Students were able to voice their opinions on possible future curriculum changes for Iona at a town hall in November as part of the school’s core review process.

The core review is being coordinated as part of the college’s strategic plan in order to examine the purpose and construction of the core curriculum.

The review began in the summer of 2013, when several faculty members attended a retreat, where they began discussing possible future improvements to the core. The core revision has been an ongoing process since then.

The core review team is co-chaired by Dr. Tricia Mulligan of the political science department and Dr. Michael Jordan of the philosophy department. Five other faculty members from various departments join them. The objective of the group is to implement a more effective, efficient core curriculum at Iona.

“This is an exciting opportunity for the college to take a look at what it means to have an Iona College education,” Mulligan said in an interview.

“What makes it special? Unique? The idea is to have a common educational experience for Iona students and to have the linkages among its core components be intentional and clear,” she said.

The Student Government Association (SGA) also attended the Town Hall meeting and several office-holding members offered their views on changes to the core.

“The core is useful because it gives students two years to explore a variety of subjects and decide what you want to do,” said SGA President and senior Jaclyn Shearer. She emphasized the idea that many underclassmen are not sure what they want to major in.

Similarly, junior CJ Funaro, SGA’s vice president for administration, stated that he believed the core was useful in that it provides a broader view of an overall subject, which ultimately helps a student decide what to major in.

Many who spoke at the meeting agreed that while the core was an essential part of a well-rounded education, the system currently in place was in need of re-examination and revision.

“We would like to have a core that is flexible and adaptive and able to expose students to important disciplines while allowing them to have a greater opportunity to align these courses with their own interests,” Mulligan said.

“There is also a lot of excitement over the potential for increased interdisciplinary learning opportunities and great emphasis on internationalization,” she said.

Students at the Town Hall indicated that they need more choice and more flexibility in their academic programs so that they can more effectively broaden their knowledge and take full advantage of their time at Iona.

“I think the current core curriculum repeats too much of what we already learned at least 3-5 times in junior high and high school,” said senior Nicholas Cummings, an economics major.

“I’m not against a liberal arts education nor am I opposed to the 120 credit requirement, but I’d rather pay to learn things I didn’t already learn,” Cummings said.

Cummings also expressed appreciation along with a little disappointment concerning the Town Hall.

“I like the fact that Iona reached out to students to help shape the new core, but the turnout was low and heavy on Honors students whose core is very different,” he said.

The discourse will continue throughout the remainder of the school year as the committee hopes to have a plan by the spring of 2014.

If successful, the idea is to have the plan approved by New York State during the 2014-2015 school year and then implemented in the fall of 2015 for the incoming class of 2019.

Any student who missed the Town Hall and wishes to provide input on the core can do so at the Core Review Team’s website at www.iona.edu/corereview.

Managing Editor Alexandra Vinci and News Editor Megan Broderick contributed to this report.