The Observer, October 14, 2005
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 7
SAGES flawed, causes unrest among first-year students
For the past three years, the university has invested an exhaustive amount of time, money, and energy into the SAGES program in an effort to diversify the type of education received and the skills developed by Case students. Where in previous years the typical engineering student could have gone through four years without having written so much as one academic essay, the program was supposed to ensure that all students earned a degree after taking an array of well-rounded courses. The program was to culminate in the production of a senior capstone – designed through the application of critical research and effective communication skills – and a writing portfolio, which would serve as a testament to their abilities as writers. While the ideologies and rationale behind the program provide respectable goals for the university, the implementation of the program may have occurred too soon to serve as a useful tool for students in the future and has created a sense of unrest among the freshman class.
When SAGES began as a pilot program, it was clear that there were glitches in the system. From a lack of available professors to teach courses to a minuscule number of courses to choose from – especially when compared to the old general education requirements – the program did little more than to fuse students from different majors into a small-group setting. Throughout the course of its first few years, changes were made to improve the curriculum and offer students more flexibility. However, the program was instituted as required curricula far before the benefits could be proven. The first participants of SAGES are still at Case and in the process of gathering the necessary information and data to complete their capstones. By implementing the program so soon, the university missed out on valuable information that could only be gathered post-graduation, such as the value of SAGES-acquired skills in the job market and the long-term effects of SAGES on students.
As for new students, the major complaints have stemmed from issues with AP credit and the enormous time commitment that SAGES courses require outside of the classroom. Students who came to Case with the type of AP credit that used to cover English 150 – the first-year English requirement that most universities accept – and other freshmen classes have now realized that their $82 testing fees and the hard work invested into their course have been a waste. Additionally, upon enrolling at Case they are expected to attend a myriad of events, lectures, and museum visits that are required for their classes. While community involvement and cultural appreciation are certainly desireable characteristics, forced attendance is no way to foster these values.
Now that SAGES has begun in full force, the time has come for the university to listen to the suggestions and complaints that this freshman class has to offer. There is no question that a previously faulty system should be subject to change, but such large changes in the graduation requirements for the students of Case should only take effect if they are demonstrably worthy of the standards the university has set before. In replacing one flawed system with another, the university has yet to make any actual improvements to the current system, but has only added on a new set of problems for a new class.
