The English Department at Texas A&M has become one of the first departments at the University to introduce a shorter catalog, allowing students to graduate with 120 hours.
The catalog comes after a mandate from the Texas Legislature to provide an incentive for students to graduate within four years, said Claude Gibson, director of undergraduate studies in the English Department.
The department introduced the catalog in the 2007-2008 school year, and similar degree plans are being launched in other majors. Most programs at the University have degree plans that require more than 120 hours. Programs and catalogs that cross the 120-hour mark are reviewed and cleared by the State Higher Education Board.
For a degree plan to be cut to 120 hours, the majors are mostly cutting the required amount of elective hours.
Gibson said the flat rate tuition was creating spaces, and the fewer hours created incentive to take more hours and graduate on time.
"This, financially, is to the students' benefits in the aspect of leaving school sooner, but the downfall is that it cuts into your electives and students chance to broaden their interest," Gibson said.
When asked how the English Department converted so quickly to the catalog in comparison to other departments, he said, "The English Department is trying to maintain the integrity of the degree plan while cutting programs, and we want to be No. 1 here at A&M, so we decided to convert it quickly and just bite the bullet."
Similar plans will most likely be available to students in the rest of the College of Liberal Arts, said the assistant dean of the college, Don Curtis. He said he's working with departments in the college to design the new catalogs.
"Academically, I understand the reasoning," Curtis said of the push for 120-hour catalogs. "It saves money, but what happens when a plan is shortened is that it is taking electives and the chance to expand student horizons."
The transition is at the discretion of individual colleges and the state to make sure the catalog is enacted. Though the process can be done quickly for English and similar liberal arts majors, advisers said the process would be more tedious for detailed programs like aerospace engineering, which has fewer electives to cut.
Be the first to comment on this article!