University sets general education review

De La Salle University-Manila will start reviewing its general education offering to develop in the students the skills needed to function in a rapidly changing world and to better prepare them for global competition.

Dr. Allan Bernardo, dean of the College of Education, will head the committee that will review and develop the general education program. Members of the committee will include the deans of the other colleges and the Office of Students Affairs, as well as the Office of the Vice President for Academics and Research.
According to Bernardo, the discussions on general education will be pursued under four main objectives—to clarify and define the purpose of the program; to identify the model for general education that La Salle can adopt; to develop the program’s structure and components; and to prepare for the transition stage and implementation of the program.

Initially, the committee will look into the profiles of exemplary general education programs of colleges and universities in North America, Australia, and Europe. Among the American schools whose general education programs will be studied by the committee are Harvard University, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Yale University, Duke University, and University of North Carolina.

He pointed out that while the program of these higher education institutions may serve as models for DLSU-Manila, the committee will develop the University’s own general education program in the context of Philippine realities. The program will also take into consideration the Lasallian vision-mission as the University sets major development targets in time for the celebration of the centenary of Lasallian education in the country in 2011.

Bernardo said that the committee will issue regular bulletins to inform the Lasallian community of the developments in the review and to generate comments and suggestions from the various sectors. The committee work will take about one school year, and the introduction of the new curriculum is tentatively set for June 2004.

The review of the general education program was first raised as part of the recent University College proposal. While the latter will no longer be pursued, the University administration deemed it necessary to continue development efforts on the general curriculum to provide the students with an intellectual foundation that will expose them to the best practices in inquiry-based learning and to current knowledge, which will help them achieve professional success.