If approved by faculty senate, the expanded global competency requirement will expect future students to pursue the cultural aspect of their liberal arts education more than prior students.

As a brief recap, incoming students would have to select one of three tracks from the new Global Passport Strategies program in order to fulfill the requirement. The first track involves taking 12 credit hours of French or Spanish, the second track allows students to “mix and match” both culture courses and a foreign language, and the third track allows students to study abroad.

The logistics of implementing the GPS program are still being debated by faculty senate, which will vote to approve, disapprove or continue making changes to the program sometime next year.

Unlike the previous program, which had inconsistent requirements for students based on the degree they were pursuing, the new program will ensure the same amount of culturally diverse classes among students.

With a total of 42 students interviewed, there appears to be a divide between approval and disapproval of the new program. While most people approved of the changes-30 students-the remaining 12 reflect a considerable percentage of disapproving students.

“I don’t think it’s a negative thing, though some people may because they’re forced to take a language,” junior Amy Carrier said. “Maybe people might come in thinking they don’t have to take a language and will be frustrated by it.”

When considering whether or not she would prefer GPS over the old requirement, sophomore Alexandria Ewbenk decided she is happy with her current requirements.

“I like not having to do it,” Ewbenk said. “I have a busy schedule already and fitting that into it, I definitely would not have been able to graduate in four years. I think I would prefer what we’re going through now.”

Out of the three tracks, the first option-taking 12 credit hours of a foreign language- was the least popular. Only seven students would have chosen the first track over the other two.

The students’ reasons for choosing the first track, however, generally pertained to the need for Americans to begin learning more than one language.

“I think I would do the all foreign language track because I think-since I’m going into education-it would really help,” junior Angie Fair said. “If I’m doing Spanish, I think it’ll be beneficial. There’s more diversity as time goes on, so I really think this is something that will benefit students.”

If given the chance to start over, Fair would prefer to take the additional foreign language classes as a part of completing her bachelor’s degree.

“I really wish they would have made me take a foreign language because I didn’t have time for it in my schedule,” Fair said. “I think everyone can benefit from a foreign language.”

Like Fair, first-year graduate Auggie Promersberger believes taking foreign languages and becoming fluent is an important skill to have in one’s career. As a business major, Promersberger sees the value in learning other languages, not just for correspondence with possible clients, but simply to become more marketable.

“During my grad class I’m taking now, we had a discussion and my professor said that business in the United States is going to go to Canada, Mexico and throughout Europe,” Promersberger said. “The people who are going to get hired are the ones who know French, Italian, German, Spanish…I think it’s absolutely necessary.”

Other students, such as freshman Allison Dieter, were torn between opting for the first track or another.

“I would choose the first track or study abroad if I could find the funding,” Dieter said. “With things starting to be more global, it would help, but it also adds to the load.”

The biggest problem she sees with the new program regards how many courses are needed to fulfill the global competency requirement.

“Maybe not 12 credits, but maybe six instead,” Dieter said. “12 credits can be a lot.”

Despite what some students feel is an unnecessary course load, others seem more optimistic towards the mixed track, which allows students to take both language and culture-related courses. By far, it was the most popular track among students, leading with 24 votes.

“I think it’s important to encourage cultural awareness because a lot of people have no idea about other cultures except what they see in the media, which is usually stilted anyway,” sophomore Kayla Stanziano said. “I think it will achieve the goal of being culturally aware better.”

Freshman Evan Siefke agreed with this reasoning and said he would take the second track as well if given the chance. Since he took four years of Spanish in high school, he would want to focus more on the cultural aspects.

“I understand what they’re trying to do,” Siefke said. “It makes you more marketable if you know about the languages. I know teachers specifically are more marketable if they know a language. In business, you get paid more if you know another language.”

If he had to choose between the new and old program, however, Siefke said he would still adhere to the old one.

While sophomore Julie Rose said she believes taking four years of Spanish in high school gave her more than enough opportunity to learn a language, she generally expressed a positive view of GPS.

“I’d probably choose the second [track] because I took four years of Spanish in high school and that just killed me…you learn the nouns, you learn the verbs, then you conjugate them,” she said. “If you have the option of exploring multiple languages or cultures, that would be a better approach to it because it gives you more experience…The United States is really starting to fill up with ethnically diverse people and it’s good to be exposed to different things, so I’d choose the new program.”

“I took Exploring World Religions and really enjoyed that because it opened up my eyes,” Rose added. “Since I’m going to be teacher, I’m going to have ethnically diverse students and so the better I can relate to them, the easier it’ll be for them to understand things in my classroom.”

While many students seemed intrigued by the idea of studying abroad, a large percentage communicated financial issues as a major obstacle they do not feel they are able to overcome. Eleven students reported their preference to study abroad, making it the second most popular track.

“If it weren’t for the financial hoops you have to jump through, I would study abroad,” sophomore Silas Horst said. “I know a lot of students can’t take any scholarships…so if I’m pressed for money, I’d probably do the mix-and-match [track].”

Junior Lynda Romer agreed, stating: “If I could afford it, I would study abroad.”

Despite the financial challenges, students also recognize the many ways studying abroad can help an individual grow.

“I feel like it makes you a more rounded person,” sophomore Lexie Young said. “I feel like you’re different after you experience that.”

Additionally, studying abroad grants students certain experiences that cannot be replicated in the typical classroom.

“It gives people more of a direct relationship with the culture and they’re able to interact better than just being in a classroom at AU,” sophomore Darnell Woods said.

As Horst pointed out, many students tend to forget the reason why they agree to attend a liberal arts institution.

“When you sign on to a liberal arts education that’s kind of part of the deal- you’re supposed to get a little bit of everything,” Horst said. “If I was running the show I’d choose the new program. It opens [students] up to more than what they usually get.”

With or without the current students’ approval, it will be the incoming students in 2012 who will be the ones experiencing first-hand the new global competency requirement.