Obtaining a Degree at SUU: General Education

 General Education 

General Education Requirements

Please read the general education and the experiential sections of the catalog carefully. Students are encouraged to meet with an academic advisor (435) 586-5420 for assistance in academic planning.

General Education Mission

The GE Program at SUU provides broad subject-area knowledge and learning skills foundational for achieving engaged, personalized and rigorous learning that transcends and complements students’ majors and minors.

Overview of General Education

The General Education (GE) program at SUU is central to its liberal arts and sciences mission. Course work is offered in core competency areas (English, Math, etc.) and across multiple disciplines to help broaden a student’s knowledge and understanding of the arts, humanities and the sciences. The GE core encompasses 12 to 13 credits of course work consisting of introductory classes in English, Math, and American Institutions. An additional 20 to 22 credits of introductory course work is required across six broad Knowledge Areas: Integrated Learning, Fine Arts, Humanities, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Life Science, and Physical Science. The learning outcomes of courses in GE are designed to help students acquire skills and knowledge that continue to enhance during their studies at SUU.

Learning Outcomes

The SUU Essential Learning Outcomes (ELOs) are incorporated in GE classes offered at SUU. However, not all GE courses encompass all of the ELOs. Students enrolling in classes in the Core and Knowledge Areas are given the opportunity to explore the issues and topics inherent in the ELOs. The following are the learning outcomes that form the core of general education:

1.0  Civic Engagement

Students demonstrate that they possess the combination of knowledge, skills, values, and motivation to make a difference in the civic life of their community and to promote the enhancement of the quality of life in a community through both political and non-political processes.

2.0  Communication         

Students develop and express ideas and will be able to do so in a variety of ways, namely in writing, by speaking, visually, kinesthetically, through design or aurally.

3.0  Creative Thinking

Students combine or synthesize existing ideas, images, or expertise in original ways, as well as think, react, and work in an imaginative way.

4.0  Critical Thinking

Students demonstrate disciplined processes of actively and skillfully conceptualizing, applying, analyzing, synthesizing, and/or evaluating information gathered from, or generated by, observation, experience, reflection, reasoning, or communication, as a guide to belief and action.

5.0  Digital Literacy           

Students strategically and responsibly employ appropriate technologies to explore, create, collaborate, and organize in a digital context.

6.0  Ethical Reasoning     

Students describe and analyze positions on ethical issues, apply reasoning about right and wrong human conduct, demonstrate ethical decision-making skills, and demonstrate an evolving ethical self-identity.

7.0  Information Literacy

Students identify, locate, evaluate, attribute and share information effectively and ethically.

8.0  Inquiry & Analysis

Inquiry:  Students systematically explore issues, objects or works through the collection and analysis of evidence that results in informed conclusions or judgments.

Analysis: Students break complex topics or issues into parts to gain a better understanding of them.

9.0  Intercultural Knowledge and Competence

Students demonstrate that they possess a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of cultural contexts.

10.0  Integrative Learning

Students make connections among ideas and experiences and can synthesize and transfer their learning to new, complex situations within and beyond the campus.

11.0  Knowledge of Human Cultures and the Physical and Natural World

Students demonstrate knowledge of human cultures and the physical and natural world through study in the fine arts, humanities, social and behavioral sciences, life and physical sciences.

12.0  Lifelong Learning

Students demonstrate that they possess the skills and dispositions that are necessary for a self-sufficient learner to engage in purposeful, ongoing learning activities with the aim of improving knowledge, skills, and competence.

13.0  Problem Solving

Students design, evaluate, and implement strategies to answer open-ended questions or achieve a desired goal.

14.0  Quantitative Literacy

Students can understand and create sophisticated arguments supported by quantitative evidence and clearly communicate those arguments in a variety of formats (using words, tables, graphs, mathematical equations, etc., as appropriate).

15.0  Teamwork

Students demonstrate productive interaction with others (in or out of class) to complete assignments, tasks or projects.

The SUU General Education Program Requirements by Degree

General Associate or Bachelors Degree

For a general associates or bachelor’s degree, the General Education (GE) program requires 32-35 credit hours of course work.

• Two courses in the English core, and a minimum of one course in each of the following core categories: Quantitative Literacy (Mathematics) and American Institutions.
• A minimum of 3 to 4 credit hours in each of the six knowledge areas.

Associate of Applied Science Degree

For an Associate of Applied Science degree, 20-21 credit hours are required in the following areas:

• One course in the English core, and a minimum of one course in each of the following core categories: Quantitative Literacy (Mathematics) and American Institutions,
• Four credits in Integrated Learning
• Two courses from among two of the remaining five knowledge areas
• Students should check the department AAS requirements to determine if specific general education classes are recommended

Optional Methods for Satisfying GE Requirement

The University provides alternate means of satisfying requirements in the general education program. Students may complete general education requirements through Advanced Placement (AP) courses in high school or by taking a series of tests under the College Level Examination Program (CLEP). Students interested in alternate means of satisfying general education requirements should refer to the “Credit by Examination and Individual Study” section of this catalog or contact the Testing Center at (435) 865-8071 or their college advisor.

AA/AS Transfer Policy of Utah System

An Associate of Arts or an Associate of Science degree earned at any institution within the Utah System of Higher Education, or at other non-Utah institutions with articulation agreements, will be considered as meeting the General Education requirement of any institution in the system. When the General Education requirements of an institution not offering the Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree have been met in earning a 60 to 63 credit hour diploma, a Registrar’s certification that the transferring student has completed baccalaureate-level General Education requirements at the sending institution will be accepted by SUU in lieu of the AA/AS degree. In the latter case, the Registrar at the sending institution will forward to SUU an up-to-date description of the General Education requirements.

Transfer of General Education Course Credits

Students transferring to SUU from another institution are required to forward an official transcript for each college or university attended. Credits earned in general education from a campus in the Utah System of Higher Education are transferable to SUU. Credits earned at a community college or at a university outside of the state of Utah will be evaluated before acceptance for transfer to SUU by the Registrar’s Office.

Students who have completed the General Education requirements at Southern Utah University, and who transfer to another institution, may request a General Education Certificate of Completion.  In order to qualify for the GE Certificate, students must: 1) complete all of the SUU General Education requirements, 2) earn at least 9 of the General Education credits from Southern Utah University, and 3) earn a SUU GPA of 2.0 or higher and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.

It is the student’s responsibility to initiate a request for this certificate. Students will meet with an academic advisor who will determine whether or not the student has satisfied all the requirements.  If so, the advisor will initiate the process. The Registrar’s office will evaluate the request and, if all the requirements have been satisfied, will post the Certificate of Completion directly to the students’ transcript.

GE Certificate of Completion

Students who have completed the General Education requirements at Southern Utah University, and who transfer to another institution, may request a General Education Certificate of Completion.  In order to qualify for the GE Certificate, students must: 1) complete all of the SUU General Education requirements, 2) earn at least 9 of the General Education credits from Southern Utah University, and 3) earn a SUU GPA of 2.0 or higher and a cumulative GPA of 2.0 or higher.

It is the student’s responsibility to initiate a request for this certificate. Students will meet with an academic advisor who will determine whether or not the student has satisfied all the requirements.  If so, the advisor will initiate the process. The Registrar’s office will evaluate the request and, if all the requirements have been satisfied, will post the GE Certificate of Completion directly to the students’ transcript.

Core Requirements*

The core requirements for General Education encompass 12 to 13 credit hours of course work in English, Quantitative Literacy, and American Institutions. These courses are intended to give students knowledge and skills necessary to effectively communicate, be able to demonstrate basic mathematical competency, and have an understanding of history of the United States and its economic and political systems.      

*Core course requirements as of 2013-14: Students must complete the English, Quantitative Literacy, and Integrated Learning course work before they have earned 60 credit hours at SUU. While not required, students are urged to also complete the American Institution requirement within their first 60 credits.

Knowledge Area Learning Outcomes

Integrated Learning

Students will be able to: (1) Make connections among skills, ideas and experiences to synthesize and transfer their learning to new, complex situations within and beyond the campus; (2) Strategically and responsibly employ appropriate technologies to explore, create, collaborate, and organize in a digital context; and (3) Identify, locate, evaluate, attribute and share  information effectively and ethically.

(Note: currently, this Knowledge Area requirement is satisfied by completing the following two courses: LM 1010  - 1 credit and CSIS 1000  - 3 credits)

Fine Arts

Students will be able to: (1) Discuss the scope and variety with the fine arts (i.e., art, music, theatre, or dance); (2) Recognize the aesthetic standards used in making critical judgments in various artistic fields; (3) Analyze and articulate understanding of a range of artistic processes; (4) Participate as an active contributor to the performance, production, exhibition, or design process in the Fine Arts; and (5) Demonstrate how the creative process is informed and limited by social and historical contexts.

Humanities

Students will be able to: (1) Derive evidence from primary sources regarding the complexities and changes in human experience through analytical reading and critical thought; (2) Describe how human experience is shaped by social, cultural, linguistic, and/or historical circumstances; (3) Demonstrate attentiveness to linguistic, visual, and/or audio texts when communicating meaning; and (4) Use appropriate verbal, perceptual, or imaginative skills when organizing meanings, developing a sense of self, and balancing potentially disparate values.

Life Sciences

Students will be able to: (1) Demonstrate understanding of science as a way of knowing about the natural world; (2) Demonstrate basic understanding of how organisms live, grow, respond to their environment, and reproduce; (3) Discuss the organization and flow of matter and energy through biological systems; (4) Explain from evidence patterns of inheritance, structural unity, adaptation, and diversity of life on Earth; and (5) Describe how the Life Sciences have been shaped by historical, ethical, and social contexts.

Physical Sciences

Students will be able to: (1) Demonstrate understanding of science as a way of knowing about the physical world; (2) Demonstrate understanding of forces in the physical world; (3) Discuss the flow of matter and energy through systems (in large and small scales); (4) Develop evidence-based arguments regarding the effect of human activity on the Earth; and (5) Describe how the Physical Sciences have been shaped by historical, ethical, and social contexts.

Social and Behavioral Science

Students will be able to: (1) Demonstrate understanding of relevant social and behavioral science methodologies and how they are used to understand or explain human relations or interactions; (2) Identify general principles of behavioral and social functioning; (3) Connect those questions and issues to the students’ own experiences; and (4) Demonstrate a critically reasoned understanding of social patterns and individual variation congruent with and divergent from those patterns.

General Education