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GENERAL EDUCATION
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APPROVED
COURSES FOR GENERAL EDUCATION SKILLS REQUIREMENTS
Education at USP is founded on the philosophy that educated persons
attain a broad understanding of the human experience through exposure
to diverse ideas, perspectives, and modes of thinking; and attain
a depth of knowledge, skills and abilities through specialized study
in their chosen discipline. Education at USP fosters development
of values important to students as responsible citizens and professionals.
The USP experience enables our students to take responsibility for
their continued learning throughout their professional and personal
lives.
General education at USP is a developmental process of intellectual
and personal growth. Students work with faculty and other members
of the University community towards achieving a set of educational
outcomes including:
• Knowledge in and familiarity with varied ways of thinking
and scholarship in the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
• Fundamental skills and abilities in oral and written communication,
mathematics, and technology, and the development of aesthetic sensibility.
• Appreciation and understanding of diversity to promote respect
for individual and cultural differences.
• Ability to engage in ethical and moral reasoning, and a
capacity for ethical behavior.
• Informed citizenship and the ability to actively participate
in a democratic society and to be both engaged locally and aware
of the world at large
• Skills for effective leadership, teamwork and group participation.
• Critical thought and inquiry, problem solving and reasoning
skills.
• Ability to identify the need for information and to access,
evaluate, and use it legally and ethically.
• Intellectual curiosity essential to creative, reflective,
self-directed, and purposeful learning.
• Integration of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors
through multidisciplinary modes of inquiry.
CURRICULUM
General Education Disciplines
Students must complete a minimum of 41 credits of course work in
general education distributed among the following seven areas of
the arts and sciences:
General Education Discipline Requirements
Choose courses from appropriate subject codes
| DISCIPLINE |
CR |
COURSE |
Natural Science
(1 semester of lab required) |
7 |
BS, CH, PY, GL |
| Mathematics |
6 |
MA, ST |
| Communication (Written & Oral) |
9 |
EN 101, EN 102, CO 101, CO 204 |
| Social Sciences |
6 |
PO, PS, SO, AN, SS, EC, CO (excluding CO 101 and CO 204) |
| Humanities |
6 |
AC, AR, CI, CL, EN (excluding EN 101 and EN 102), ET, FR,
GE, IT, LA, HI, HU, MU, PL, SP, WL |
| Multidisciplinary Inquiry |
6 |
IH |
| Physical Education |
1 |
PE |
General Education
Electives
Students must take 12 credits of General Education Electives in
addition to the General Education Disciplines. Of these, at least
three credits must be completely unrestricted that is, taken in
any department and in no way required for the major, although these
courses may be used toward a minor or certification program. The
other nine credits must be taken outside the academic discipline
of the major and may be used to satisfy prerequisites, a minor field
of study, or to fulfill personal interests.
General Education Skills
In addition to the disciplinary and elective coursework, students
must demonstrate that they have had contact with a total of 6 skill
areas encompassing skills and essential values. This requirement
is designed to ensure student exposure to important elements of
General Education.
Students are expected to fulfill their Skills requirements within
the context of the fifty-three (53) credits taken to meet the Discipline
and Elective course requirements.
Oral Communication and Written Communication are particularly important
parts of the general experience. Therefore, students are required
to augment the Oral Communication and Written Communication Disciplinary
courses by completing different courses with Applied Oral Communication
Skills and Applied Written Communication Skills.
General Education Skill Requirements
| SKILL |
OVERALL GOAL |
| Ethics |
Students will engage in ethical and moral reasoning and act
ethically in public, professional and personal responsibilities. |
| Information Literacy |
Students will identify the need for information and access
it, evaluate it, and use it legally and ethically. |
| Oral Communication |
Using standard English, students will communicate in a personally
effective and socially appropriate manner. |
| Reasoning and Problem Solving |
Students will recognize, analyze and propose solutions to
problems. |
| Technology |
Students will use appropriate technology and show ability
to understand its impact on society. |
| Written Communication |
Students will use the English language to write effectively
in a variety of contexts. |
General Education Values and Attitudes
Any good educational background includes courses that are not required
but that students select to pursue individual interests, increased
depth of understanding of an area that informs the career choice,
or purely for recreational experiences. We have chosen to call such
areas Values and Attitudes. The list of Values
and Attitudes is not required, but the listing does indicate
the importance that is placed on each of these experiences.
General Education Values and Attitudes Recommendations
| SKILL |
OVERALL GOAL |
| Aesthetics |
Students will develop an appreciation and understanding of
works art, literature, or performance by interpretative or historical
perspective. |
| Cultural Differences |
Students will understand the elements that contribute to cultural
and ethnic identity. |
| Individual Differences |
Students will recognize individual differences and describe
how personal attitudes, beliefs, and traits influence interactions
with others. |
| Informed Citizenship |
Students will understand the evolution of civil society and
be a responsible citizen at all levels. |
| Multidisciplinary Inquiry |
Students will understand a theme, issue or problem from the
perspective of multiple disciplines. |
| Reflective and Purposeful Learning |
Students will acquire the ability for reflective, life-long
learning. |
| Leadership and Teamwork |
Students will demonstrate ability to collaborate with other
and to lead group efforts. |
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