Students entering the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (KSAS) this fall will be the first group to have their curriculum structured by the Foundational Abilities (FA) — a new set of academic requirements that have replaced the previous system of distribution requirements.
Under this updated model, students must complete 15 credits in five of the six defined areas: Writing and Communication, Science and Data, Culture and Aesthetics, Citizens & Society, and Ethics and Foundations. Moreover, students are required to complete six credits in the sixth FA Projects and Methods. This new set of graduation requirements is replacing the previous system of distribution requirements in which KSAS students had to complete nine credits of coursework for each of the Humanities (H), Social Sciences (S) and Natural Sciences/Quantitative/Engineering (N/Q/E) categories.
In an email to The News-Letter, Erin Rowe, vice dean for undergraduate education at KSAS, shared the motivation behind this change.
“In the new curriculum, [students] will develop capacities and skills that make [them] an expert in any field, one who is engaged and engaging, curious and reflective, able to communicate ideas clearly to different audiences,” she wrote. “The Foundational Abilities provide the tools and skills business and industry leaders — as well as medical and other graduate programs — are looking for in recent graduates.”
Rowe also highlighted the distinct difference between the new requirements and the core curriculum at other universities.
“The Foundational Abilities are not a core curriculum because core curricula generally require that students take specific courses. Instead, all courses contribute to the FAs. In this way, KSAS’s curriculum provides a flexible framework unique to Hopkins rather than a core set of requirements,” she wrote.
However, there is an increase in the number of credits students are required to take to satisfy the requirements of the new system, which amounts to a total of 81 credits compared to 42 in the previous one. Though courses usually have at least two tags and can double count towards major or minor requirements, they cannot double count across multiple FA areas, unless one of the areas is Writing and Communication or Projects and Methods.
Many first year students raised concerns that the FA system will reduce their course selection freedom and hinder their ability to graduate on time.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Justin Pokrant, a freshman planning to major in Molecular and Cellular Biology expressed his concerns over the restrictive nature of the FAs.
“I don't think [FA] provide a good balance without restricting. There's no flexibility,“ he said. “The way I see it is that passion is a prerequisite for good research, and good research relies on organic exploration, and the new system is one of inorganic exploration.”
In an interview with The News-Letter, Annabelle Huang, a freshman planning to double major in Public Health Studies and Economics, discussed how the FA requirements are influencing her course planning.
“I find that my academic exploration is kind of limited with the large amount of requirements and credits that I already need to fulfill for my for both of my majors, and adding on these foundational abilities basically adds on a lot of stress, and it really makes sure that I have to plan out my four years accordingly,” she added.
Rowe, however, stated that the university had considered the flexibility of course planning in the design of FA to ensure sufficient freedom for students to explore multiple areas of interest.
“KSAS engaged in several years of research into course loads, requirements, and major/minor patterns as it settled on the credit allotment for the Foundational Abilities,“ she wrote. “It was crucial to us that students be able to meet these requirements while pursuing any major and maintaining their time to degree. We have determined that it is possible to complete the FAs even with a double major, or double major + minor (or major + premed).”
To support first year students in navigating the new system, the University is utilizing Stellic — a degree audit software — to allow interactive course planning. While the system is already available for students enrolled prior to Fall 2024, the version including the FA is still in the works.
In an interview with The News-Letter, Jessie Martin, the associate dean for academic advising and support for KSAS, shared the current efforts of academic advisors to support students in the transition to the new FA system.
“Academic advisors are good at providing tips and tricks to help students meet certain requirements. For instance, Protein Engineering and Biochemistry Lab would be a writing intensive [course] with ethics and foundation and projects and methods FAs,“ she said. “We expect the 2024 degree audits to be fully available by February 2025. Current resources include the new course search in SIS that could help students filter specific courses based on FAs, and we always have advisors available to support students individually.”
Additional concerns arise for students who wish to explore academic options across schools. One student raised concerns about the feasibility of pursuing degrees in two different academic schools.
“What I found out is that because all the business minor classes are offered through the Carey School of Business and not KSAS, they don't fulfill any of the foundational abilities. I would have to add 21 completely new, non-overlapping credits [for the minor],” Pokrant said.
While the FAs will only apply to KSAS students starting with first years in fall of 2024, the Whiting School of Engineering (WSE) has also been working on a FA system for consistency across the two Homewood schools. WSE is expected to roll out the implementation of foundational requirements in Fall 2025.
In an email to The News-Letter, Michael Falk, vice dean for undergraduate education at WSE, outlined the School’s plan for implementing the FA system.
The six FAs for WSE differ from those of KSAS, both in areas of focus and credit requirement. WSE students will be expected to fulfill the requirements via coursework or Customized Academic Learning (CAL), the latter of which includes research for credit and independent study.
FA1 (Writing & Communication) requires three credits of writing and oral communication coursework, respectively. FA2 (Scientific & Quantitative Reasoning) entails 19-20 credits, while FA3 (Creative Expression) and FA4 (Engagement with Society) require a combined 12 credits, with oral communication from FA1 incorporating aspects of FA4. FA5 (Ethical Reflection) involves one to three credits in ethical reflection, which is already integrated into required major coursework, with additional reflection documented in ePortfolio. FA6 (Conceiving and Realizing Projects) requires the completion of two approved projects, documented in the student’s ePortfolio, that are a part of their engineering coursework.
“The upshot of these changes is that students in most WSE majors will require the same number of credits to fulfill Foundational Abilities requirements as prior students did in the distribution requirement system, i.e., 18 credits,” Falk wrote.
Riley Strait contributed reporting to this article.
Editor’s Note, 2024: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that the total credits in the distribution system were 27. The correct number is 42, with the addition of 15 credits of writing intensive.
The News-Letter regrets this error.
