Steve Kuhn wrote:
>
> I my dark moments I carry your arguments to their conclusion: we should have
> no university-wide requirements at all, since the individual departments can
> be trusted to make appropriate decisions about what is appropriate for their
> students. Do the students earn a department degree or a university degree?
>
> -Steve
> _________________________________________
> Stephen Kuhn
> Mathematics Department
>

Why is this idea a "dark moment"? Why stop with department choices?  Why
not allow each individual student, with advisor approval, to choose the
most appropriate courses from the entire list of classes taught? I hold
a B.A. degree from a college at the University of the Pacific that, at
that time, had no requirements except completing sufficient units and
choosing courses with the approval of an advisor. I like to think I
turned out reasonably well educated. I made a pretty good score on the
GRE (good enough to get into graduate school and secure a fellowship at
UC Davis).

To award a major the courses selected would of course have to conform
sufficiently with the appropriate standards (accreditation and
otherwise) in the appropriate discipline(s) (following rules set by the
department). In my case, I did not pursue a traditional major (my degree
reads "in Liberal Arts").

Richard
--
Richard L Gambrell, Director of Computing Systems and Networks
Information Technology Division, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
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