2017-2018 Academic Catalog 
    
    Mar 28, 2024  
2017-2018 Academic Catalog [Archived Catalog]

General Education Undergraduate, College of Graduate and Professional Studies


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Academic Programs

Every student who graduated from Friends University will complete a general education program intentionally designed to build essential skills and prepare you for a diverse and ever-changing work environment.  General Education course are provided by different academic divisions to provide a cross-discipline approach to developing skills in critical thinking, quantitative analysis, written and verbal communications, and collaboration with peers from different disciplines.

The University’s General Education Program has eight educational goals, each providing a number of distinct learning outcomes, which can be met by a variety of courses and educational experiences.  General Education goals are best met early in a student’s undergraduate career, however there are courses that are appropriate to take in a student’s junior and senior years.

Below are the eight educational goals of the Program with summary statements.

General Education Goal 1: Intellectual and Practical Skills          

  • Developing relationships and skills to be used while in college:  Students will be able to analyze and evaluate assumptions, claims, evidence, arguments, and forms of expression; develop effective study skills, find campus resources, and interact with others in the university community. 

General Education Goal 2: Quantitative Literacy

  • Quantitative problem solving: Students will be able to define a problem, analyze numerical information, apply mathematical principles, and integrate quantitative methods into problem solving. 

General Education Goal 3: Communication Skills

  • Developing writing and speaking skills: Students will be able to generate, explore, organize, and convey ideas in writing and orally, using language and other media (for example, digital texts, images, and graphs) to present those ideas clearly, confidently, and in a manner appropriate to specific communication situations.

General Education Goal 4: Breadth of Knowledge

  • Exploring traditional disciplines: Students will be able to demonstrate basic competence in the principles, theories, and analytic methods used in each of the following: humanities, natural sciences, business, arts, and social sciences and history.

General Education Goal 5: Culture and Diversity

  • Examining diverse cultures: Students will be able to investigate the diversity of human experience within the United States and abroad, considering, for example, age, culture, disability, ethnicity, gender, language, race, religion, sexual orientation, and social class, and appreciate the contributions of different social groups. Students will examine a variety of perspectives in the global community, distinguish their own cultural patterns, and respond flexibly to multiple worldviews.

General Education Goal 6: Personal and Social Responsibility

  • Examining responsibility to self and society: Students will be able to develop and apply a combination of knowledge and skills to demonstrate an understanding of social responsibility and ethical behavior.  Furthermore, students will be able to act on this understanding of social responsibility and ethical behavior to others in one’s local, national, or global community, and contribute positively via leadership, collaboration, or other direct action.

General Education Goal 7: Integration, Applied, Learning, Creativity

  • Synthesis of acquired knowledge put to use: Students will be able to analyze and combine information from different areas within or across disciplines to approach and explain existing questions and problems from new perspectives, to pose new questions, and to generate new ideas.  Furthermore, students will be able to think, react, and work in imaginative ways that produce innovative expressions and original perspectives.

General Education Goal 8: Religion

  • Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of the role of Christian faith in contemporary society.

General Education Goal 1: Intellectual and Practical Skills (3 credit hours)


General Education Goal 2: Quantitative Literacy (3 credit hours)


See Math Requirements for specific major sought.

  • Majors within the Bachelor of Arts degree requiring The Nature of Mathematics or Intermediate Algebra or a higher level math course must earn a grade of C or better.
  • Majors within the Bachelor of Science and Bachelor of Business Administration requiring College Algebra must earn a grade of C or better.

General Education Goal 3: Communication Skills (9 credit hours)


Writing requirements must be completed in one of the following ways:

A. By taking Writing 1 (COMP 201) and Writing 2 (COMP 202) at Friends University or another accredited institution, passing the course (or its equivalent)  with “C” or better.

The College of Adult and Professional Studies will accept most English Composition courses from regionally accredited colleges and universities in the United States. 

Additionally, if a student has completed ENGL 111 Composition (or an equivalent) with a grade of ‘D’ and completed ENGL 112 Researched Composition (or an equivalent) with a grade of ‘C’ or better, ENGL 111 will be waived for admission to the College of Adult and Professional Studies.  ENGL Composition requirements for graduation from Friends University will be considered met for students admitted under these conditions.

 

B. By taking the CLEP, which includes both the CLEP essay and CLEP multiple choice sections, in the area of English composition. Students who pass the test with a score of 500 or better will receive six hours of ungraded credit for Writing 1 (COMP 201) and Writing 2 (COMP 202), pending the submission of a research paper that conforms to APA style and is approved by a fulltime faculty member of the English department. The paper should be written according to the guidelines currently established by the English program for Writing 2 (COMP 202). This option can provide for students who need both Writing 1 (COMP 201) and Writing 2 (COMP 202) and who have never enrolled in either course before. The CLEP test is an option only for a student who has no previous enrollment in Writing 1 (COMP 201)  or 2 (COMP 202).

 

Exceptions to this policy must be approved by the CAPS Exception Committee.

General Education Goal 4: Breadth of Knowledge (16 credit hours)


General Education Goal 5: Culture and Diversity (3 credit hours)


General Education Goal 6: Personal and Social Responsibility (3 credit hours)


General Education Goal 7: Integration, Applied, Learning, Creativity (3 credit hours)


(Major Specific)

General Education Goal 8: Religion (3 credit hours)


Return to {$returnto_text} Return to: Academic Programs