Williams Home > Strategic Planning > Curricular Innovation > Phase II: Working Papers for Discussion > Competencies & Requirements
Curricular Innovation/Working Paper #2
COMPETENCIES & REQUIREMENTS
Overview
The CEP has received many proposals for curricular innovation that concern the basic requirements we currently make of our students. Archive 2 on this website contains all the proposals and comments the CEP has received on this issue, and we would like to thank their authors for allowing us to share them with the community as a whole. Many of these proposals suggest revising, reducing, or eliminating the current divisional requirements for graduation due to their lack of clear focus. In addition, many of these proposals suggest replacing or enhancing our current divisional requirements with a more clearly defined list of competencies, which all students at Williams should be required to demonstrate before graduating from the college.
In its discussion of these proposals, the CEP has come to agree that the current divisional requirements, which expose students to the intellectual content of study across the three divisions of the college, should be modified to include gaining the intellectual skills integral to a liberal arts education. The CEP recognizes that students may gain these skills under our current requirements; however, nothing ensures that our students will acquire these fundamental skills. For example, many members of the college community have encountered students who have not learned to write on the college level during their time at Williams. In defining what we prescribe for our students and what we leave to student choice, the CEP believes that both intellectual content and skills should constitute the core of a liberal arts education.
Questions and Issues
What requirements do we currently make of our students for graduation?
In addition to completing a major, we currently require our students to take three courses in each of the three divisions of the college, to take a single course designated as Peoples and Cultures, and to complete a physical education requirement, which includes passing a swim test and completing eight quarters (six weeks per quarter) of physical education.
How might we alter our current requirements to give them a clearer focus?
The CEP believes that we should require our students both to study broad intellectual content and to gain necessary intellectual skills. We would like to discuss the possible benefits and drawbacks of:The CEP anticipates that students might fulfill multiple requirements with a single course. For example, a Geosciences tutorial could conceivably fulfill a Division III requirement as well as a writing competency, while a Japanese language course could fulfill a Peoples and Cultures requirement and a foreign language competency.
- reducing the current divisional requirements from three to two courses per division and
- instituting a series of competencies that all students would be required to fulfill in conjunction with these divisional requirements.
How would these possible changes affect students' schedules?
While developing the list of required competencies below, the CEP was careful not to increase the relative burden on students' schedules that these types of changes might bring. We estimate that the average incoming student at Williams would be able to fulfill both the reduced divisional requirements and the required competencies by taking approximately six to nine courses. For example, those students entering Williams without college-level math skills or competency in a foreign language might need to take nine courses to fulfill the distributional requirements and competencies, while those with demonstrated math and foreign language competency would probably be able to do so with only six courses.
What competencies should we require of our students for graduation?
Below we have listed those competencies that the CEP currently considers critical to a liberal arts education. We have tried to define the goal of a given competency and have only just begun to identify possible avenues for fulfilling such a requirement. The examples we offer for fulfilling these competencies are not necessarily inclusive and are intended only to stimulate useful discussion.What competencies should we recommend to our students before graduation?
- Argumentative Writing:
- how to formulate and support an argument in writing. How to fulfill: individual courses; a possible first-year seminar; tutorials.
- Critical Reading/Analysis/Inquiry:
- how to analyze and critique an argument within a particular discipline. How to fulfill: within the major; individual courses; a possible first-year seminar; tutorials.
- Foreign Language Proficiency:
- intermediate-level proficiency in a language other than English. How to fulfill: placement/proficiency exam; up to two years of language study; approved study abroad programs; summer courses; intensive courses during winter study.
- Laboratory Science:
- experience in the use of the scientific method. How to fulfill: individual courses in Division III with labs.
- Math Competency:
- basic math proficiency as currently demonstrated by passing the Quantitative Studies Bar exam. How to fulfill: placement/proficiency exam such as the current Quantitative Studies Bar Exam; individual courses.
- Peoples and Cultures:
- understanding some dimension of American cultural diversity or that of the non- Western world. How to fulfill: individual courses; approved study abroad programs.
- Quantitative Reasoning/Empirical Investigation:
- proficiency in understanding and analyzing numerical data. How to fulfill: individual courses.
Below we have listed those competencies which we do not at present believe should be required but rather should be recommended to students before graduation. The CEP hopes that advisors would play an active role in bringing these competencies to the attention of students and encouraging them to obtain these competencies during their time at Williams. Once again, we have tried to define the goal of a given competency and to identify possible avenues for obtaining it.What competencies might we also want either to require or recommend for our students?
- Public Speaking:
- how to formulate and support an argument orally. How to obtain: within individual courses; tutorials; thesis work; colloquia; a possible speaking workshop.
- Research/Information Gathering:
- how to gather information accurately and ethically from diverse sources (libraries, the internet, etc.). How to obtain: library workshops; individual courses; within the major; a Winter Study course for first-year students.
- Technological Literacy:
- facility with a variety of technology to forward one's intellectual interests and work. How to obtain: workshops; individual courses.
The CEP talked very briefly about two additional competencies, which we would like the college community will discuss for possible inclusion as either a required or a recommended competency. These two competencies focus on modes of thinking not necessarily represented in either a divisional requirement or a competency focused on an intellectual skill. As in the previous lists, we have tried to define the goal of each competency and to identify possible avenues for fulfilling or obtaining it.What requirements should we contemplate reducing or eliminating?
- Moral/Ethical Reasoning:
- ability to assess moral arguments and to analyze notions of obligation and social justice. How to fulfill/obtain: individual courses; a possible first-year seminar; service learning.
- Visual/Aural Literacy:
- describing, understanding, interpreting, and/or creating non-verbal texts. How to fulfill/obtain: individual courses.
The CEP would like to suggest reviewing the physical education requirement we currently make of our students. During its discussion of this requirement, many members of the CEP suggested that the current requirement of eight quarters of physical education be reduced to four, while other members of the committee favored eliminating this requirement entirely. The majority of the committee, however, agreed that the swimming requirement made of all incoming students should be eliminated. The CEP hopes that reducing the number of required physical education courses would allow faculty in the Athletic Department to offer a greater proportion of physical education courses that would prepare students for a lifetime of fitness and physical activity. The CEP believes that physical fitness and the ability to swim are of vital importance to our students' well-being, and we would like to consider ways to recommend and encourage our students to continue taking physical education courses when and if the current requirement is changed.
Archive 2 - Competencies & Requirements