After a 10-9 vote in faculty senate to change Quest linked courses from corequisite to co or prerequisite, a petition to reverse the decision is being circulated among BU faculty.
Currently, students enrolled through the Quest program for general education must take six Quest classes, four of which must be taken during the same semester as one of the linked courses. Students on the Baldwin City campus must complete the Quest program in order to graduate. The proposal passed allows students to take a linked course prior to taking its accompanying Quest class.
The faculty senate vote took place March 19, one day after a town hall meeting, which explored the idea of the change.
Erin Joyce, assistant dean of liberal studies and Quest director, said the vote at faculty senate was unexpected for some faculty. At the town hall meeting, it was discussed that Joyce and other faculty groups would weigh pros and cons and look at alternative solutions. Some of the faculty felt the vote on Tuesday didn’t allow Joyce the time to look further into the issue.
Erin Morris, biology department representative to faculty senate, presented the proposal to faculty senate. She said the math, science and computer science faculty support the proposal because students with those majors have to take many of their major classes in sequence, which makes the task of scheduling their Quest and linked course together more difficult. Some students are having to take more than 18 hours because they are unable to fit the Quest course, linked course and their major courses all in one schedule.
“If we could unlink the courses, then they would have an opportunity to get a head start their first semester of college,” Morris said. “They have to take so many courses in a particular order, so they can’t delay starting, say, a year-long physics class just so they can take a Quest and a link.”
Joyce said faculty who don’t want the change implemented are concerned that the Quest program has been distinctive and it assures students are taking linked courses through Baker. By changing the corequisite requirement, that may no longer be the case.
Currently, students are pre-enrolling and planning next semester’s schedule, which Joyce said is why there’s such a rush to resolve this issue.
“If we unlink the courses, people are enrolling for fall and this could affect students’ schedules,” she said.
The petition to invoke an override of the faculty senate vote must be signed by 25 percent of faculty by Wednesday. If that happens, a secret mail ballot to the entire faculty will take place.
Although the petition could eventually lead to overturning the vote, the petition is not questioning the faculty’s decision in senate. Some faculty members are concerned that during the town hall meeting, it was decided that the issue would be examined through various faculty groups and university offices to offer the best solutions for all. The concern is that the vote was taken too quickly for those groups to be able to follow through with their evaluations.
“I know it’s important we find a solution and we’re going to work very hard to be sure no students will be overburdened by this program,” Joyce said.
