Advising Center clears confusion

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Pacific University will introduce a new core curriculum for undergraduates starting in the fall of 2018.

Participating in the new core will be a mandatory requirement only for new students coming to Pacific next semester. While current students will have the option to switch to the new core program or to continue on with the old core program.

Pacific’s new core will consist of three main sections, Foundations, Applications and Explorations.

According to the Director of Academic Advising Gretchen Potter, Explorations will replace Focal Studies in the new core, as students previously struggled to understand and complete their focal studies in the old core curriculum.

“What we are trying to do is have something that is simpler in terms of figuring out options,” Potter said. “And having it be easier to navigate for students.”

The new core will also include new core requirements, including a Writing in the Disciplines requirement and Sustainability requirement.

Potter strongly recommends current students take ample time in deciding whether or not to switch to the new core, and encourages students to speak with the Advising Center and their academic advisors before making a final decision.

“I have been talking with a lot of current freshman and sophomores, and it is about fifty-fifty,” Potter said. “When I look at their records and talk with them about their plans, for fifty percent of the students it’s best to stay here with the old core, and for the other fifty percent it’s best to go with the new core.”

According to Potter, students who have completed most, or all, of their core requirements already are recommended to stay with the current core program.

The Advising Center will be visiting the University Center on March 8, from 11:35 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., and March 14, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., to discuss the new core and answer any questions students may have.

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