The Valpo Core

The Valpo Core Program requires students to participate in several out-of-class activities each semester in order to fulfill the course requirements for Core 110 and Core 115. Students in the Core earn 5 credits a semester, with four contact hours in class a week, and the equivalent of one hour a week out of class. Hence, “the 5th hour,” an innovative part of the Valpo Core designed to help first year students become participants in the rich culture of our campus.

There are some 5^th-hour activities that are required for all Core students to attend, such as screenings of films that are Core texts, and activities during the MLK Day celebration on campus. Other activities are elective: students must choose up to three events to attend and respond to from all the Core-approved activities that occur on campus over the course of the semester. After participating in these activities, students are required to respond in writing to each event. Specific requirements for these responses vary from instructor to instructor.

Purpose of Core 5^th-Hour activities

Some of the reasons we require Core students to participate in 5^th-hour activities:

1. Students gain a broader exposure to VU’s campus culture

2. Students develop interests

3. Students benefit from social interaction related to academics

4. Students deepen understanding of texts and issues addressed in the classroom

What events qualify for Core 5^th-hour credit?

Many different activities may qualify for Core 5^th-hour credit. The main criterion of qualification is that the event be instructive, and (usually) that it actively involve the attendees in some kind of active interpretation or discussion of the event itself. Thus, an event that is designed mainly as entertainment would not qualify. A gathering to watch a televised broadcast, for example, would not by itself qualify. However, if a structured discussion or debate about the broadcast were also part of that event, there is a good chance it would qualify. Special on-campus lectures usually qualify for Core approval.

Some other events qualify that do not involve immediate discussion, such as on-campus orchestra and choir concerts, theatrical productions, and films related to Core texts. If an event is listed on the VU Cultural Arts Calendar, it is approved for Core 5^th-hour credit.

Generally, events that are designed as “How-to” do not qualify for Core 5^th-hour credit. Technical demonstrations need to incorporate some kind of self-interpretive activity in order for them to be advertised as “Core-approved.”

Sporting events and comedy performances usually are not appropriate for 5^th-hour credit.

In some special circumstances, a Core instructor may decide to grant 5^th-hour credit to an event that has not been officially approved as a 5^th-hour activity. Though some events may not generally qualify to be advertised as “Core-approved,” there may be good reasons for permitting certain students to count these events for credit, and this decision is ultimately left up to each individual Core instructor.

Where do these events take place?

Most Core 5^th-hour events take place on VU’s campus. One of the main reasons for requiring 5^th-hour activities, as stated above, is to familiarize students with the campus and get them involved in campus culture. Therefore, we tend to make few exceptions to the rule that the event must be held on campus in order for it to qualify for Core 5^th-hour credit.

Who sponsors these events?

Many different organizations on campus sponsor these events. Some are sponsored directly by the Core program itself. But most are sponsored by other groups: Residence Life, Christ College, the Office of Multicultural Programs, the International Studies Office, the Union Board, the Brauer Museum, InterVarsity, Campus Crusade, VU academic departments, the Career Center, and many other organizations have sponsored events in the past.