If the USG Core Curriculum Initiative continues as it has so far, it could well cost the USG institutions their SACS accreditation. The SACS “Principles of Accreditation” require that the faculty initiate the curriculum. It can easily be demonstrated that this proposed Initiative did not originate with the USG faculty. The USG institutions, particularly the research universities, have worked assiduously and collegially to develop the present Core Curriculum. But the USG Strategic Plan 2007 included as its Strategic Goal One “restructuring the core curriculum,” further stating that the “USG will ensure that its institutions are providing students with the knowledge and abilities they need to meet challenges of our rapidly evolving, technologically connected global world.” Both of the “Preliminary Conceptual Models” of the USG Core Curriculum Initiative follow this wording and concept quite closely. Aside from a three-week faculty survey (that has not been publicized on all USG campuses), the process so far has been strictly top-down. A reminder to all concerned: university governance is supposed to be shared governance between the faculty and the administration, and court decisions have agreed. Faculty governance means that the faculty determine the curriculum. SACS may enforce this.
---An English Professor
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