University of Wisconsin officials said cost, not enough curriculum depth and general student apathy are potential challenges for a new liberal studies major, at a meeting of the Letters and Science Curriculum Committee Monday.

The possibility of a liberal studies major remains in the early stages of development, but the major could help UW create more opportunities for students to become creative problem-solvers, critical analyzers of information and worldly citizens who work well with others, Vice Provost for Teaching and Learning Aaron Brower said in an e-mail to The Badger Herald.

Brower said later in an interview, he first heard about the committee’s ideas for a liberal studies major during the Monday meeting.

“I really like that L&S is thinking about education and the purpose of education,” he said. “I really like the idea of trying to help all our students achieve these higher order student learning outcomes. The more we can help more students do that, the better.”

However, according to the Associated Students of Madison Shared Governance blog, Brower questioned whether the new major was the right way to go about offering students more breadth.

He said at other schools that feature similar majors, most students who enroll are either students who cannot choose among majors or students who do not want to choose. He also questioned if it is even currently possible to achieve this kind of education at UW.

He also said hiring new faculty and creating new courses for the major would be expensive. If the major could be created without changing the class offerings, the major would be much easier to create.

Not long ago, the L&S Curriculum Committee began discussing a liberal studies major during meetings, said Liane Kosaki, member of the committee and associate faculty assistant in the political science department.

Currently, the committee is exploring models and structures of programs at different colleges and universities to better understand how to format and develop a similar program at UW, she said.

Kosaki added the committee is working to determine whether a liberal studies major could fulfill a student need.

“We are trying to determine how students would benefit,” she said. “We want to talk to students about whether this is a development that would be worthwhile for them.”

One possible structure for the program would have a general studies approach to the major that would entail students taking existing courses from a range of different departments, Kosaki said.

With this model, an issue of breadth versus depth arises, she said. Students take a larger variety of courses, but may not get as in-depth as a regular major.

“This is an issue that has to be addressed when looking at a major like this — is how to strike that balance,” Kosaki said.

At semester’s end, Kosaki said the committee would continue talks of the liberal studies major in the fall after mulling over ideas this summer.