Several students complain about the existence of the Magis Core Curriculum.

These classes are considered to be outside the scope of most majors, and therefore, students don’t deem them useful. I believe that these classes help build a well-rounded student, offering important lessons that most majors traditionally don’t offer. That is the idea behind the Magis Core Curriculum- to form a more well-rounded individual. So, how can Creighton University get students excited about these courses? The university should stop separating the Magis Core Curriculum from the major-specific curriculum in order to get students more involved in the classroom.

The separation between Magis Core and major-specific courses allows for students to complain about an entire group of classes. Creighton should automatically integrate these Magis Core classes into major requirements so that each major has specific Magis Core classes. Having classes tailored to your major creates a better classroom environment with students that really care about the subject of the class.

For example, instead of allowing choices for the “Understanding Social Science” requirement, have all management majors take a psychology class related to management decisions. For “Designated Ethics,” have biology majors take a research ethics class that fulfills that requirement. Allowing a variety of choice only creates contempt for certain classes, creating a more disjointed curriculum.

To incentivize students to engage with these classes, Creighton can have the classes count toward the major GPA. By getting rid of the division between Magis Core curriculum and major-specific curriculums, Creighton will have an easier time making the grades students earn in these classes matter more to them.

Another reason to get rid of this division is because the separation of Magis Core Curriculum from major-specific curriculum might be confusing to new students. Keeping track of which courses are available and what technically counts toward a specific credit is a waste of both the student’s and advisor’s time. Having a major-specific class requirement list that still includes the classes that create a well-rounded individual would be the ideal situation.

Integrating the current Magis Core Curriculum with major curriculums will also make advisors’ jobs easier. Advisors already have a lot on their plates, with their own classes and dozens of students to look after. If advisors only had to look at one or two lists for majors during the registration season, they would be able to have a lighter workload and have more time to focus on their classes.

Merging the Magis Core Curriculum with major-specific curriculums seems like the best way to get students to stop complaining about these required classes and engage more in them. However, there are some downsides to this plan. There would have to be an abrupt change in the curriculum that Creighton offers. This change can take a lot of time and resources to pull off. Plus, Creighton loves the Magis Core label, as it is a valuable marketing tool. It would be more difficult to demonstrate the value that Creighton offers with this well-rounded education without this separation.

However, even with these flaws, I believe it is in the best interest of the students, professors and advisors for the Magis Core Curriculum to be fully integrated into the major-specific curriculum.