Dancing and painting could soon help undergraduate engineers get one step closer to graduation.
The Engineering Student Council board is currently considering a policy that would allow visual and performing arts classes to count as non-technical electives for School of Engineering and Applied Science students.
Currently, SEAS students are required to satisfy a 27-point elective non-technical requirement, in addition to several required non-technical courses in the Core Curriculum. Performing arts classes do not fulfill these requirements, and only one visual arts course can count towards the 27 points, and it must be at the 3000 level or higher. This poses a problem for students because often, in order to take a class at that level, they are required to take both a beginning and intermediate course—neither of which they get non-technical credit for.
According to ESC Secretary Heidi Ahmed, SEAS ’11 and Jacob Keith, SEAS ’13, members of the policy committee are working on changing these requirements, though they are still in the planning stages.
The policy committee plans to survey students and contact administration and faculty to get their various stances on having arts classes count for non-technical credit.
If they garner support from students and faculty, ESC members will create an academic policy proposal.
The process, though, may not be so easy. “Academic policies are very difficult to get through,” Ahmed said.
Ahmed said the change might have to be gradual: “Maybe one course or three to four credits to be allowed to be taken up by a visual or performing arts class. Currently it’s zero.”
Some SEAS students said that this policy would change the way they choose courses.
Kamal Yechoor, SEAS ’11, has not taken visual or performing arts classes himself, but said he might enroll, if the policy was in place. “If I did get credit ... I would definitely consider taking them,” Yechoor said, adding, “It’s something our student body should take advantage of. This exists for our university, so why shouldn’t it for credit for SEAS?”
Ahmed agreed that without non-technical credit incentives, “A lot of students are deterred from actually taking these courses.”
This is not the first time the council has brought the issue to the table.
ESC President Whitney Green, SEAS ’10, said that it has come up in previous council meetings, from students not on the board. ESC even approached the SEAS administration about the policy two years ago. “The argument was that since we do have several minors, they’re thinking that should be the students’ opportunity to take visual or performing arts,” Green said. “We’re saying they need to provide us with more opportunities.”
Many SEAS students support the idea, especially because SEAS, unlike engineering schools at other colleges, emphasizes the humanities by requiring engineers to participate Core Curriculum.
Carla Williams, SEAS ’11, said, “We embrace engineers who aren’t simply interested in math and science but have liberal arts inclinations,” adding, “By limiting what our non-technical electives can be it’s kind of a double standard.”
Yechoor agreed that SEAS students, with the University at their disposal, should be skilled in a variety of disciplines, and should have the opportunities to explore their interests. “This is why we chose a university like this that is very strong in the liberal arts.”
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