Can California State University, Fresno prepare students to live in a multicultural, international world with 48 general education units?

That was the question that recently prompted discussion during a meeting of the Academic Senate’s subcommittee on GE requirements at Fresno State.

Fresno State, unlike most of the 23 California State University (CSU) campuses, has a GE requirement for a Multicultural/International (MI) course.

The MI requirement can be fulfilled by many different courses from Africana and American Indian studies, anthropology, philosophy, sociology, women’s studies and so on. Most of the courses fall under the College of Social Sciences.

The requirement means that Fresno State students have three more GE unit requirements than Executive Order 1033 mandates.

The order, authored by Chancellor Charles B. Reed, is a mandate that explains exactly what each CSU must include in their GE requirements. The order calls for multicultural learning, but does not make it an essential stand-alone course as Fresno State does.

The chair of the GE committee, Andrew Lawson, said that when Executive Order 1033 came down last spring, the committee decided to consider whether the campus GE reflected the order.

One idea to streamline graduation by eliminating the MI requirement was posed. Instead of having a stand-alone MI requirement, the courses would be folded into the already existing other GE categories.

Lawson said that the committee simply opened the idea for a discussion on whether it was possible.

“We haven’t really gone down the path of how this could happen,” Lawson said. “Just, could it?”

He said he wanted to start a discussion about whether Fresno State could continue to deliver an education on MI courses through 48 units.

“Do you need a stand-alone MI course in order to learn MI issues, or could it be integrated across the curriculum?” Lawson said.

He said he asked committee members to float the idea around their colleges. It has since received some staunch opposition from faculty involved in social sciences.

Dr. Meta Schettler, an Africana and American Indian studies professor, said that MI is important because it is interdisciplinary. She also said the diverse makeup of Fresno State makes it essential.

“It’s important because of the student population on our campus, and the overall American population,” Schettler said.

She said that students come back to her, even after many years, and tell her of the transformative power of MI courses. Schettler said that those sorts of courses led her to where she is today.

Dr. Roksanna Badruddoja, a women’s studies professor and GE committee member, sees the discussion as a step in the wrong direction. She said that there would never be a discussion about axing math requirements, so the discussion itself is already a problem.

Badruddoja said that the MI courses set Fresno State apart from the other CSUs, and that’s a good thing.

“To me, if we’re doing something really great and have cutting edge programs and classes, that should be a source of pride,” she said.

Badruddoja said that it’s important for students to think about diversity before they graduate.

“In a world of increasing cross-cultural relationships, we totally need MI,” she said. “It’s what’s going to make our students stand out.”

Both professors argued that there are better solutions, such as cutting courses within each major or reducing the requirements for majors that exceed 120 units to graduate.

Both were also concerned that such a move would affect the quality of higher education, by moving Fresno State one step closer to a vocational school.

Lawson said the committee has not voted on anything, and that the first vote would be on whether to even officially explore the options.

“It’s a long way away from anything happening,” Lawson said.