The Tennessee Tech Trustees Academic & Student Affairs Committee voted unanimously Thursday morning to deny a request to reduce the American History requirement in general education.
The change had been proposed during a spring faculty and student evaluation of general education requirements. It would have reduced American History from six hours to three hours, if the student had successfully completed American History in high school. Trustee Butch Wilmore said the rigor of high school and college does not compare.
“The rigor and even when I got to college, comparison of what I had in high school to the rigor of what I had in college was far different,” Wilmore said. “And I know, and I don’t want to minimize your discussions in the team that came up with this proposal, but I’m hopeful that you all talked about that as well. That rigor is not the same. And even our experience way back then, I know it can’t be the same now.”
History Department Chair Kent Dollar said his department did not support the change. He cited 2024 TCAP results statewide that showed 64 percent of 12th graders are not meeting state expectations in American History.
“They also had English in high school, mathematics in high school, and science in high school,” Dollar said. “They’re not meeting expectations on the TCAP scores. So if we move forward with this, I would recommend, and we’ve proposed, some sort of a placement test.”
Dollar said he understands students want “fresh, new and exciting” opportunities in general college. He said the department wanted to offer more thematic options instead of just the American History I and II overview classes.
“The impact of technology in America or religion in American history, or forces that have shaped America, American culture,” Dollar said. “We’re prepared to offer those special topics classes that can be rotated. So every semester, students are choosing well beyond just US history.
Trustee Johnny Stites said he could not fathom, at a time when the understanding of history nationwide is low, reducing the requirement.
“We might ought to take the approach that there are certain curriculum that they should take to make them better people, better corporate people, but also better Americans,” Stites said. “And so I’d hate to see us cut our history down to where you could take one history course and not really graduate Tennessee Tech without understanding the country we live in and how you can be successful in affecting change within that country if you want to.”
The Committee voted 4-0 against the change, meaning it would not come before the full Board of Trustees. The general education requirements will go back to committee for further evaluation.
Trustees also expressed concern about a proposed reduction in science requirements, though that did not go to the board for approval. Faculty representative Dr. Jeannette Luna said she believed the committee deserved more time to really look at all the changes being considered. She cited votes on the science and history reductions were ties inside the committee.
“Which to me says that deserves a follow-up conversation and more meetings and discussion and maybe some input from students,” Luna said. “But what I heard from the committee is they were, and to their credit, were trying to get this done to get it in front of us. Is it worth potentially backing up and taking more time with some of these?”
Luna said Tech’s peer institutions continue to require strong science backgrounds in the general education requirement. Many of those institutions require more science credits than Tennessee Tech.
“I think you, as a board, you have experienced why most campuses seldom look at general education,” Tech President Phil Oldham said. “It is extremely difficult to negotiate. No criticism of any comments, one side or the other. It is very difficult. But I want you to keep in mind that this is a third of the students experience at a university. A third. A third of their cost, a third of their time. And it is extremely important that it be meaningful and relevant to them. And so, unfortunately, the fact that we can’t easily agree on what should be in general education, notwithstanding, it is important that it be a significant contributor to the success of students. And I hope we don’t lose sight of that.”
