By Larry B. Dendy

All undergraduate students will have to learn something about cultural diversity in America if the recommendations of a special University Council committee are adopted. But they won't all learn the same thing, or learn it in the same way.

Two options
The ad hoc committee, which has been working for almost a year on ways to teach students about cultural diversity, recommends that all undergraduates either take at least one course or complete a "learning experience" that teaches them how "to live in, work in and contribute to a culturally diverse society."

A learning experience could be an internship, a clinic or field work that occurs "in diverse settings."

Content and structure
The content and structure of the courses and learning experiences would be determined by each school or college, except the Graduate School, and would focus on "cultural diversity within the United States of America." Graduate students would be exempt from the requirement.

Schools and colleges could create a cultural diversity curriculum in several ways: by adapting existing courses that deal with some aspect of cultural diversity, by developing a new course or courses specific to their discipline, by infusing "cultural diversity content" into required courses, or by devising learning experiences.

Whatever option is used must not increase the number of hours a student needs to graduate.

Creating a curriculum
Academic units would get help in creating a curriculum from a Cultural Diversity Resource Team composed of faculty members with expertise in cultural diversity issues.

"Schools and colleges will have a lot of flexibility in developing their own curricula," Sandy Martin, chair of the ad hoc committee, told the University Council Executive Committee in presenting the plan.

"Each unit's curricula will be most appropriate for its students. But this does not require additional courses that would extend students' graduation time."

At Martin's request, the Executive Committee put the plan on the University Council's Feb. 18 agenda for discussion. The ad hoc committee will revise the plan in accord with that discussion and will present the revised plan for council adoption this spring.

Cultural diversity programs already in place in the College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Social Work and other units would continue. Plans for new curricula would be submitted to the council's Curriculum Committee for review by Dec. 31.

Martin said the goal is to have a cultural diversity requirement ready for full implementation by fall of 1998 to coincide with conversion to the semester calendar.

The committee recommends that the university help faculty stay abreast of cultural diversity issues in their field by sending them to workshops and conferences, encouraging research and providing incentives.

While graduate students would not be required to fulfill the cultural diversity requirement, the committee encourages all units with graduate programs "to evaluate the adequacy of those programs with respect to diversity content and issues and to make modifications where necessary."