The University of New Hampshire is by far one of the best state schools in the United States. From the amazing sports teams, to the beautiful campus and cute college town, and incredible people. With over 11 schools and hundreds of majors, there is a place for everyone at this school. At just about every University, students are required to take a certain number of general education courses. At UNH, we call that the Discovery Program.
This program has twelve different areas in which students need to take a course, in order to graduate. These areas are: Biological Science, Physical Science, Environment Tech and Society, Fine and Performing Arts, Historical Perspective, Humanities, Social Science, World Cultures, Quantitative Reasoning, Inquiry, Writing Skills and Writing Intensive. It is expected you take a class in each of these areas, in addition to meeting the requirements for your majors and minors. It is a lot to do in four years!
I decided to create a survey and get input from other UNH students on their opinions of this program. The survey asked the students their year in school, discoveries completed so far, what school they are in/major, their overall feeling of the discovery program, their favorite and least favorite discovery, and a comment box for opinions. The responses in both the overall feeling towards discoveries and comment box were very similar. 75% of people that took my survey answered, "I think discoveries are great, but less should be required to graduate." Another common trend among responses was students feel that some discoveries require more work and cause more stress than classes for their major.
College is a stressful four years. Sure, it can be the best four years of your life, but it doesn't come without challenges. Most students agree that we understand why the program is in place. This program creates well educated, well rounded students. However, for those of us who have a clear idea of what major we want to choose and what career path we would like to pursue, taking unnecessary classes just adds to our stress level.
I am by no means saying I have all of the answers or a solution to this proposed issue, but what I am saying is the Discovery Program needs to be re-evaluated. One idea I do think that would be beneficial would be offering more "generic" discoveries. For example, I am a Human Development and Family Studies major. For my quantitative reasoning, I took Psychology Statistics, what was said to be a fair, reasonable, easy class. What I endured was not fair, reasonable, or easy. I would have much rather preferred a math class learning about how to pay taxes or a mortgage -- something tangible that will be helpful in life. Also, for students who are coming into school undeclared, they take discovery courses, but these are not a fair introduction into any field. When students do take an introduction class that is not a part of the discovery program (ex: Introduction to Social Work), that class will not meet any requirements for them, unless they later declare that major.
Special thank you to the students who took my survey!
"I get how it helps us become a more well rounded scholar, but when I'm a science major and have to take a history class it can distract from my more important science studies because the discoveries are typically not a strong point." - Anonymous UNH Student
"I think that they should not force us to take discoveries, especially if they don't pertain to your major. For instance, if you're a science major, you don't find it necessary or beneficial to take a performing arts discovery and vice versa. This puts a lot of stress on the student to get their discoveries out of the way, and therefore restricts them from taking classes that are required for their major. Also, it's not fair to have to pay for a discovery that you are forced to take, it's just a way for UNH to make more profit, as some discoveries require a special fee. With that being said, I believe that UNH should change its policy about discoveries. Perhaps they should limit to a certain amount of discoveries you have to do (maybe 4 or 5) and they can still be of YOUR choice, as opposed to completing ALL of the discoveries." - Anonymous UNH Student
