A reduction in core curricula and a newly-created introduction class are two changes that will impact many Spring Hill students beginning this fall.  

Spring Hill’s Curriculum Development Committee announced changes will be made to the amount of credits and classes required for students to take before graduation.

The change consolidates the four core curriculum into one common core. Students will still need to meet the credit hours required to graduate, but less of those hours are dedicated to core courses, allowing for students to have an opportunity to take electives or exploratory courses.

 According to philosophy professor and chair of the Curriculum Development Committee Dr. Victor DiFate,  “We think that the core curriculum has been simplified and streamlined…our plan is to have all students on the new core…this is going to make graduation easier,” he added.

         Spring Hill currently uses four different curricula: Bachelor’s of Arts, Bachelor’s of Science, Bachelor’s of Education, and Bachelor’s of Nursing. These four curricula maintain their own standards and requirements. 

“When students change majors, they potentially change cores,” said DiFate. “What satisfies one core doesn’t necessarily satisfy another…Having one core curriculum for everybody makes navigating the curriculum a lot simpler and easier.,”

  According to the new requirements, the new core is 45-51 credits, much lower than the current 55-61 credits. The new core also eliminates explorations and overlay credits required in the old cores.

Another change is replacing the freshman introduction class, LEAP, with Pathways. Dr. Matthew Barnes, Math Professor and member of the Curriculum Development Committee, stated, “under the new Pathways program [students] will still have an opportunity for service trips and interact with the community.”

With this new change, students will not need to worry about taking more credit hours or classes than they would have on the current curriculum. A student’s bulletin of record will not automatically change, and remain within the Bulletin of Information at the time of a student’s enrollment into Spring Hill. 

Students are encouraged to reach out to their academic advisors if they have questions about the new curriculum. They can also reach out to Dr. Victor Difate, chair of the Core Development Committee, or Lindsey Byrd, the Coordinator of Academic Advising.