Transition to the New General Education Program

The Faculty Senate has passed a new general education program which will be implemented in fall 2014.

As we prepare to initiate this program, the following information should be useful for advisors and students. Click on the links below to navigate to different sections of the page.

Guidelines related to which general education program students will follow

  • New first time freshmen in fall 2014 will automatically come under the new program’s requirements.
  • Continuing students will remain under the current program unless they decide they want to switch to the new program. The decision whether or not to switch should be made in consultation with the student’s academic advisor and should be made as soon as possible since it will determine which classes a student must take. Regardless of the choice, students will be completely under only one set of requirements. Students may not mix the requirements of the two programs.
  • Returning students (those who have sat out a year or more) will come back under a new catalog—and therefore, will fall under the new general education program’s requirements. Those who had completed their general education prior to leaving, however, will NOT be required to take additional general education.  Furthermore, if a student had no more than two of their general education classes left to take when they stepped out, they will be permitted to follow their previous general education program when they return.
  • Transfer students who come to the university with an A.A. degree or a completed 42 hour transfer block will have their general education requirements fulfilled.  All other transfer students who begin taking classes at the university in fall 2014 will come under the new program by default. If the student has maintained continuous enrollment at another Missouri public college or university beginning prior to fall 2014, the student may elect to follow the pre-fall 2014 general education program. See the “Frequently Asked Questions” section for further detail.

Double counting of courses toward both the major/minor requirements and General Education Program

Many majors and minors include required courses that may overlap with general education course options. In such cases, students may double count the courses toward completion of both the general education and major requirements provided that 1) the course is part of the general education catalog the student is pursuing and 2) the department of the respective major/minor has no related restrictions. Such restrictions would be found in the respective department’s section of the undergraduate catalog.

Students may have different catalog terms for his/her respective general education and major requirements. In cases where a major/minor has double counting restrictions in some catalog terms but not in other catalog terms, the enforcement of the restriction is based on the catalog term of the respective major/minor.

Tools for comparing the old general education to the new general education

“Old” General Education Requirements (Fall 1997–Summer 2014)

These requirements are provided in .pdf format (view old requirements) as they will no longer be part of the online catalog effective the fall 2014 edition. These requirements can also be found in the .pdf versions of their respective catalogs in the University’s Catalog Archive.

Worksheets

Fall 1997–Summer 2014 General Education Worksheet

General Education Worksheet—Effective Fall 2014

Transition crosswalks

These crosswalk documents have been created to aid students and advisors in determining how courses will transition between the old general education and the new general education. There are four of these crosswalks, which are described below. This information has already been incorporated into the degree audit system.

1) GEP Crosswalk—This is designed for students who are following the new general education, but have a transfer course with a GEP equivalency (which relates to the old general education).

2) GEC Crosswalk—This is designed for students who are following the old general education, but have a transfer course with a GEC equivalency (which relates to the new general education).

3) Old general education courses to new general education—This is designed for students who are following the new general education but want to know if an old general education course taken prior to fall 2014 will apply to the new general education.

4) New general education courses to old general education—This is designed for students who are following the old general education but who want to know if a new general education course taken fall 2014 or later will apply to their old general education.

Degree audits

If you are under the old general education and want to see what your degree audit would look like if you switched to the new general education, run a “what-if” audit for your major with a catalog term of fall 2014. Don’t pay attention to your major requirements on the “what-if” audit as they may not match your current requirement, but you can look at the general education section to see how your credits align with the new general education requirements.

How to switch to the new general education program

If you are a current (prior to fall 2014) student who wishes to switch to the new general education program requirements, send an email to the Office of Registrar with a subject line of New General Education Request. Please include your name, BearPass (or M-number), and a request to move to the new general education. The Office of the Registrar will receive your email and update your curricular record accordingly. This change affects only your general education. It does not affect your major/minor requirements.

If you are unsure of which general education program you should pursue, you are encouraged to make an appointment with your academic advisor to discuss your options.

Frequently asked questions related to general education transition

Q: What should I do if I cannot decide which general education path is best for me?

A: You should make an appointment with your academic advisor to discuss your options and figure out the best general education choice for you.

Q: Is there a deadline by which my general education decision must be made?

A: There is not a deadline for your decision, although the earlier you make your decision, the earlier you can know the requirements you must meet. Additionally, over time, there may be less course availability and choices for the old general education.

Q: I changed to the new general education, but changed my mind and want to change back to the old general education. Am I allowed to do that?

A: You can change back. There is not a limitation on the number of times you can change. However, you are advised not to change back and forth multiple times as any courses you take under one version of general education may not be applicable to the other version of general education.

Q: Does my advisor have to approve my change through an advisor release or some other mechanism?

A: No. However, it is recommended that you consult with your academic advisor in making your general education decision.

Q: If I like parts of the new general education and parts of the old general education, can I mix and match different parts?

A: No. You must complete either the old general education or new general education. You cannot complete parts of both.

Q: If I have an extra course in a category of the general education (e.g. two courses in a category that requires one), can I use the extra course in an alternate category?

A: No. The courses used to meet your general education must come from the approved list of courses. Extra courses from one category cannot be used to fulfill the requirements of another category.

Q: I am a transfer student who started at another Missouri public institution (2 or 4 year) prior to fall 2014 and I have been continually enrolled at that institution prior to transferring to Missouri State University for fall 2014 or later. The Guidelines section on this page says that I have the option of following the old general education. If I wish to do that, what do I need to do?

A: Email Registrar@missouristate.edu. Indicate that you are a transfer student who started at a Missouri public 2 or 4 year institution prior to fall 2014 and that you wish to follow the old general education. The Office of the Registrar staff will verify your eligibility, and if eligible, will manually update your record to allow you to pursue the old general education requirements.

Q: I completed KIN 210 under the previous course number of KIN 100. At that time, KIN 100 was a 2 hour class. The Public Affairs/Public Issues section of the new general education requirements only list 3 hours courses as an option. If I elect to switch to the new general education program, do I have to take another course since my KIN 210 (as KIN 100) was only 2 hours?

A: No. If you completed KIN 100 for 2 hours prior to fall 2014, your Public Affairs/Public Issues section is considered to be met without an additional hour of coursework.

Q: Will all of the classes in the old general education program continue to be offered after the new general education program goes into effect?

A: Many continuing students will need to be able to complete the “old” program’s requirements – and the University is committed to making that possible.   This will not be a problem for most students, since a large proportion of the classes in the current program will continue to be a part of the new program.

Because many of the general education science classes are reconfigured for the new program, we will employ some flexibility in working with continuing students to ensure they are able to fulfill their general education requirement.

The biggest issue continuing students may face is the fact that a few required classes (e.g., CIS/CSC 101 and KIN 100) will not be a part of the new program.  In light of this situation, students should be encouraged to complete these requirements during the 2013-2014 academic year.  Those who fail to do so will have these options: 

1) A limited number of sections of CSC 101 will continue to be offered but for only a limited time.

2) Students can substitute an appropriate class from the new program to fulfill their requirement(s) (Note, however, that the current classes are two credits, while the substitute classes will be three credits).

3) We will continue to offer the option of taking and passing the waiver exam for computer literacy.

Students under the old general education requirements who need KIN 100 fall 2014 or after will complete KIN 210, which is the new course number for the course formally numbered KIN 100. KIN 210 is a three-credit hour course.

Q: Some general education sections have a rule that a minimum number of course codes must be met. I have a GEP/GEC course, and it is not being used in part of the section that checks my number of prefixes. What should I do?

A: Contact us by email at Registrar@missouristate.edu. Please list the course (e.g. GEC 111) and the General Education Section (e.g. Knowledge of Human Cultures). The Office of the Registrar will look up the original course prefix from  your transfer evaluation and substitute the GEC course into the prefix check accordingly. As an example, if the GEC 111 course was originally an English course, we would insert it for you in the “different course codes”, which would cause the course prefix check to treat it like an ENG course.

 

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