From lowering the grade point average requirements for studying abroad to providing credit for participation in community service activities, the One BU proposal outlines a variety of changes that students say they are excited about.
Some, like College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Lea Petrovic, said if implemented, the proposal would help undecided students find their calling.
“I’m a Dean’s host and parents who bring their kids on tours here want to know if it’s easy to change majors because freshman don’t necessarily know what they want to do yet,” she said.
CAS freshman Rachel Kessler, who participated in the First Year Student Outreach Project over the summer and is currently involved with the Community Service Center’s student studio program, said the best part of the report is the service for credit aspect.
Kessler said the idea of offering credit for community service activities will help increase enrollment in the community service center’s activities.
“Being involved in community service activities is fun and rewarding even without the credits,” she said. “But giving people credit will definitely motivate students to get more involved.”
CAS senior Matt Wall thinks the biggest advantage of One BU is the new advising system, which wouldprovide “strong advising and compassing” for undergraduates.
“It sounds like it’ll help advisers know what they’re talking about,” he said.
For students who feel pressure to maintain a 3.0 GPA to study abroad, the most critical aspect of the proposal is the lower GPA requirement.
“I’m a transfer student and I’m in the boat of trying to get above a 3.0 GPA to study abroad, so lowering the GPA requirement would be helpful,” said CAS sophomore Ronnit Schwebel.
But most students agreed the most critical part of the proposal is its goal to help unify the campus.
“We go to a huge university where the programs are separated like in a small university,” said CAS senior Nora Burnham. “One BU is a program that will make BU a better functioning university.”
Liv Horne, a School of Management sophomore, said she thinks it will encourage better relationships among colleges.
“It’ll be useful because there will be more communication among schools, which will make BU more unified,” she said.
“I think it’s worth it because it will make students feel part of a broader community,” said School of Education senior Robyn Fialkow.
Staff writer Meaghan Beatley contributed to the reporting of this article.
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
