Executive Overview and Institutional Context
The Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) increasingly demands flexible, accessible, and academically rigorous pathways that serve non-traditional student demographics. A thorough review of the current KCTCS academic catalog reveals a significant systemic gap in the delivery of critical quantitative reasoning courses. Specifically, PHI 250: Symbolic Logic, the only philosophy course carrying a Quantitative Reasoning (QR) attribute, is currently absent from the schedule at every KCTCS campus for the upcoming Fall 2026 semester. This absence creates a documented, unmet student need that severely limits the academic progression of both traditional and distance-learning students who rely on remote modalities to fulfill foundational general education requirements.

PHI 250 Within the KCTCS Philosophy Catalog
The KCTCS philosophy catalog offers a rich and diverse selection of courses, but a close review reveals a critical structural imbalance. Every philosophy course in the catalog carries the Arts and Humanities (AH) general education attribute with a single, decisive exception: PHI 250.

The full catalog includes PHI 100 (Introduction to Philosophy: Knowledge and Reality), which introduces students to issues of knowing, reality, and human existence; PHI 110 (Medical Ethics), which applies ethical theories to health care questions; PHI 120 (Introductory Logic), which covers argumentation and syllogistic and sentential logic; PHI 130 (Ethics), which critically examines philosophical principles related to moral action and political values; PHI 140 (The Ethics of War and Peace); PHI 150 (Business Ethics); PHI 160 (Philosophy Through Pop Culture); PHI 170 (Philosophy of Religion); PHI 180 (Animal and Environmental Ethics); PHI 200 (Professional Responsibility); PHI 260 (History of Philosophy I); and PHI 270 (History of Philosophy II). All twelve of these courses carry the AH attribute exclusively.

PHI 250: Symbolic Logic stands alone. It is the sole course in the philosophy catalog designated with the Quantitative Reasoning (QR) attribute. This makes it irreplaceable within the philosophy curriculum and unique across the entire system. No substitution exists within the philosophy department for students who need a QR fulfillment through formal logic.

PHI 250 Within the Broader KCTCS QR Course List
The official KCTCS General Education Requirements catalog confirms that PHI 250 is listed alongside all major mathematics courses as a valid QR fulfillment option for the Associate in Arts, Associate in Science, and Associate in Fine Arts degrees. The QR list for AA, AS, and AFA students includes MAT 141, MAT 146, MAT 150, MAT 151, MAT 154, MAT 155, MAT 160, MAT 161, MAT 165, MAT 170, MAT 171, MAT 174, MAT 175, MAT 184, MAT 185, MAT 206, MAT 261, MAT 275, MAT 285, PHI 250, STA 151, STA 210, STA 220, STA 221, and STA 251.

PHI 250 is the only non-mathematics, non-statistics course on this entire list. It is the only course in the humanities that satisfies the QR requirement. For students whose academic strengths lie in logic and formal reasoning rather than computational algebra, PHI 250 represents a pathway that the institution has officially sanctioned but is currently refusing to make available.

The Distinction Between PHI 120 and PHI 250: Why No Substitution Exists
A common question from administrators is whether PHI 120 (Introductory Logic) can serve as an equivalent alternative to PHI 250. The answer is definitively no, and the reason is embedded in the KCTCS catalog itself.

PHI 120 is designed to cover argumentation, syllogistic and sentential logic, and the application of formal methods to the construction and criticism of real-world, natural-language arguments. Its stated goal is developing clarity, consistency, and validity in everyday reasoning. Because its application remains rooted in linguistic and rhetorical analysis, PHI 120 carries the Arts and Humanities attribute and does not reach the threshold for quantitative reasoning.

PHI 250 operates on a structurally different paradigm. It strips away the ambiguities of natural language entirely, replacing them with strict symbolic variables and axiomatic rules that mirror mathematical equations. Students construct formal proofs using techniques that are directly analogous to those required in discrete mathematics, computer science, and legal reasoning. The KCTCS system has recognized this distinction by awarding PHI 250 the QR designation. One course cannot substitute for the other. They are not comparable.

Prerequisite Rigor and Student Readiness
PHI 250 requires math placement scores at or above the KCTCS benchmark, a KCTCS math placement exam recommendation, successful completion of transitional math coursework, or concurrent enrollment in the supplemental support course PHI 250-S. This multi-tiered prerequisite framework demonstrates that PHI 250 is not an easier path around math requirements. It is a peer discipline with equal rigor and a distinct intellectual application.

The existence of the concurrent PHI 250-S corequisite option further demonstrates that KCTCS has already anticipated and addressed the support needs of students attempting this course. An online delivery model could pair PHI 250 with an asynchronous PHI 250-S module, providing embedded support through the existing Learning Management System without any additional physical infrastructure.

Interdisciplinary Value: Computer Science, Pre-Law, and Advanced Mathematics
The KCTCS course catalog explicitly notes that PHI 250 emphasizes applications to mathematics, computer science, and legal reasoning. This cross-disciplinary value significantly expands the population of students who benefit from its availability.

In computer science, the Boolean logic, propositional calculus, and predicate logic taught in PHI 250 are foundational to programming, database query design, and artificial intelligence. When a programmer writes a conditional statement or a database administrator runs a query, they are executing the logical operators at the core of PHI 250. As the tech sector expands into AI and automated theorem proving, the workforce demand for professionals with formal logic training is growing.

In pre-law preparation, the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) tests logical reasoning almost exclusively. The analytical reasoning sections require students to process complex relational conditions, identify hidden assumptions, and deduce conclusions using conditional logic that maps directly to PHI 250 content. A BCTC student pursuing a pre-law transfer track is actively disadvantaged by the course's unavailability.

In advanced mathematics, PHI 250 bridges the gap between computational algebra and theoretical proof construction. Students transitioning to abstract algebra, real analysis, or discrete mathematics at four-year institutions are significantly better prepared having mastered formal deductive logic at the community college level. BCTC already delivers PHI 130 and PHI 120 fully online through Professor Brandon Knight. The infrastructure, institutional knowledge, and student familiarity with online philosophy instruction are already in place. Adding PHI 250 as an online section does not require new technology, new faculty hiring, or new physical resources. It requires an administrative scheduling decision.

An online section also solves a systemic scalability problem. A single campus may struggle to fill a physical classroom for an upper-level logic course. But one online section drawing from all seven BCTC campuses, and potentially from the broader KCTCS network, aggregates dispersed demand into a viable enrollment. Online delivery is not just accessible; it is the most efficient delivery mechanism for this course.

Contemporary educational technology fully supports the rigorous pedagogy of symbolic logic. Automated proof-checking software provides instant, individualized feedback on each step of a formal proof, an advantage impossible to replicate in a physical lecture setting. Asynchronous video allows students to pause and re-watch complex derivations at their own pace. LaTeX formatting tools allow for professional rendering of logical notation in discussion boards and digital assignments. The digital environment is not a compromise for this course; it may be the optimal delivery format.

Please join me in support of this petition by signing below; for questions related to this request please email: mbretherick0001@kctcs.edu or marilyn.bretherick@uky.edu