Personal Wellness. It is a class that is part of the Liberal Arts Core. It is a class that every single University of Northern Iowa student must take in order to graduate. It is a class that needs to go.
Since I was a freshman I can remember student government leaders discussing fighting to have Personal Wellness removed as a single required class from the LAC. Last year as student body president I felt the same way and sent a letter to the Liberal Arts Core Committee. But I had more than just secondhand information to critique the class with – I was going to take Personal Wellness last semester. Let me share my experience with you.
Last semester, I was enrolled in Personal Wellness to fulfill Category 5 of the LAC. As the first few weeks of the semester went by, I quickly realized that this class was going to take up more time in my schedule than my three other classes, two of which were for my major. I was being asked to attend an impossible amount of required activities outside of the scheduled class time. While I never expected special treatment in my role as student body president, I did expect some level of flexibility from the professors when it came to out of class activities. When I asked to do the same level of work and the same type of activities around my own schedule, I was told by one of the professors “they could make no exceptions.” Realizing that I could not actually pass this class at UNI, I dropped it and took the W. I have now enrolled in the Hawkeye Community College section of Personal Wellness. While this is something I did not want to do, I was left with no other options. I think it says a lot about a program when the former student body president encourages students to take this required class at a different institution.
My own personal thoughts on the class are that it is outdated. When talking with students, the most common complaint I hear about the educational experience at UNI is, “I had to take Personal Wellness.” It is becoming more and more difficult for students to graduate in four years.
The state of Iowa ranks highest in the nation for average student debt upon graduation. I’m not blaming this solely on Personal Wellness or the Liberal Arts Core by any means. But we must be selective and strategic in the courses we offer. What are students getting from taking a Personal Wellness class that has some of the largest class sizes on campus? Forcing students to take a class on Personal Wellness should not be a priority of our university. In my eyes, it is nonsensical to give students one option for a wellness class. Other institutions offer more class options pertaining to health and wellness. I agree the class Personal Wellness should remain in the Liberal Arts Core, but it should not stand alone as its own category. Wellness education is extremely valuable, but in this day and age we must be bold and innovative in order to allow our students to succeed. If we stick with the current model of this class, we are not allowing for student success.
