Office of general education

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INDIANA STATE UNIVERSITY
GE 2000 PROGRAM
ADVISOR’S GUIDE

As an advisor, you perform a critical role by helping students to understand the value of General Education. 

Talking Points About GE

Students can custom design their General Education program to complement their major or contribute to completion of a minor.

Open-preference students can use General Education courses to explore potential areas of interest to help them choose a major and minor and plan a fulfilling career. Open-preference students can use General Education to explore majors and career options.

General Education helps students develop a broad range of interests and skills and encourages them to understand the value of a traditional university education in the arts, humanities, and the sciences.

General Education prepares students to be effective communicators, problem solvers, and critical thinkers as they explore the relation of a liberal education to their major and minor courses of study.

A liberal education prepares students to become active professionals and productive citizens - Preparing Students for Life

As part of the Professional Preparation Project at the University of Michigan, Joan S. Stark and Malcolm A. Lowther were interested in the goals of liberal and professional studies.  Here are 10 common goals they prepared:

Communication: reading, writing, speaking, and listening

Critical Thinking: rational, logical, coherent examination of issues

Contextual Competence: understanding how what you learn affects society and having the capability to see things from many perspectives

Aesthetic Sensibility: sensitivity to relationships among the arts, the natural environment, and human concerns

Professional Identity: a sense of place in the world as an individual, a citizen, and a professional

Professional Ethics: understanding and accepting professional ethics

Adaptive Competence: anticipation and promotion of change in professional practice

Leadership Capacity: the intelligent, human application of knowledge and skills, and the capacity to contribute as a productive member of the profession

Focus on Improvement: sense of obligation to participate in the improvement of the profession.

Continued Learning: exploration and expansion of personal, civic, and professional knowledge throughout a lifetime.

Using the General Education Website to AIDE in Planning the Student’s Semester Schedule
  • Go to the General Education website at http://indstate.edu/gened
  • Click on GE Program, then select GE2000 to review the requirements that apply to the student you are advising.
  • After reviewing the requirements, click on “Schedule of Classes Offered” from the menu on the left to view a list of available semesters or summer sessions.
  • Click on the appropriate semester or summer session, then on GE2000 or GE 89 to view all General Education courses offered and their designated General Education credit for the selected term.
  • Choose the courses that best suit the interests and needs of the student and then click on the My ISU link to register them for classes.

 Transfer Students:

  • Generally if a course a student has taken elsewhere is accepted for transfer credit as equivalent to a specific course which is approved for General Education credit at ISU, it will count toward the General Education requirements at ISU. 
    • Quite a few courses from the Community College of Indiana system, Vincennes University, and other Indiana colleges and universities, as well as from nearby out of state institutions have also been approved as transfer courses bearing ISU General Education credit. 
    • These courses will automatically show the GE credit on a student’s DARS report once they have been formally accepted for transfer credit. 
  •  Courses taken at the 100/200 level will not be allowed to transfer as equivalent to 300/400 level ISU courses or for credit toward the 300/400  level 50 credit hour graduation requirement.

Basic Studies Requirement

  • Basic Studies areas of the General Education Program prepare students to succeed in their majors and in their professional and personal lives by emphasizing writing, speaking, quantitative and computer skills, broadening perspectives through the study of a foreign language, and promoting fitness through a physical education requirement.

 

  • Liberal Studies courses, like Basic Studies courses, enhance the critical thinking and broad communication skills that predict success in academic work and develop professional flexibility, preparing ISU graduates for a competitive professional job market or advanced graduate work.
 1. It is important that students know their Basic Studies requirements.  For example, will the student need to take English 101, English 105, English 107 or 130, or English 108?  Does the student’s major have specific Basic Studies substitutes or expectations about when specific courses should be completed?
 2. Since all Liberal Studies courses require a reading, writing, and speaking and listening component, it is important to consider students’ readiness for each individual course, particularly during their first semesters.  Students enrolled in English 101 may find a course with a heavy writing component difficult.
 3. Some programs, particularly professional programs, are highly structured and require a large number of credit hours.  Students have relatively few choices and need to choose carefully each course outside the major, including General Education courses.
 4. Please note the following changes in GE 2000 regulations:  
  1. The rule against applying  more than two courses from a single discipline for Liberal Studies credit has been eliminated.  Students may now apply three or more approved Liberal Studies courses from a single discipline to their GE 2000 Program requirements.

 B. History majors satisfy the GE 2000 Historical Studies requirements through completion of HIST 101 and HIST 102.

C. English majors and minors satisfy the GE 2000 Literature and Life requirement through completion of ENG 230 and ENG 236.

D.  All 100 and 200 level laboratory science courses offered for majors by the departments of Chemistry, Geography, Geology, Life  Sciences, and Physics have been approved for SMS:F,E credit to facilitate science majors’ completion of the SMS requirement.  Any student, regardless of major, who completes TWO of these laboratory science courses will have completed the GE 2000 SMS:F and SMS:E requirements.  Students who complete only one of these courses [which are designed for majors and which do not appear on the approved lists of foundational or elective SMS courses] will receive no GE 2000 credit.

E.  The prerequisite for capstone courses has been changed to completion of 78 credit hours and 7 of the 9 Liberal Studies core area requirements.  The originally approved prerequisite was not enforceable and delayed most students’ enrollment in capstones until their final semester at ISU.  The 78 credit hour prerequisite, because it defines second semester junior status, is enforceable and will allow students to make reasonable progress toward completion of all degree requirements at ISU.

F.  Quantitative Literacy is required of all students, preferably within their first 62 hours of credit earned at ISU. Students may satisfy this requirement by obtaining a passing score on the Quantitative Literacy Exemption Exam (offered by the University Testing Office, Extension 7666), or by earning a passing grade in one of the following courses: Mathematics 102, college algebra or a higher level mathematics course (except Math 205 or Math 305), or a college-level statistics course. The list of approved mathematics and statistics courses is pending. Consult your advisor for more information. 

Liberal Studies Requirements

The Liberal Studies component of the General Education program has five core areas:

  1. Scientific and Mathematical Studies (SMS): Two courses, one of which must be a Foundational Laboratory Science course (SMS:F,E); the second may be an elective (SMS:E) or a second Foundational course (SMS:F,E).
    Goal: Coursework in this area is designed to develop your scientific and mathematical literacy through an understanding of basic principles underlying natural phenomena, and the products of science and mathematics
  2.  Social and Behavioral Studies (SBS): Two courses, one of which must be a Foundational course (SBS:F,E), the second may be an elective (SBS:E) or a second Foundational course (SBS:F,E).
    Goal: Coursework in this area introduces you to fundamental methods of inquiry and research in the social and behavioral sciences,  encouraging reflection on the operation and evolution of social institutions and systems
  3.   Literary, Artistic, and Philosophical Studies (LAPS): Two courses, one of which must be a Literature and Life course (LAPS:LL) and the other an elective (LAPS:E).
    Goal:     The required coursework in Literature and Life leads you to think critically and creatively about literature and requires you to present your ideas in discussion and writing so as to deepen your awareness and understanding of the aesthetic and cultural dimensions of Literary, Artistic, and Philosophical Studies.  The elective coursework in this area is designed to deepen your awareness and understanding of the different ways human experience is reflected in Literary, Artistic, or Philosophical Studies.
  4. Historical Studies (HS): One course, which must be an approved Historical Studies course (HS).
         Goal: Coursework in this area promotes an historical perspective, either through a broad survey or through more concentrated study of a single period, and recognizes that you learn to better understand your own culture through a refined historical understanding of the complexity and diversity of human cultures.
  5.   Multicultural Studies (MCS): Two courses, one of which must be an approved Multicultural Studies course in U.S. Diversity (MCS:USD) and the other an approved Multicultural Studies course in International Cultures (MCS:IC).
    Goal:     Coursework in this area is designed to expose you to cultural diversity and sensitize you to complex power relations among  cultural groups, especially those relations that result in prejudice, discrimination, and oppression; it also develops your awareness of the aspirations of traditionally underrepresented groups who seek to redefine contemporary social and political realities.  The study of cultures, one’s own and others, helps you to reflect upon and critically evaluate your own cultural backgrounds.

General Education Capstone [CAP]:  Students first entering ISU in Summer 2003 or later must complete the GE Capstone requirement. If you entered ISU prior to summer 2003, you may earn General Education Liberal studies credit in SMS:E, SBS:E, or LAPS:E for completing an approved General Education Capstone Course if you have completed 78 hours of college credit, 7 of the 9 liberal studies core area requirements, and have submitted and received approval of an appropriate petition.

LIBERAL STUDIES RULES AND GUIDELINES

1.       Only those courses approved for General Education Liberal Studies credit will count towards meeting the Liberal Studies requirement.  All courses approved for Liberal Studies credit are listed in the ISU Undergraduate Catalog.  A current listing of approved Liberal Studies courses is also available on the General Education web site:

http://www.indstate.edu/site/gened/

2.       General Education courses in a minor, second major, or cognate courses in a first major can be counted toward Liberal Studies credit.  (Note: Cognate courses are courses required for your major but not offered by your major department.  For example, students working towards a bachelor’s degree in nursing are required to take Psychology 101 as part of their major course work.  Since Psychology 101 is offered by the Department of Psychology, not the School of Nursing, Psychology 101 would be considered a cognate course and would count towards meeting the General Education Liberal Studies requirements.)

Associates Degree Requirements

Students working toward an associate’s degree will have to meet the following requirements: Basic Studies—Writing at the 100 level, Communication, Quantitative Literacy, and Information Technology Literacy for students entering in 2003.  Liberal Studies—5 courses, with a minimum of one approved course in each of three Liberal Studies Core Areas.

GE 2000  Graduation Requirements

Basic Studies
The Basic Studies component of the General Education program is intended to strengthen your abilities in spoken and written communication skills, quantitative literacy, and foreign language and to enhance your physical fitness.  Because of the speaking and writing requirements in your Liberal Studies classes, it is important that you complete English 101 and 105, or English 107 or 130, or English 108 and Communication  101 by the end of your freshman year.  The Basic Studies requirements are:

WRITING: English 101 and 105 or, if SAT Verbal score is at least 510 or ACT Verbal score is at least 20, English 107 or 130.  English majors, minors and honors students take English 108 unless exempted by a placement test, international students whose native language is not English take ESL 103A and/or ESL 103B before taking English 105.  After completing 48 hours, take English 305, 305T, or ASBE/BEIT 336, or English 405 after completing 62 hours.

SPEAKING: Communication 101 unless the major designates another course.

QUANTITATIVE LITERACY [QL]: Quantitative Literacy is required of all students, preferably within their first 62 hours of credit earned at ISU. Students may satisfy this requirement by obtaining a passing score on the Quantitative Literacy Exemption Test (offered by the University Testing Office, Extension 7666), or by earning a passing grade in one of the following courses: Mathematics 102, college algebra or a higher level mathematics course (except Math 205 or Math 305), or a college-level statistics course. The list of approved mathematics and statistics courses is pending. Consult your advisor for more information.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE: Foreign Language 101 and 102 unless 2 years or equivalent completed in a single foreign language with a C average or better in high school, or one year at the university level, or a non native speaker of English.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION: Physical Education 101 and 101L, Fitness for Life, unless the major designates another course.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LITERACY [ITL]: Must be completed within the first 32 hours of credit earned at ISU. For students entering in the summer of 2003 or later.  Completion of an approved ITL course, completion of a major for which there is an approved sequence of courses that meet the requirement, or a satisfactory score on the ITL exemption test which is now offered by the University Testing Office. 

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