The Sandspur

Issue date: 9/18/06 Section: Life & Times

Media Credit: Ryan Walls The new head of the English Department, Dr. Twila Papay, will be working to help seniors fulfill their graduation requirements.

It is every senior's fear to not graduate on time, especially due to a minor mistake. Half of the battle of graduating in four years is achieving all designated course requirements for one's declared major.

However, if you are an English major you may have even more to worry about this year, and that is because of the newly instituted changes in the department's requirements. Many students that study English believe that these modifications were made because the original track was confusing and difficult to complete.

The new revision omits a core course requirement, the senor seminar, and institutes World Literature courses as options to American and English Literature. Alan Nordstrom, a Professor in the English department, explains, "It offers six electives from departmental (and foreign literature) offerings. The senior assessment course has been scrapped except for each graduate's responsibility to produce an annotated portfolio of their best writings in the department during their college career. And the fairly recent requirement in the previous curriculum of English Essentials has now been amplified into a four-credit course."

In theory, the changes should make the English major's life a little less complicated. Yet, the altered curriculum has been causing a lot of stress for current juniors and seniors.

Students who plan to stay on the original track face the issue that Rollins does not offer courses that they may need to graduate in four years. Many seniors still need to take the junior colloquy course, yet it may not be offered in the spring. The English department has come up with a temporary solution where students can take specified courses in place of this requirement, but other cases are not as easy to resolve.

Harrison Davis, a student sticking to the old track, complained about issues concerning the senior assessment course. "They aren't offering this specific class next semester and I desperately need it to graduate on time. I don't have any other option in order to graduate this Spring."

The English department has held several meetings in the previous weeks to discuss the possibility of offering the class because so many seniors voiced their frustration.

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