Bowling Green State University must complete a review of its general education course load and submit a report to the state by the end of the year following the passage of another bill with significant implications for higher education in the state, Provost and Senior Vice President Ravi Krovi told faculty during the October Faculty Senate Meeting Tuesday.
Krovi, the university’s chief academic officer, said Ohio House Bill 96 requires state universities to ensure civic literacy, entrepreneurship and innovation, artificial intelligence/computational thinking and career readiness are part of their general education curricula. The change comes a year after the implementation of Ohio Senate Bill 1, the Advance Ohio Higher Education Act, which banned DEI initiatives and faculty strikes and required the addition of an “American civic literacy” course to state universities’ general education programs.
“We are expecting more changes in general education. I might have mentioned this before. In fact, I think that it’s not altogether inconceivable that there may be a bill that will ask institutions to reduce the footprint of gen ed,” Krovi said during the meeting.
While the new HB 96 requirements will become a part of the BGSU’s BG Perspective or “BGP” requirements starting in the 2027-2028 academic year, the university’s BGP Committee is currently testing ways to fit those skillsets into the general education courses already offered by the university.
“The BGP committee is trying to figure out a plan by which they could address how we are including those four pieces within the BGP curriculum,” Krovi said.
Krovi told the Faculty Senate that the BGP Committee will have a more detailed conversation about what the future of gen ed courses will look like and how to navigate HB 96 in future meetings.
“I think generally the mindset has been trying to figure out how to basically to meet the compliance need as opposed to maintaining dramatic changes right now,” Krovi said.
Amid curricular changes, BGSU President Rodney Rogers told the Faculty Senate that the university will be boosting its recruitment initiatives.
“It is incredibly competitive out there, and some public institutions have had enrollment challenges and recently have become even more aggressive in trying to recruit students to their institutions,” Rogers said. “It’s important for us to show the value of coming to Bowling Green and the type of education one can receive at this institution.”
Additionally, Rogers expressed his gratitude toward faculty who helped with Preview Day, a large-scale open house that allows prospective students and their families to interact and explore campus.
“There were a lot of faculty and staff greeting prospective students and their families. The Union was full, and I know there were lots of activities across the campus that were being held,” Rogers said.
The Chair of Faculty Senate, Enrique Gomezdelcampo, closed the meeting by reminding everyone that there will not be a Faculty Senate Meeting held in the month of November, and the last meeting of the year will be on Dec. 1.
