GENERAL PRINCIPLES
Liberal Education is the overall framework around which all baccalaureate degree programs are designed. It is embodied in degree programs that ensure appropriate depth and breadth of knowledge. Depth is achieved through requirements for majors and minors. Breadth is achieved by exposure to disciplined inquiry in a variety of topics outside the major area. The liberal education distribution requirements in the ten categories of knowledge and the theme requirements (including the cultural diversity and international perspective requirements at present) are designed to ensure achievement of this goal.

In addition to providing breadth of knowledge, a liberal education program must facilitate development in the following areas: encourage critical and creative thinking, develop the skills of oral and written expression, provide practice in analytical methods of study, examine basic values, and encourage active citizenship and social responsibility. The program must provide awareness of historical traditions, intellectual and artistic endeavors, global issues and concerns, and diverse cultural values.

GUIDELINES
For a course to be approved for liberal education distribution, it must meet the following guidelines:
*Must make through both content and pedagogy significant contributions to liberal education goals as reflected in the above principles, as well as meet the objectives of the specific category for which it is approved. While few courses will make contributions in every area listed above, each approved course must show evidence of contributions in more than one area.

*May be offered at the 1000 or 2000 level as determined by the college and department offering the course, while approval for liberal education credit will be determined at the campus level. Only in exceptional circumstances will higher level courses be approved for liberal education distribution credit.

*May not be restricted by either intent nor by delivery to students who have a specific major or are enrolled in a specific college.

*Must be offered at least once every other year in the regular schedule, and it is encouraged that multiple sections be offered on an annual basis.

*Must have its own liberal education qualifying characteristics stated in writing, and the department head must provide these to every instructor assigned to teach the course, including CE and Summer Session personnel, to ensure uniform attention to liberal education goals.

*Must have its liberal education status noted in the Catalog and the Class Schedule.

*Will be considered for approval in the light of its resemblance to other courses approved for or being considered for approval for liberal education. In general, duplication is discouraged.

*Normally should be approved to satisfy theme requirements such as cultural diversity or international perspective only when also approved for liberal education credit in one of the ten categories of knowledge.

*All topics proposed under a special topics umbrella course with a liberal education designation must be presented for approval to the Liberal Education Subcommittee.

COURSE REVIEW
A systematic review of courses approved for liberal education status will be conducted using the guidelines above and the category objectives below as the criteria for evaluation. The courses will be reviewed on a five year cycle, with two liberal education categories studied in each year. This will be conducted by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Administration in consultation with the Liberal Education Subcommittee.

CATEGORY OBJECTIVES
CATEGORY ONE: Comp 1120 or its equivalent
Courses in this category should develop skills in composition and written communication.
*Does the course require students to develop their skills in writing well organized, well developed analytic essays in which they use material from a variety of sources and document their sources properly and follow standard conventions of spelling, punctuation, and grammar?

CATEGORY TWO: Math, Logic and Critical Thinking
Courses in this category should develop the ability to use and analyze formal symbolic systems. Emphasis should be on the theory and/or the development of skills in specific symbolic systems, logic, linguistics and linguistic analysis, mathematics, statistics, and critical thinking.
*Does the course require creative thought and application of knowledge to solving specific, analytical problems?

CATEGORY THREE: Communication, Computer Science, and Foreign Languages
Courses in this category should develop the ability to use and analyze human and computer languages. Emphasis should be on the theory and/or the development of skills in the methods of human and computer languages, and rhetoric.
*Does the course require students to compose statements that express their thoughts in a foreign or computer language or analyze/use human communication processes?

CATEGORY FOUR: Physical and Biological Sciences with Lab
Courses in this category should focus on the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theory of natural phenomena.
*Is the course in a study area which is traditionally defined as physical, natural, or biological science?
*Does the course have a laboratory component?

CATEGORY FIVE: Physical and Biological Science without Lab
Courses in this category should focus on the observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theory of natural phenomena.
*Is the course in a study area which is traditionally defined as physical, natural, or biological science?

CATEGORY SIX: The Social Sciences
The empirical/descriptive study of individual behavior and of social institutions affecting individuals as members of society, including psychological, social, cultural, economic, and political phenomena.
*Is the course in a study area traditionally defined as social science?
*Does the course give an appropriate enough introductory overview of a field of study?
*Does the course include basic methodological strategies used to discover and test knowledge in that field of study?

CATEGORY SEVEN: Historical and Philosophical Foundations
The study of societies and/or cultures of the past, and the study and analysis of basic philosophical issues and traditions.
*Does the historical course cover a period of time or topic sufficient to give students a temporal perspective with which to compare contemporary situations and conditions?
*Does the course serve to provide or maintain a balance between the contemporary and the historical? Between broad overview and more limited topics?
OR
*Does the philosophy course deal with important and foundational issues?
*Does the philosophy course deal with historical traditions broadly enough in scope to give students an understanding of the historical connections of philosophical ideas?

CATEGORY EIGHT: Contemporary Social Issues and Analysis
Analysis of contemporary issues and their relationship to individuals and/or social institutions in areas of economic, political, educational, or religious systems.
*Is the mode of analysis proposed appropriate to study fields proposing the course?
*Does the course show how the issue or social situation evolved and how it is related to other issues or situations?
*Is the course likely to lead students to realize how complex social issues and the underlying ethical principles are?

CATEGORY NINE: Literary and Artistic Expression: Analysis and Criticism
Courses in this category should familiarize students with the basic aims, elements, and principles of interpretation and criticism of literature, folklore, myth, the visual arts, dance, film, music, and theater. Emphasis should be on principles and techniques of analysis, interpretation, and criticism.
*Is the mode of analysis proposed for the course appropriate to the study field proposing the course?
*Does the course increase student awareness of the range and complexity of literary and artistic expression?
*Does the course show how the works studied emerged in their cultural contexts?

CATEGORY TEN: Literary and Artistic Expression: Performance
Courses in this category should provide opportunities for creative expression through participation, production, or performance of literary or artistic expression and should pay significant attention to larger theoretical issues.
*Is the course in a study area traditionally defined as literary or artistic?
*Does the course provide an avenue for students to personally express their creative or artistic abilities?

Proposals to include courses in the Liberal Education listings shall be forwarded to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Administration after review and approval at the departmental and collegiate levels. The proposal must provide sufficient documentation that the course meets the necessary Liberal Education criteria, both generally and for the specific category. The Liberal Education Subcommittee shall review these proposals and make recommendations to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Administration who will then make the final decisions. These decisions shall be subsequently reported to the Educational Policy Committee. This report shall also list course proposals not accepted with the reasons for non-acceptance, problems encountered in application of the guidelines, and recommendations for changes in the guidelines. Should existing Liberal Education courses be deleted as a result of periodic review or new course proposals not be accepted, the department or program involved shall be afforded the opportunity to restructure the course, and submit it again for consideration. In the event of an impasse on inclusion or exclusion of a course, the Educational Policy Committee may be asked to mediate the situation and provide a recommendation.