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3276 DOCUMENTS OF THE GENERAL FACULTY EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE RESOLUTION ON THE LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT On behalf of the Educational Policy Committee, Professor Paul Woodruff (philosophy) submitted the following resolution on the legislative requirement. For additional background information, see the report D 2686, which was presented to the Faculty Council on January 26, 2004, by Professor Archie Holmes, co-chair of the Educational Policy Committee. Also, see the minutes of that meeting (D 2646-2961). The secretary has classified this as general legislation. It will be presented to the Faculty Council for action at its meeting on May 10, 2004. <signed> Sue Alexander Greninger, Secretary The Faculty Council Posted on the Faculty Council Web site on May 4, 2004. Paper copies are available on request from the Office of the General Faculty, FAC 22, F9500. 3277 EDUCATIONAL POLICY COMMITTEE RESOLUTION ON THE LEGISLATIVE REQUIREMENT April 9, 2004 Resolved that the University request the legislature to allow universities in Texas to set their own requirements in history and government, in order to prepare students for good citizenship, subject to approvals by the Coordinating Board. Rationale: Background. The current 12-hour requirement is for 6 hours of American history and 6 hours of American government, including Texas government. The rigidity of this requirement delays graduation rates and impedes efforts at curricular reform. 1. The world for which we are preparing students is increasingly complex. There is so much to learn now that few major universities outside of Texas have requirements as restrictive as those now in force here under legislative mandate. Some measure of deregulation is in the best interests of students. In addition, more flexible legislative requirements will allow each college and university to adjust its degree requirements to meet new educational goals, as they develop, without adversely affecting graduation rates. 2. More flexible requirements will lead to better graduation rates, as students will be able to select from a wider array of courses that meet their time constraints or satisfy other special requirements of their degree programs. 3. More flexible requirements will also lead to a higher degree of portability for satisfying degree requirements. They will be better able to transfer credit from AP and IB courses taken at high school, and from courses taken at other colleges or universities inside or outside Texas. This too, will lead to faster graduation rates.