A comprehensive review has resulted in more than 400 classes being removed from Florida State University’s general education curriculum for the 2025-26 school year.
FSU’s Board of Trustees approved the elimination of 432 classes during a meeting on campus Thursday from 571 international education options. It was part of a new annual plan required by Florida Board of Governors regulation.
Although the results of this study – which was pushed by the Board of Governors to comply with the state law pushed by Governor Ron DeSantis – could remove hundreds of courses from the options for students to meet educational requirements, they will not be removed from the courses completely. They will continue to be offered as options.
“We are living in an era of reform in higher education,” FSU Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Jim Clark said Thursday at the trustees’ meeting.
FSU Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Jim Clark.
“There has been a lot of interpretation and discussion every day to make sure that we are able to keep the lessons that we think are important in gen ed for freshmen and students while respecting the principles of reform that the parliament has been continuing through the law. .”
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Why are hundreds of courses being removed?
Florida Board of Governors Regulation 8.005 was amended in January to require each of the 12 university presidents and boards of trustees in the State University System (SUS) to review and approve all academic grants annually beginning this year.
The regulation stems from a far-reaching higher education law passed by DeSantis and Florida Republicans last year that also banned spending tied to diversity, equity and inclusion and implementing a new assessment system — all key to DeSantis’ reform efforts. higher education system.
The new law for evaluating public education courses is consistent with Florida Statute 1007.25, which defines how universal education must be broad in nature. This prohibits studies of “politics” or “theories that racism, sexism, oppression and privilege are found in US institutions”
In February, the Florida Department of Education provided FSU with a list of its academic revision programs, where the university decided which ones would be kept, updated or eliminated.
Although the university previously submitted a list of 357 approved academic courses out of 571 to the Board of Governors in August, the list was returned to the trustees in September with a response to be re-evaluated, which said most of the courses were not met. the new world education as it was “very narrow in scope.”
Clark said FSU President Richard McCullough worked closely with Florida SUS Chancellor Ray Rodrigues during that time, and the provost’s team as well as department chairs and faculty were also part of discussions about the transition since February.
“One of the things that really caught my attention was ‘that course is narrow,'” McCullough said Thursday, referring to the revision process. “It takes a lot of work to look at each of these courses to see that. ‘we are under time … but I want to recommend that we think about it in the second phase.’
‘This is a big job’
Out of the 432 courses voted to be removed from General Education by China, 126 courses were approved while 13 were modified and are awaiting review by the Board of Governors before being added to the list of approved classes.
432 subjects were removed from General Education from Theories of African American Studies, Critics of Religion and American Multi-Ethnic Literature to Feminism and Globalization, Evolution of Human Sexuality and LGBTQ History.
While a significant number of courses related to the humanities and natural sciences were eliminated, several chemistry and math classes were also eliminated and deemed appropriate for juniors and seniors as they enter their majors, according to the university.
Earlier this year at Florida A&M University, trustees voted to remove 18 academic programs from a list of more than 160 grants, which had already been approved by the Board of Governors.
“This is new,” FSU trustee and Academic Committee Chair Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz said Thursday. “This is a great job we did, it’s a good job.”
“It was not surprising, I think, when we got the idea of this law and what it would include, but this work allowed us to understand what we are teaching,” he added.
FSU trustee and Academic Committee Chair Vivian de las Cuevas-Diaz.
With a current total of 577 academic courses, FSU has the second largest offering in SUS while the University of Florida offers nearly 1,000 academic classes, according to FSU’s Associate Vice President for Faculty Development and Advancement Amy Guerette. Some universities in the system offer as few as 68.
Chairman of the FSU Board of Trustees Peter Collins says the change at the university has the potential to “impact our freshmen and sophomore experience and learning environment.” At the same time, he thinks it was “good cleaning.”
“It’s a good effort, but it’s important that we communicate with the teachers and the people who teach these classes every day to let them know that the board (of trustees) is not trying to undermine what they’re trying to teach,” said Collins.
FSU Board of Trustees Chairman Peter Collins.
The removal from the list of international education courses does not translate into job losses for teachers, according to a university spokesperson.
The Board of Governors will meet January 29 and 30 on the campus of the University of North Florida to review the remaining documents for SUS general education courses.
“This is a marathon — not a sprint,” Clark said. “This is not a one-time event or a one-time event. Each year, we will be re-evaluating and looking at gen ed offerings. “
Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article first appeared on the Tallahassee Democrat: FSU trustees vote to remove more than 400 courses from general education.