East Tennessee State University
Office of Registrar

GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

The general education requirements here described apply to all undergraduate students pursuing a baccalaureate degree. The purpose of the program resides in the "Philosophy and Goals of General Education."

To fulfill the goals, students must take the prescribed core curriculum and fulfill related requirements.

PHILOSOPHY AND GOALS OF GENERAL EDUCATION

In summary, ETSU's general education program serves two paramount goals. First, it seeks to ensure that students who earn the baccalaureate degree possess those basic proficiencies that denote an educated person and one suitable for employment. Second, ETSU's general education aims to ensure that graduates understand information and modes of investigation that will permit them to continue to learn, to see relationships and verify learning experiences, and to find their own voices. This understanding will enable students to adapt to change, appreciate cultural variation, and show respect and suspend judgment toward others when exploring different viewpoints and alternatives to problems.

The purpose of general education is to provide a common experience that enables students to acquire important skills and knowledge, as well as the ability to think critically and perceive interdisciplinary relationships. Students should develop qualities of thought and character that foster and support a lifetime of learning, full and rounded lives, the ability to meet expectations of the workplace, and the desire for quality living in a complex and changing world.

Proficiencies

ETSU's general education program seeks to ensure that graduates possess at a minimum the following proficiencies:

1. the ability to write clear, coherent, and grammatically correct expository prose;

2. the ability to communicate orally in a succinct, persuasive, and grammatically correct manner, as well as to adapt one's mode of communication to the needs and expectations of various audiences, including those who are literate in various academic disciplines;

3. the ability to read and comprehend serious texts in a variety of academic areas, to relate what one reads to what one knows, and to distinguish fact from opinion;

4. the ability to understand and make use of basic mathematical concepts and tools that are of general use in various academic disciplines; and

5. the ability to use information and creative resources that are available electronically.

Areas of Familiarity

Beyond these proficiencies the general education program also seeks to ensure that ETSU graduates are familiar with important information and modes of thinking or investigation in various areas of study. This knowledge is not an end in itself. Its purpose is to aid the educated person in perceiving relationships among areas of study and continuing to learn.

It is the expectation of the ETSU faculty and administration that those courses which constitute the general education curriculum will collectively represent a common experience for all students and that in total they will ensure the following:

1. that students understand selected basic scientific principles and technological accomplishments that have shaped our culture and others; that, through in-depth awareness of at least one field of science, students come to understand that science is the process used to discover the fundamental laws of our natural world; and that students recognize the power and limitations of the scientific method, quantitative thinking, and technology;

2. that students understand major components of our nation's heritage its people, ideas, and wealth of cultural diversity and how that heritage intersects with and influences our own lives both today and for the future;

3. that students understand how the arts and humanities influence our ability to perceive and appreciate beauty, that students understand

the relationship between art and other elements of culture, and that students recognize how art expresses and influences the complex fabric of assumptions that undergird any society;

4. that students identify their own beliefs, values, ethical basis for decision-making, and sense of social responsibility by using the humanities and literature to experience some of the great thinking about personal identity, social relationships, and social and personal responsibility; and

5. that students, in the interest of social and ethical responsibility, are exposed to varied value and belief systems and the historical and cultural processes that produce them; that students are able to think critically about how individuals are influenced by political, economic, cultural, or family institutions in our own or other cultures; and that students are able to explore how institutions might be directed toward constructive ends.

GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM

The university's general education program includes two parts. Part I is a Core Curriculum of 44-45 semester credit hours that address specific academic "Proficiencies" and "Areas of Familiarity." Part II, Requirements Reinforcing Academic Proficiencies, requires students to complete a minimum number of courses that provide intensive experiences in writing, oral communication, and using information technology.

PART I: CORE CURRICULUM

PART II: REQUIREMENTS REINFORCING ACADEMIC PROFICIENCIES

Courses that fulfill writing-intensive, oral communication-intensive, and using information technology-intensive requirements are indicated in the Schedule of Classes each term. A complete listing of proficiency-intensive courses is also available at http://www.etsu.edu/reg/intensive/.

WRITING - Students must complete a minimum of four writing-intensive courses. At least two of these courses must be in the major field of study. At least two of the four courses must be at the 3000-4000 levels.

ORAL COMMUNICATION - Students must complete a minimum of two oral communication-intensive courses. At least one of these courses must be in the major field of study.

USING INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY - Students must complete a minimum of one using information technology-intensive course in the major field of study.

READING - Students who are required to take the AAPP test (see "Enrolling at ETSU") and who are assessed as being deficient in reading must complete DSPR 0800 prior to accumulating 33 semester credits at ETSU. Faculty in any course who question whether a student is reading at a reasonable college level may remand the student to the Developmental Studies Program for assessment.

SPECIAL NOTES ON MEETING CORE REQUIREMENTS:

1. Students must meet proficiency-intensive requirements through courses taken at ETSU.

2. The following categories of students are only required to take TWO writing-intensive courses, ONE oral communication-intensive course, and ONE using information technology-intensive course:

     a. Transfer students with an associate degree designed for transfer;
     b. Transfer students with 60 or more transferrable semester credits upon entering ETSU; and
     c. Readmission students with 60 or more hours upon re-entering ETSU, whose last term of enrollment at ETSU was prior to 1995.

3. A student has six years to complete the requirements of the undergraduate catalog under which he or she entered ETSU. ETSU also provides transfer students the opportunity to meet the ETSU catalog degree requirements in effect for a period of six years from the date of first entrance into higher education.

Additional Requirements for Graduation:

One PHED course from the fitness activity category (any 1000 level course)
and
one PHED course from the lifetime activities category (any 2000 level course).

Marching Band MUSC 1201 or Military Science MSCI 1217, 2130, or 3217 may fulfill either the fitness or the lifetime activity category.

NOTE: Two courses must be taken to fulfill the requirement.