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Core Courses at University of the Sunshine Coast
6 May 2006
Core courses are a distinguishing feature of all undergraduate
degree programs at the University of the Sunshine Coast (USC).
Students are required to include two core courses in the standard
24-course degree. They are completed as part of first year and
designed to be relevant to students from any discipline area.
When the University opened in 1996, all students completed four
core courses. Over the years the number and content of these
courses have changed. A student enrolling in 2006 is required to
choose two core courses from a set of three. The current suite is:
Communication and Thought; Innovation, Creativity and
Entrepreneurship; and Environment, Science and Sustainability.
Each faculty is responsible for the design and management of one
core course, although the lecturing staff in each are from across
the University to reinforce the general educational purpose of the
courses, and introduce students to staff and concepts from outside
their specific degree area. Given the two from three rule, students
must take a least one course from outside their home faculty,
although many complete both in other faculties, and some will
complete all three.
Core courses provide a structured approach to ensuring all
students are introduced to a range of learning experiences that are
central to the University's mission, such as a sound general
education and good employment outcomes for graduates. They also
provide a foundation for the graduate attributes we believe are
crucial to the future success of all our graduates: to understand;
to think; to learn; to interact; to communicate; to initiate; to
value.
Not all Australian universities offer core courses, one reason
being the difficulty of managing them in large institutions. The
universities that do have a core course program are enthusiastic
supporters of the benefits that accrue, but it is not always easy
to convince new students that studying outside a narrow discipline
area is actually to their advantage.
Employer and professional associations, however, are making it
increasingly clear that their preference is for graduates who have
more than specific discipline knowledge. Generic graduate
attributes and broader educational perspectives are being
recognised as an important component of today's graduate.
Delivery of quality core courses has provided us with some
interesting challenges. For example, from 1999 to 2005 only two
core courses were offered, but with rapidly growing student numbers
enrolment in individual courses was approaching 1000 with
associated timetabling and staffing issues. Reestablishment of a
third core course has helped resolve this issue. Likewise the rise
of flexible delivery as an important contemporary teaching model is
impacting on our approach. The University will use the core courses
as a base for a more extensive provision of e-learning across our
degree programs. We'd expect the core courses to evolve
continually to meet the challenges of new knowledge and technology
and the University's priorities, so students get the very best
introduction to university study possible. To ensure it meets this
challenge, the University has reviewed the core courses on a
regular basis with the most recent external review completed last
December by the Griffith Institute of Higher Education.
Professor Greg Hill is Acting Vice-Chancellor of University of
the Sunshine Coast in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor