Associate Editor's Note

This issue of the Journal of General Education focuses on change. Readers will find two case studies concerning revision of general education programs, one article that calls for the addition of information literacy to the core curriculum, and one that describes the state of humanities education in general education programs.

The two articles about general education revision come from two entirely different institutions — a large state research university and a much smaller college. As might be expected, the two schools employed different approaches and have quite different problems.

Nancy Westphal-Johnson and Mary Anne Fitzpatrick of the University of Wisconsin-Madison look at the way the communication component of their institution's general education curriculum was developed and implemented. Because "The Role of Communication and Writing Intensive Courses in General Education: A Five year Case Study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison" covers five years of experience, readers will have an opportunity to view numerous aspects and problems, both practical and organizational, as they unfolded during the reform process.

At Guilford College, undergraduate education was revised over a three-year period, with implementation taking another two. Author Jeff Jeske deals with key issues discovered during this period in "Nurturing Rich General Education Courses." His article will provide readers with five steps the College found critical to the reform process and suggestions for their own general education reform processes.

Mary Sellen, Assistant Director for User Services at SUNY Albany, reminds us about the critical importance of information literacy to general education in her article, "Information Literacy in General Education: A New Requirement for the 21^st Century."

Sellen defines information literacy as "a combination of computer skills and knowledge of how to use information in new formats made possible by computers." She presents the topic as both a part of our culture and an agent of change; as such, the skills of information literacy are essential to students.

"Humanities Education: Can We Teach without Apologizing?" examines the role of humanities in an atmosphere increasingly focused on professional skills, especially the uses of scientific knowledge. Douglas Anderson sees this as a threat since the humanities are "bound to remain irrelevant and to alienate those who 'do things' in our culture." He suggests that this must change because it is the humanities that are central to education itself.

As you read through this issue of JGE, consider the problems of education today and the possibilities of renewal through well-thought out and implemented change.