dr. mark schlissel.ne lines are open for students, parents, educators, and michigan residents if you want to talk about higher education issues. why do university degrees continue to require noncore subjects as part of a degree? guest: we have many different degrees. we have over 250 different majors. we have many pathways for satisfying what our faculty believes are the qualifications to say you are a graduate of the university of michigan. college is more than trade school. you have to learn the skills you need to get a good paying job and have a secure future. but we are educating students for a lifetime. it is difficult to predict what lifetime needs will be. we are also educating citizens. one of my goals is to graduate students prepared to actively engage as good citizens and leaders in their community. if you are an engineer, you have to know more than engineering. you have to be able to communicate clearly. i think you should be able to write well, have cultural sensitivity. lead and educated to