Samford’s new General Education curriculum, called The Samford Commons, will go into effect in Fall 2026. This curriculum aims to equip students with broad knowledge and insight, help them grow to become faithful neighbors, citizens and stewards, and develop their abilities and habits that they will need to serve as capable and responsible members of their families and communities.
The new curriculum includes several changes to current courses and the addition of new courses. The Samford Commons curriculum will consist of 40 credits, and includes the following courses: Biblical Foundations, Common Ground, Global Engagement, Core Texts, Core Writing, Concepts of Health and Wellness, Math and four inquiry areas. The four inquiry areas include Human Experience, Creative Expression, Social World and Natural World.
Biblical Foundations (BF), which was formerly one, four-credit-hour course, will now be split into two, three-credit-hour courses: UCBF 101 (Old Testament) and UCBF 102 (New Testament). Students who are currently on the old catalog, but have not yet taken Biblical Foundations, will only be required to take one of the two new courses. However, incoming freshmen and students who switch to the new academic catalog will be required to complete both courses.
As for the curriculum, the courses will still be focusing on the study of the Bible, but will allow professors and students to dive deeper into passages and topics that the previous course could not.
Dr. Rony Kozman, an Assistant Professor of Biblical & Religious Studies and the director of the Biblical Foundations Curriculum, stated that the change will help Samford and its students better live out their mission as a Christian university with Baptist roots.
“Expanding BF helps us live out our mission and values more effectively, as we now devote more time in our curriculum to study Scripture, contemplate and celebrate our triune God, and by doing so become human persons even more fully alive,” Kozman said.
A new addition to the General Education curriculum is Common Ground (UCG 101), a one-credit-hour, freshman experience course designed to help students connect to Samford, gain skills to thrive as students and contemplate their sense of purpose and calling. Foundations 201 is a one-credit-hour companion course for upperclassmen, where they will work with faculty and staff as peer mentors to students in Common Ground.
The course has a particular focus on helping students understand The Samford Commons curriculum, and how it connects to their major and their own personal growth. According to Dr. Angela Ferguson, Assistant Professor, Director of Academic Success Center and Director of the Common Ground curriculum, the course was created as a result of several long-term university initiatives aiming to offer students a clearer and more compelling explanation of the importance of the general education curriculum.
Another new course is Exploring Global Cultures: Perspectives, Skills and Engagement (WLAC 175). This three-credit-hour course aims to help students develop intercultural competency skills for living, working and serving in the world.
Dr. Kelly Jensen, Professor of Spanish and Director of the Engaging Global Cultures curriculum, stated that the course was created in alignment with Samford’s vision to help students grow as “faithful neighbors, global citizens and stewards both locally and globally.”
“It’s about more than just learning about other cultures — it’s about learning to engage with them through reciprocity, respect and relationship-building,” Jensen stated.
Although major changes have not been made to some courses, like Core Writing, beyond a name change from Core Rhetoric and Seminar, the new credit hour system will still have an effect on the curriculum.
“The shifts that we’re making are to adapt to the new three-credit model,” said Dr. Jennifer West, Associate Professor of English and Director of the Core Writing Curriculum.
“We are cutting 25% of the projects,” West said, “That will mostly show up in core writing in the number of pages or number of drafts that students have to submit, and then also in readings, but it’s primarily targeted towards projects.”
Staff Reporter
