University of Michigan - Michiganensian Yearbook (Ann Arbor, MI)

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FRESHMEN RECEIVED A COPY OF THEIR SCHEDULE FOR THE FALL TERM AT ORIENTATION. ..WITH NO REGARD FOR THE PERSONAL PREFERENCES OF THE STUDENTS. Concentrating intently on her metals project, junior ceram- ics and art history major Megan Roach puts all the pieces together. Those under the pre-2002 undergraduate cur- riculum were able to be enrolled in other schools and have the option of art as a minor. K. Maher photo Putting the finishing touches on her ceramics piece, freshman Art and Design student Lauren Hughes works long into the evening. The new curriculum ' s days were not only taxing, but the students still had to put in the regular amount of time to finish their work. K. Maher photo 66 MlCHIGANENSIAN

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M. Christiansen photo ompeting against the standards set by professors, peers, and themselves, University students in all majors and schools pushed Wr the envelope to maintain a tradition of academic excellence. Stu- dents prospered and struggled in classes and were challenged and bored by professors. Whether participating in Living -Learn ing communities such as Lloyd Hall Scholars or pulling all-nighters in the UGLi, they worked diligently to find direction and earn a degree from one of the nation ' s top universities. ACADEMICS 65

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NEW REQUIREMENTS CAUSES MALCONTENT AMONG ART STUDENTS College: a time for intellectual freedom and a break from the mandated and sometimes uninteresting courses delegated by high school curriculums. At least that ' s what many Art and Design freshmen were anticipating when they stepped through the doors of the University ' s learning community. While many students grumbled at the restrictive nature of their concentration requirements, the Art and Design freshmen were never given an option. Many students did not take the school ' s description of highly structured for the first two years of study to mean entirely structured. We are not allowed to choose which classes we want to take or when we want to take them for our first two years; each freshman received a copy of their schedule for the fall term at orientation, which was drawn up by the administration with no regard for the personal preferences of the students, said freshman Art and Design major Taylor Rutledge. The new choice of curriculum was part of the University ' s wish to become a world-class institution with globally minded, well-rounded students. While certainly admirable in the eyes of the students affected by the new change in policy, it did create concern over insufficient time to achieve mastery in their selected art media in the remaining extraordinarily flexible two years at the school. The subsequent presentations of their work at the end of their fourth and eighth semester might have been more difficult for the students affected by the new program. Students who performed unsatisfactorily on these reviews were asked to either re-review at a later date, asked to take time off or improve problem areas, or in some cases leave the program altogether. There were also problems with the individuals interested in transferring into the program from either within the University or elsewhere. Even though I have completed an art class from the old curriculum and even though I have completed two semesters here at the University, if I were to transfer to the art school, I would still have four years of undergraduate classes ahead of me, at the least. This is, I think, understandably distressing, said sophomore LSA student Dustin Crawford. The dissatisfaction and disillusion felt by many freshman students faced with two more years of mapped out and inflexible schedules prompted them to sign petitions that were then brought to Assistant Dean Mary Schmidt in hope of modifying the curriculum and explaining the student impact of the new requirements. Waiting for these changes to happen, the discussions left to the freshmen in the Art and Design classes were concluded by Rutledge as such: We likened the new curriculum to an ice cream parlor in which we are forced to sample every flavor; even if we know we ' re allergic to chocolate, we ' re made to swallow a mouthful of Mackinac Island Fudge. BY KATHRYN TORRES ACADEMICS 67