2006 Curriculum: FAQ
- Is a swim test required for graduation?
No.
- Can I use courses in my major to satisfy General Education requirements?
Yes (unless the major specifies otherwise.)
- Who decides which courses count for which requirements?
Departments/curricula/schools from across the campus decide whether to propose a course for the General Education curriculum. The course syllabus is reviewed by the Subcommittee for General Education of the Administrative Boards of the General College and the College of Arts and Sciences and, if approved at the SGE level, by the entire membership of the Administrative Boards, which has the final say. Both the SGE and the Ad Boards have faculty representatives from across the University; the SGE also has a student member.
- Why do some courses satisfy multiple requirements while others do not?
If faculty/departments make a good case to the Administrative Boards that a given course addresses more than one of the educational objectives reflected in the General Education requirements, the Boards are willing to approve the course for multiple classifications. Some courses cannot be assigned appropriately to more than one category, however, and some faculty/departments prefer not to have a course meet multiple requirements.
- Why can students count only two Lifetime Fitness courses toward graduation?
Because all Lifetime Fitness courses have an academic “lifelong health and fitness” component, in addition to practice in a particular sport or activity, the courses have some overlapping content. Consequently, the designers of the curriculum thought it would be unfair to allow more than one “repeat” of that material.
- Why are some Approaches courses also Connections courses but others are not?
Except for Foundations courses, which generally may not count as either Approaches or Connections, there is theoretically no limit on the number of General Education requirements a course may satisfy. Some Connections courses, however, do not resolutely reflect one of the six principal Approaches to knowledge outlined in the curriculum; others do. Also, faculty/departments sometimes decide for their own reasons not to categorize their courses in certain ways.
- Can I take a General Education course Pass/D/Fail?
Generally, no. But there are two exceptions. A Lifetime Fitness course may be taken pass/D/fail, and some internships that satisfy the Experiential Education requirement are offered only on a pass/D/fail basis.
- Do I have to “declare” a course cluster program, in the Integrative Option of Supplemental Education?
No. The registrar’s office will automatically recognize when a student has fulfilled requirements for an approved “cluster.”
- Can students create “cluster programs” not yet recognized in the Undergraduate Bulletin?
No. Cluster programs, which are approved by the Administrative Boards, are formed only on faculty initiative; faculty may, however, respond to student interest and act on student suggestions in forming new course clusters.
- Why is it possible to use a course from a primary major in a “cluster program” if it is not possible to use a primary major course within the Distributive Option of Supplemental Education?
The purpose of the Distributive requirement is to get students to reach beyond the Division of their primary major to broaden their horizons and find connections between their own developing expertise and intellectual fields that may seem alien to their own. The purpose of the Integrative requirement—though it has something in common with the broadening purpose of the Distributive requirement—is to encourage and facilitate cross-disciplinary illumination through exploration of a common problem. Evident commonalities (in addition to differences) are more important to the Integrative than to the Distributive Option.
- What are the four Divisions of the College of Arts and Sciences?
Fine Arts; Humanities; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Natural Sciences and Mathematics.
- Where do I submit petitions for General Education credit if I believe I’ve taken a course that should satisfy a requirement?
To the office of Undergraduate Curricula, 300 Steele Building. See instructions for petitioning elsewhere on this website.