Policies & Procedures

General Education

General Education Program - 1H1

THE GOALS OF THE SIUE GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville strives to provide students with a solid foundation for intellectual development and an ability and desire to make meaningful contributions to society; and to develop students who are well-informed, effective citizens, who actively participate in civic and community affairs, who cultivate self-awareness who appreciate the arts, and who will pursue lifelong learning.

To achieve these purposes, the University seeks to impart to its students analytic, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, oral and written communication skills, a foundation in Liberal Arts and Sciences, an appreciation of cultures, scientific literacy, a sense of ethics, and preparation in an academic or professional discipline. General Education provides the foundation on which a student develops these skills and knowledge and is prepared to complete the requirements for her/his degree.

The objectives of SIUE's General Education program are:
1. To develop skills in logic, computation, and written and oral communication.
2. To introduce the student, through rigorous introductory courses, to the principles, substance, and methodology of disciplines outside his or her major. These courses are distributed through three General Education Areas: Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and Social Sciences.
3. To require of the student study beyond the introductory level in all three General Education Areas.
4. To foster the student's awareness of the interrelationships between fields of human knowledge by requiring interdisciplinary study.
DEFINITIONS

Discipline -

A discipline is an academic field of study or inquiry usually, but not always, co-terminous with a department. Some SIUE departments--for example, Mathematics and Statistics--may offer majors in related but separate disciplines. The General Education program involves disciplines, not departments.

General Education (GE) Area -

General Education Areas consist of three aggregates of disciplines: 1) Fine Arts and Humanities; 2) Natural Sciences and Mathematics; 3) Social Sciences. The disciplines of Psychology and Economics participate in the General Education program through the GE Area--Social Sciences.

Skills Course -

A skills course is a fundamental course which has as its primary focus development of student's proficiency in a particular academic skill. Basic courses in written expression, oral communication, critical thinking, statistics, computer programming, and foreign language are skills courses. Demonstrated competence may exempt a student for the requirement for a particular skills course.

Introductory Course -

An introductory course focuses imaginatively upon the elementary theory, principles, and methods of the discipline. In highlighting the essence of the subject, the introductory course need not present all the elements of the discipline, nor need the material be presented in survey fashion. Emphasis in an introductory course is be on the student's abilities to think and communicate clearly; essays, reports, examinations, and other assignments will support this emphasis. All introductory courses are required to incorporate significant written communication.

For the purposes of the General Education Program "introductory" courses are designated by the number "111". Students with entry level competencies sufficient to begin at a level above the 111 course in the disciplines of Chemistry, Physics, Biology, or Mathematics may substitute courses designated by the General Education Committee for the 111 courses in the GE Area of Natural Sciences and Math. Introductory courses in the student's major may not be used to fulfill requirements in the General Education Program.

Each discipline within the three GE Areas will usually offer only one introductory course. No student may use more than one introductory course in a single discipline to fulfill the introductory General Education requirements. The purpose of this restriction is to distribute student experience throughout a variety of traditional Liberal Arts and Sciences disciplines outside his or her major.

Distribution Course -

The Distribution Requirement continues the principles of general education beyond the introductory level. The Distribution requirement must be fulfilled from courses: (1) other than 111 and equivalent introductory courses numbered to 499 and; (2) count toward a major offered by one of the following departments: Anthropology, Art and Design, Biological Sciences, Chemistry, Economics, English Language and Literature, Foreign Languages and Literature, Geography, Historical Studies, Mass Communications, Mathematics and Statistics, Music, Philosophy, Physics, Political Science, Psychology, Public Administration and Policy Analysis, Social Work, Sociology, Speech Communication, and Theater and Dance; except for those exceptional courses which the above departments have excluded as inappropriate for General Education credit. A list of those excluded courses appears in the "General Education" section of the catalog. Further, if a course qualifies as a distribution course, it is identified as such in the "Course Description" section of the catalog with a "Dist." designation.

Distribution courses taken in the major and carrying the major department prefix may not be used toward fulfillment of Distribution Course General Education requirements.

Interdisciplinary Course -

An Interdisciplinary Course is a course with subject matter that combines disciplines from at least two GE Areas or from at least two schools or colleges within one GE Area. An interdisciplinary course is ordinarily team-taught by two or more instructors.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR GENERAL EDUCATION (GE)


Skills Courses				15 or 17 credit hours required
	Written Expression		6
	AND
		Option A:
		Oral Communication	3
		Critical Thinking	3
		Statistics or Computer Programming	3
		OR
		Option B:
		Foreign Language (two semesters of a foreign language)	8
		Critical Thinking, or Statistics or Computer Programming	3
Introductory Courses (may be taken at anytime)				15 credit hours required
	GE Area--Fine Arts and Humanities		3 to 6
	GE Area--Natural Sciences and Math		3 to 6
	GE Area--Social Sciences		3 to 6
	A student must take 15 hours of Introductory GE courses. At least six hours must be in each of two Areas and 3 hours in the remaining Area
Distribution Courses (may be taken at anytime)				9 credit hours required
	GE Area--Fine Arts and Humanities		3
	GE Area--Natural Sciences and Math		3
	GE Area--Social Sciences		3
	A student must take 9 hours of Distribution GE courses. Three hours must be taken in each of the three GE Areas.
Interdisciplinary Course (junior or senior standing required)				3 credit hours required
Total General Education credit hours required				42-44 Total

ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS AND CONDITIONS
1. University departments have the authority, subject to established University procedures, to require of their degree candidates more specific or more extensive study in general education than the General Education program requires. This departmental authority, however, does not extend in the opposite direction to forgiveness or diminution of General Education requirements.
2. The University requires that every student complete one course exploring inter-group cultural concerns and one course exploring either international issues or international cultural questions. Intergroup cultural concerns courses shall focus on cultural pluralism in the United States.
Courses that may be taken to satisfy these requirements shall be identified by the General Education Committee and shall be designated in the Undergraduate Catalog. Courses meeting these requirements may also be used to fulfill major, minor, elective or General Education requirements, subject to the provisions of a student's major and/or minor and other General Education program provisions.

Approved by Chancellor effective 12/20/00
This policy was issued on March 14, 2003, replacing the November 12, 2001 version.
Document Reference: 1H1
Origin: OP 6/4/84; CC 6-85/86; OP 2/2/87; CC 17-86/87; OP 11/18/91; CC 25-91/92; CC 34-91/92; CC 1-93/94; CC 2-93/94; OP 8/2/95; CC 2-98/99; CC 2-00/01; CC 15-00/01