General Education Curriculum

Program Review

May 1996

IV. Compliance with Board of Governor's Policy 1990-05

The General Education curriculum is not a departmental major, and thus should not be expected to meet the standard that "at least two-fifths of a student's studies occur at the junior/senior level of difficulty." Nonetheless, the General Education curriculum almost succeeds in reaching this standard, and possibly exceeds it for some students.

Fifty-four (54) credits are required in the General Education curriculum. Two-fifths of this number is twenty-two (22) credits. The upper-level course requirements in the General Education curriculum fall into four areas. The first is an advanced (300-level) composition course of three credits. The second is a requirement of two (three-credit) perspectives courses. Each perspectives course requires that students complete English 110 and twelve credits of the liberal arts core; all of the perspectives courses offered are at the 300 level. The third area is the requirement that four General Education courses (12 credits total) be at the 200 level or above. Although this requirement does not demand 300-level or above courses, it is likely that at least half these courses (six credits total) will be at the 300 level. The fourth area is the requirement of more than one course in three separate departments outside the major. It is likely that at least one of these courses will be a 300-level course.

The result thus is 3 credits of advanced writing, 6 credits of perspectives, a likely six credits induced by the above 200-level requirement, and a likely three credits induced by the requirements of two courses in three different departments. The total therefore is eighteen (18) credits at the 300 level or above, or 33%, quite close to the 40% requirement for a major concentration.

Introduction
I. Demand for and Reputation of Program
II. Quality of the Program
III. Costs of the Program
V. Five-Year Plan for Major Resource Needs
VI. Recommended Action Plan
VII. Acknowledgments

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