Essential Education, Michigan Tech’s new general education program, will come into effect in Fall 2025. Current students will have a choice to update to the newer version of their degree or stay with the existing program.
The revamp changes much of how gen-ed requirements are handled and introduces new systems, including several minors fulfillable by completing gen-ed requirements, the ability to double count up to five classes between gen-ed and major requirements when applicable, and the incorporation of the Huskyfolio e-portfolio into many of the first year Essential Ed classes. The co-curricular course category will also be updated.
To get a better sense of what’s changing and why, The Lode spoke to several faculty involved in the program’s development.
Maria Bergstrom, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education for the College of Sciences and Arts and Associate Teaching Professor, explained that the conversation around updating gen-ed requirements stemmed from MTU President Koubek’s Tech Forward Initiatives, the theme of education for the 21st century, and modernizing undergraduate education to meet student needs.
“Students were just checking boxes… and that’s not really the role of general education– to be a barrier. It’s meant to give everybody some exposure to a breadth of different ways of knowing,” Bergstrom said.
Employer feedback was also part of the catalyst for Essential Education. Companies desired candidates with better communication and collaboration skills that matched students’ knowledge and experience in their respective fields.
Opinions among faculty on Essential Ed are largely positive. Bergstrom believes that the program distinguishes Tech from other universities and hopes that it will attract prospective students. Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education Marika Seigel expressed contentment with the curriculum, saying, “I think it’s going to be a really coherent program for students.”
Part of this satisfaction comes from the bottom-up manner the program was developed in. “We had administrative support, but it was not administrators saying, ‘This is how it has to be,’ and that’s actually quite unusual for gen-ed to be that flipped. I’m really proud of that,” said Bergstrom.
Students who have yet to take Global Issues are advised to complete the course as soon as possible, as it will be phased out after Fall 2025.
