The ISUComm curricular plan is moving too fast for the Liberal Arts and Sciences Faculty Representative Assembly.

The plan — a proposed change to the communications requirements for all ISU undergraduates — has been approved by the Faculty Senate curriculum committee, the Faculty Senate academic affairs council and the Faculty Senate executive board. During the Faculty Senate meeting Oct. 12, a motion was presented to formally approve the plan.

“We didn’t want any actions to take place without further review by the faculty,” said Robert Wallace, chairman of the LAS Faculty Representative Assembly.

Wallace said he motioned for the senate to allow a “stop-gap” for the faculty to read the proposed ISUComm curricular plan more thoroughly.

“We would need more time to make comments to the ISUComm committee,” Wallace said.

He said the assembly met the week before the Faculty Senate meeting, and many faculty members had concerns with the plan. Wallace said they didn’t have enough time to evaluate it.

Some were concerned about how much the proposed curriculum will change the university, Wallace said. He also said the new plan will alter every department.

Some faculty members are also concerned that ISUComm may give up some of the focus on writing skills for undergraduates during the first two years.

“If we will be investing in it, it should be worth the time and effort of the faculty and the university,” Wallace said.

Gregory Palermo, chairman of the Faculty Senate academic affairs committee, said the ISUComm curricular plan is going forward. He said it will be open for commentary and a continued discussion at the Nov. 9 Faculty Senate meeting.

The assembly is forming a committee to interpret and understand the statistics provided by ISUComm further, Wallace said.

He said some figures weren’t correlating with the support data provided by ISUComm.

Wallace said the parliamentary procedures of the Faculty Senate restricted a further discussion of the ISUComm curricular plan at the Oct. 12 meeting.

The main reason for requesting a hold on the ISUComm curricular approval is so ISUComm can provide more scientific evidence proving that its Written, Oral, Visual and Electronic communication requirements are significantly better than the current system, Wallace said.

“With or without a greater significance, the path carved out by the communication requirements is significant enough for Iowa State to embark upon,” Palermo said.

The assembly will meet with ISUComm in Catt Hall on

Nov. 3.