The students survey result implies that students have faced the issue in Mason Korea.
Photo Credit: Sunbin Kim
Over the past few academic years, many students have expressed concern that their course options have been limited. There are fewer course choices for students to register. These conditions cause some adverse effects on students, and give a burden for Mason Korea students. To hear more about students’ opinions on this issue, The Voice conducted a survey targeting students and interviewed Dean Shannon Davis, Mason Korea Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs.
Having insufficient courses is a big issue for students in Mason Korea because most importantly, it is hard for students to fulfill their specific credit requirements. For instance, Business major students must satisfy 18 credits for their concentration, which means they have to take six courses for it. However, based on the plan for Spring 2022, Business major students can only take 1 or 2 courses for their concentrations; however, no courses are offered for two concentrations: Finance (FNAN) and Financial Planning and Wealth Management (FPWM). Also, lacking courses make students have fewer opportunities to take various courses and have no choice but to take courses that are unsuitable for them to satisfy required credits. For example, to earn three credits in ‘Natural Science without Lab’ of the Mason Core program, Mason Korea students only have one option to take EVPP 201, Environment and You: Issues for the Twenty-First Century course.
The survey from The Voice conducted to figure out students’ feelings regarding the lack of courses problem showed that 91.7% of students felt inconvenienced by this. According to the responses, many courses already offered in the previous semesters are held again. Due to the lack of courses, students have faced difficulties in choosing minor, concentration, and core courses. Additionally, this condition could make students struggle to plan courses at Fairfax, which can worsen graduation anxiety. About 33% of students requested more courses on Natural Science without lab requirement, 17% of students required more courses on Natural Science with lab requirement, and some students required various courses for Finance, Marketing, Interpersonal Dynamics, Psychology, Art as well as concentration courses for Global Affairs major.
For these issues, Dean Davis gave a positive answer for students. “I can promise that we[Academic Affairs] can do our best to make incremental changes.” She mentioned that the school is hiring three new faculty who will come over from the Fairfax campus next spring. Also, she answered that more new professors from Fairfax would teach summer classes on Mason Korea campus. Hiring new professors would lead to more diverse courses. Moreover, the school would try to provide various courses for students’ education. Dean Davis thinks Mason Core courses are essential to students, so she has been trying to have more diversity in classes in Mason Korea. She wanted students to explore various courses outside of their major, and she would help that become available.
‘Lack of courses’ in Mason Korea has been a significant problem for Mason Korea students. Students have been struggling with the issue, facing fewer opportunities to have suitable academic courses in the university. As the Spring 2022 registration term is nearing, it emerges as a crucial problem. Also, since students have limitations in taking proper courses at a proper time, they might have concerns about the delay of their graduation. However, through the interview with Dean Davis, The Voice could find out that Mason Korea will gradually have more and more diverse courses. Dean Davis indeed showed that Mason Korea has been continuously growing by listening to students’ voices.
Written by Sunbin Kim | Staff Writer
Revised by Yu Bin Kwon | Managing Editor
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