General
What is really changing about the curriculum?
The major change is an entirely new set of degree requirements known as Foundation Requirements. In addition, course credits will change from three or four credit hours to a standard four credits. Although there will be some one- and two-credit courses for things like research, science laboratories, applied music, and some academic activities like Model U.N. and Mock Trial, the standard course will be four credits.
A student will usually take four courses in any one semester for a total of sixteen (16) credits. An additional one or two credits may be added to that as described above. So instead of averaging fourteen credit hours a semester or 28 credit hours a year in order to graduate in four years with the required 112 credit hours, a student will average 16 credits a semester, 32 credits a year, for a total of 128 credits in four years.
Why is Rhodes changing its curriculum?
The primary goal was to develop and implement a more transparent and streamlined curriculum. The new curriculum:
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Allows students to take greater responsibility for their education and to understand the goals of a liberal arts education;
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Gives students more freedom to follow their interests and aspirations;
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Creates opportunities for faculty to offer more courses that respond to the shifting currents in contemporary thought; and,
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Permits students to bring greater focus to the courses they take and to recognize that their activities inside and outside the classroom should be mutually informative and energizing.
Why is the change being made now?
The Rhodes community engaged in a thorough and reflective planning process that resulted in the Rhodes Vision. The new curriculum conforms to the college’s vision for the future.
