Changing a curriculum is already stressful enough without finding new ways to create anxiety, discontent, and rancor. To provide a truly integrated liberal education, the author contends that educators must not only change their curricula--the courses they offer--but they must change what they do in the classroom, the kinds of papers and…

For four years, the author of this article was the English department learning community coordinator in one of the larger learning community (LC) programs in the country. During his tenure, the number of composition sections linked with courses in other departments grew from a handful to sixty-four. Over this same period, the retention rates for…

Discusses the pitfalls of departmental "territoriality" and asserts that faculty groups must transcend disciplinary perspectives and assume responsibility for general education in order to protect students' broader educational interests. (EV)

The emergence of undergraduate majors in America is reviewed, and a survey of administrative attitudes on undergraduate majors is discussed. Today's academic departments control majors entirely by determining how many courses will constitute their major, what these courses will be, and in what order they will be taken. (MLW)

The traditional undergraduate separation of general education, the major, and the electives does not reflect what happens in the student's learning, and lacks direction and clarity of purpose. Collaboration among generalists and specialists within and between the departments is needed to prepare students better.

The diversity of a student body may call for new structures to meet their learning needs. The traditional college organization (the course unit of instruction, the academic department, and the lack of easy interdepartmental cooperation) may hinder both the articulation of common educational problems and the solutions to them. (Author/MLW)