biochemistry major who wanted to know if she should minor in dance. Interesting pairing, but that’s a Husky for you … always thinking outside the box.