In 1983, George Mason University established the
Plan for Alternative General Education (PAGE). It was a program
that provided entering freshmen an alternative way to fulfill the
general education requirements of the university. It was an
interdisciplinary, forty-five credit, two-year curriculum, which integrated
knowledge from various academic disciplines.
At its peak PAGE enrolled 250 new students each
year and aimed to provide a sense of community and unity among students
and faculty that was seen to be missing at large state academic
institutions. In the spring of 1997, the College of Arts and
Sciences and the George Mason University Faculty Senate voted to convert
PAGE into an honors program. And on May 15, 1998, the last PAGE
class graduated, ending its existence.
PAGE's fifteen-year existence was innovative and
forward-thinking for its time. Its innovative spirit could be
seen in its approach to course design and in methods of teaching,
which included a interdisciplinary approach to teaching. PAGE
was recognized for its success in providing an creative approach to
higher education when, in 1986, it received the G. Theodore Mitau
Award for Innovation and Change in Higher Education from the Association
of American State Colleges and Universities.
The PAGE Collection is housed in Special Collections
& Archives. It comprises 1.5 linear feet and contains photographs,
PAGE publications, articles on PAGE, and correspondences within PAGE.
Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) is located in Fenwick
Library.
Special Collections & Archives preserves and
makes available to students, faculty, and researchers many kinds of
original and scholarly materials. Subject areas in SC&A include
Northern Virginia, Planned Communities, Congressional Papers, Performing
Arts, Maps, the Civil War, and George Mason University. Formats in
SC&A include manuscripts, historical documents, playbills, musical
scores, audio and videotapes, architectural drawings, photographs,
and slides.
