University Common Requirements

ACADA Roundtable Presentation

April 25, 2012

Susan PochAssociate Dean, University CollegeAssociate Dean, University College

What is UCORE?

FIRST-YEAR EXPERIENCE: 3 semester credit hours[ROOT] Roots of Contemporary Issues (3 cr.) FOUNDATIONAL COMPETENCIES: 9 semester credit hours[QUAN] Quantitative Reasoning (3 cr.)[WRTG] Written Communication (3 cr.) [COMM] or [WRTG] Communication course (3 cr.)

 WAYS OF KNOWING: 16 semester credit hours[SSCI] Inquiry in the Social Sciences (3cr.)[HUM] Inquiry in the Humanities (3cr.)[ARTS] Inquiry in the Creative and Professional Arts (3cr.)[BSCI] [PSCI] [SCI] Inquiry in the Natural Sciences (7 cr.)  INTEGRATIVE AND APPLIED LEARNING: 6 semester credit hours[DIVR] Diversity (3 cr.)[CAPS] Integrative Capstone (3 cr.)

University COmmon REquirements

• UCORE provides a degree of balance between a major and the broader objectives of higher education.

• UCORE is intended to be flexible enough to work for all majors (and portable!).

• UCORE applies to new freshmen students who enter WSU in fall 2012.

• Transfer students who enter WSU in Fall 2012 will follow the current General Education Requirements.

• Current students will continue to follow the General Education Requirements as outlined in the catalog.

 

What’s Changed…

• UCORE total required credits—34 creditsGERs had 40 credits

• UCORE required Science credits—7 creditsGERs had 10 required Science credits

• A maximum of three, 3-credit UCORE courses may also be used to fulfill major requirements.

What’s Changed for theCollege of Arts and SciencesGraduation Requirements for the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) are:

Foreign Language: 2 years of high school (must be the same language) or 1 year of college-level foreign language study

Additional 3 credits of [SSCI], [HUM], or [ARTS] for a total of 12 UCORE/CAS requirements

Additional 1 lab credit of [BSCI] or [PSCI] for a total of 8 credits and 2 labs (UCORE/CAS requirements).

What’s Not Changed…

• UCORE courses cannot be taken on a pass/fail basis.

• Two “communication proficiency” courses:--[WRTG] (ENGLISH 101)+ [COMM] OR [WRTG]

• Honors students continue with Honors requirements.

FAQ’s(answers found in the companion UCORE handbook!)

• Can UCORE courses ‘double dip?’

• Can a UCORE course count for a GER?

• Can current students switch to UCORE from GERs?

• Can new transfer students switch from GER to UCORE?

• What about World Civ?

• [M] courses?

Let’s talk about Transfer Students

By definition, transfer students are students who earned ANY amount of credits after high school, excluding summer after high school. Students who earned credit while still in high school are

freshmen.

• For Fall 2012 transfers, it matters WHEN the credits were completed, not how many.

• Transfer students who enter Fall 2012 will follow current GER curriculum.

TRANSFER STUDENTSFALL 2013 (AND AFTER)

IF THEY HAVE: THEY NEED:

An approved transferable AA (DTA) Integrative Capstone [CAPS]

An approved transferable Roots of Contemporary Associate of Science (AST) Issues [ROOT]

Second [COMM] or [WRTG]Diversity [DIVR]

 Integrative Capstone [CAPS]

No approved transferable degree UCORE using course-by-course matches of

transferred and UCORE categories

Washington 45!Presented here for information and examples of equivalencies

• Legislative Mandate

• Students who complete these courses at a public CTC in Washington may transfer them as general education requirement to any public BI in the state.

• Students may transfer a maximum of 45 quarter credits under this agreement.

 (see chart in guidebook)

Example Degree Plans with UCORE

Two majors are presented here to show how UCORE courses are integrated into a schedule of studies:

• Look for UCORE courses may also fulfill a major requirement.

• Look for UCORE designations: UCORE courses are designated by function, i.e.

once a requirement is fulfilled the UCORE designation will not appear again on subsequent UCORE courses.

Communication and Society First Year

First Term Hours

COM 101 3 Diversity [DIVR] 3

ENGLISH 101 [WRTG] 3

HISTORY 105 [ROOT] 3

Quantitative Reasoning [QUAN] 3

Second Term

Biological Sciences [BSCI] or 3 or 4 SCIENCE 101 [SCI]1

COM 102 [COMM] 3

COM 105 3

Social Sciences [SSCI] 3

Electives 3

Apply for and Certify in Major Take Writing Certification Exam

Second Year

First Term Hours

COM 210 3

COM 295 3

Humanities [HUM] 3

Major Specialization2 3

Physical Sciences [PSCI] or 3 or 4 SCIENCE 102 [SCI]1

Second Term

COMSOC 301 3

Creative & Professional Arts [ARTS] 3

Electives 9

Complete Writing Portfolio

Third Year

First Term Hours

COMSOC 321 3

COMSOC 324 [M] 3

Electives 9

Second Term Hours

COM 420 3

Major Elective or COMSOC 4952 3

Electives 9

Fourth Year

First Term Hours

300-400-level Electives 3

COMSTRAT 409 3

Integrated Capstone [CAPS] 3

Major Elective or COMSOC 4952 3

Major Specialization3 3

Second Term Hours

COM 470 3

Major Elective or COMSOC 4952 3

Major Specialization 3 3

Electives 6

Biology-General OptionFirst Year

First Term Hours

Biol 106 [BSCI] 4

Chem 105 [PSCI] 4

Engl 101 [WRTG] 3

Roots of Contemporary 3 Issues [ROOT]

Second Term Hours

Biol 107 4

Chem 106 4

Math 140 or 171 [QUAN] 4

Second Year

First Term Hours

Humanities [HUM] 3

Chem 345 4

Communication Prof 3 [COMM or WRTG]

Phys 101 or 201 4

Second Term Hours

Biol 301 4

MBioS 303 4

Phys 102 or 202 4

Social Sciences [SSCI] 3

Complete Writing Portfolio

Third Year

First Term Hours

Creative and 3 Prof Arts [ARTS]

Biol 372 [M] 4

Program Option Courses or Electives 8 or 9

Second Term Hours

Diversity [DIVR] 3

Stat 212, 412, 3 or 4 or Psych 311

Program Option Courses 9 or Electives

Fourth Year

First Term Hours

Program Option Courses 10 or Electives

Biol 405 3

Second Term Hours

Biol 352 or MBioS 401 3

Program Opt Courses 7 or Biology Elective

Capstone [CAPS] 3

Questions?