At Adelphi, a new general education curriculum

Adelphi University now offers a new general education curriculum.

The new PATH (Preparation, Awareness, Transformation and Hands-On Learning) curriculum is designed to help students discover their strengths and career potentials, according to a news release.

The new curriculum – a “reimagined” general education program – was several years in the making, and through a “wide-ranging and immersive core curriculum,” aims to foster self-discovery and lifetime learning, according to the university.

“You can’t stay in a bubble to be successful in today’s world,” Jacqueline Johnson, an associate professor and acting chair of sociology and faculty co-chair of the General Education Committee at Adelphi, said in a statement. “We see PATH as a dynamic superpower that will give students a different perspective on what interests them-and as a celebration of something we do extremely well at Adelphi.”

Accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the 30-credit program now “serves as a cornerstone of an Adelphi education,” according to the university. As with previous general education programs, it still requires students to take courses in the arts, humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and mathematics, computing and logic. In this program, students must also choose an interdisciplinary first-year seminar from a host of options and to complete a first-year English composition course.

Other required courses are designed to help students navigate complex contemporary challenges. They include courses in both oral and written communications, two courses in quantitative reasoning and an information literacy course to help students separate legitimate sources of information from misinformation. Students must also take two courses in global learning/civic engagement.

In designing the program, the university looked for ways for the curriculum to evolve in order to continue to meet students’ needs, according to Salvatore Petrilli, associate dean for academic operations and general education in Adelphi’s College of Arts and Sciences.

Pointing out that general education can take on different meanings at other institutions, Petrilli looked at what it meant at Adelphi.

“All aspects of PATH were already here-from a dedicated faculty to a range of innovative courses,” Petrilli said in a statement. “We just needed to explain it as a journey to meet our students’ academic goals and help them explore specific areas of interest. PATH is helping students become the adults they are going to be.”

The program is also designed to reduce what the university calls “checkbox” strategies, in which students enroll in a course in order to satisfy requirements outside of their major. Faculty advisors are guiding their students to map strategies meets their goals, whether by broadening their view of their major or by exploring new paths.

“Adelphi has always had a faculty-driven gen ed program,” Johnson said. “Our faculty [members] take PATH very seriously and are invested in creating high-impact, educational, engaging experiences for their students. Because many full-time faculty also serve as academic advisers, PATH provides a starting point for students to have a different kind of conversation with their advisers – one that takes a more holistic approach to their intellectual interests.”

The new program, Johnson said, is “a shift to a way of thinking about courses that helps students take advantage of opportunities as they move through their college journey.”