General Education Program

The UNCG General Education Program, approved by the UNCG Faculty Senate in March 2000, is effective for new undergraduates entering UNCG in Fall 2001 and thereafter. The Speaking Intensive (SI) General Education Marker requirement became effective Fall 2002.

Philosophy of UNCG’s General Education Program

The faculty and staff of The University of North Carolina at Greensboro are dedicated to student learning and believe that the best evidence of this commitment is the caliber of UNCG graduates. A UNCG graduate should combine specialized education in a major with the skills, knowledge, and understanding necessary to be a lifelong learner, an ethical and independent decision maker, a critical and creative thinker, a clear and effective communicator, and a responsible citizen.

The character and abilities of an educated person are the product not solely of a specific battery of courses but of an entire process of education. The mandate to foster the knowledge, character, and sensibility of a university-educated person belongs to the entire university, not to a single department or unit. To the extent possible, learning in the General Education Core should provide foundations and alternative perspectives for the more specialized knowledge gained in the major, while learning in the major should build upon and extend the work that is done in general education courses.

Student Learning Goals

Proficiencies

A university education should result in the student’s ability to gather, comprehend, and evaluate information and to communicate this knowledge. Because such skills are important to lifelong learning and participation in a modern society, graduates should demonstrate the following proficiencies:

• ability to write and speak clearly, coherently, and effectively as well as to adapt modes of communication to one’s audience
• ability to interpret academic writing and discourse in a variety of disciplines
• ability to interpret numerical data and perform basic computation
• ability to locate, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information
• ability to utilize appropriate technologies

Knowledge and Understanding

A university education should also result in knowledge and understanding of a wide range of important subject matter and ways of thinking and knowing. Such knowledge and understanding are necessary for a person to be a lifelong learner, an independent decision-maker, a critical and creative thinker, and a responsible and participating citizen. Students should acquire broad knowledge and understanding of the following:

• Scientific principles and their use in scientific inquiry
• Mathematical principles and their use in solving problems
• Historical, cultural, and philosophical traditions that have shaped our diverse society
• Significant elements of the world’s diversity of cultural and national experiences, and interconnections among them
• The aims and methods of intellectual, spiritual, literary, and artistic expression
• The importance that abstract ideas and artistic expression have in the process of self-understanding and in the shaping of society
• The individual, society, and interactions between them

Habits of Mind and Attributes of Character

In addition to specified proficiencies and areas of knowledge and understanding, the university-educated person should possess certain habits of mind and attributes of character. These qualities are the consequence of a total educational experience rather than any segment of it.

• Sensitivity to social and cultural differences
• Sensitivity and attentiveness to the ethical dimensions of any problem or experience
• A disposition to weigh opposing viewpoints in the balance of reason and to develop an informed perspective
• A disposition to continue learning and to welcome new knowledge and insight (intellectual curiosity)
• Openness to the value of new social, cultural, or aesthetic forms (flexibility of mind and sensibility)
• An appreciation for the broader social, intellectual, and historical contexts of individual events and situations
• Recognition of social and intellectual responsibility

To ensure that students attain these Student Learning Goals by graduation, UNCG requires that they complete the General Education Core (GEC) requirements listed below. Other requirements and opportunities in the major program, the minor program (if any), and the total undergraduate experience build on the foundation of the GEC and contribute to the attainment of these goals. Students are thus given the opportunity to work toward each goal not just in one course, but in a series of courses and learning experiences encountered from the freshman through the senior year. Alternative ways to demonstrate competencies will be available to students with documented disabilities.