A proposal that will revamp Sacramento State’s general education requirements will go into effect fall 2013 if approved by the university’s faculty senate.

With the intent of creating a general education program closely following that of the entire CSU system, a committee of the university proposed to eliminate current required classes and revise course options under areas B, C and D.

If approved, students will no longer have to take the second semester English course, English 20. The foreign language and race and ethnicity course requirements will also be eliminated with the material of those classes being incorporated into other general education and major classes.

The General Education/Graduation Requirements Policies Committee’s proposal is set to undergo a series of reviews by the Senate Executive Committee and then the full faculty senate, said Sheree Meyer, associate dean for undergraduate studies.

“It is likely that this will not move forward to the Senate until early in the fall semester,” Meyer said.

The committee recently completed a series of three question-and-answer sessions with faculty, staff and students for feedback, Meyer said. The feedback will be taken under consideration and the proposal will be revised to be passed on.

In 2011, the committee began a review of the general education system. Meyer submitted a report to the campus community which “called into question the composition of the general education program and the variances from CSU system requirements which add time to completion, courses, cost and complexity to students,” according to the proposal.

Other proposed changes include the elimination of the sub-areas under the Arts and Humanities section. Areas C-1 through C-4 will be changed to include only C-1 (Arts) and C-2 (Humanities). The World Civilizations requirement will be eliminated.

Under the new plan, the amount of units required from area D, The Individual and Society section, will be reduced from 15 units to 12. Classes with incorporated labs will also be created in areas B-1 and B-2.

If the faculty senate accepts the proposal, it will be sent to the president for approval.

“It is a continual process of improvement by the faculty for the students,” said Janet Hecsh, vice chair of the faculty senate.

Alex Slavas can be reached at [email protected].