On Wednesday, Nov. 1, the Chancellor, Joe Gow, was a guest speaker at the Student Association meeting. 

While there, some questions arose for Gow including a change to the general education requirements and how to better involve different types of communities. 

These changes would potentially include lesser credits needed by students in order to graduate. Instead of requiring students to take 48 credits, it would be potentially changed to 42. This would mainly be done so students can focus more on their major.  

The people behind this movement are a committee of ten people, nine faculty members, and Lauren Mason, UWL Student Association Vice President. It began with four proposals but now the committee is down to one. The committee has been holding various open forums with faculty, trying to get their input on this change and to also get student opinions on this. 

The Higher Learning Commission did approve the University’s general education requirements. However, when the committee behind the movement and more people started talking to groups on campus, the conclusion was that the proposal could be improved. 

This has been a semester-long discussion; the committees are continuing to figure out how certain general education courses fit together in an effort to make the selection better for students. Mason stated, “We want it to be something that you actually take a piece away from.” 

Another reason the committee is looking to change this requirement is to help out with graduation. “We are hoping that it will make it a lot easier for students to graduate, especially with the reduction in the number of credits, you need for general education,” explained Mason. 

With this reduction, students will have more time to focus on their major credit and class requirements. 

Besides focusing on general education requirements while The Chancellor was there, there was also a lot of discussion about diversity and inclusion within the student body.

The Student Association expressed concern when this topic of inclusion came up. Both Gow and The Senate wanted to make sure there was plenty of incorporation when it came to these groups. The Student Association hopes to better diversify and promote inclusion with the Chancellor’s help.