General Education Reform

(Re)Imagining the Future of General Education Together

Our goal is to engage the campus community in a comprehensive general education review and reform process to envision and implement a program that considers these guiding principles:

  • We envision a student-centered general education program that rejuvenates and inspires students, faculty, and the entire campus community
  • We believe that general education must prepare Â鶹´«Ã½ graduates for academic, professional, and civic life
  • We assert that everyone at Â鶹´«Ã½ has a stake in general education
  • We know that inclusion, collaboration, and transparency are essential to the success of the reform initiative and ultimately of the program
  • We maintain that this initiative is an opportunity to celebrate what we do, be creative about what is possible, and establish a distinctive identity for general education at Â鶹´«Ã½

Additional Information

  • The current general education program is a distributive model foregrounding disciplines/classes. It requires 50 credits and an upper-level Option outside the major. 
  • The last revisions to general education were made in 2010
  • General education curriculum must meet SCHEV and SACSCOC requirements
    • SCHEV: 4 Core Competencies - Critical thinking, Written communication, Quantitative reasoning, and Civic engagement, plus 2 of the institution's choice
    • SACSCOC: Be based on a "coherent rationale," be "a substantial component of each undergraduate degree with min 30 credit hours," and "ensure breadth of knowledge"
  • The decision to reform general education is based on:
    • Assessments of student learning – General Education Assessment Committee (GEAC)
    • Feedback from faculty via GEAC, Faculty Senate
    • Feedback from students via Senior Student Satisfaction Survey (SSSS) and National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
    • External review – Jan-Feb. 2024
  • General education is a field of study similar to other disciplines with a long historiography, best practices, and peer-reviewed scholarship 

Director Of Assessment & Accreditation Institutional Effectiveness & Assessment
Associate Prof & Assoc Dean World Languages & Cultures
Master Lecturer & Gen Ed Proc & Pol Spec Biological Sciences
Master Lecturer & Gen Ed Reform Lead English
Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Master Lecturer College of Sciences

  • Aaron Arndt (Professor of Marketing)
  • Orlando Ayala (Professor of Engineering Technology)
  • Brett Bebber (Associate Professor of History)
  • Dooyoung Choi (Associate Professor of Fashion Merchandising)
  • Matt Grau (Assistant Professor of Physics)
  • Travis Jones (Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Librarian)
  • Barbara Kraj (Associate Dean, Ellmer College of Health Sciences)
  • Jeff LaCombe (Associate Dean, Batten College of Engineering and Technology)
  • Benjamin Melusky (Associate Professor of Political Science)
  • Megan Mize (Director of ePortfolio and Digital Initiatives)
  • Catherine Moss (Director of Retention and Special Populations, Â鶹´«Ã½Global)
  • Reneldo Randall, (Director of Advising, Sciences)
  • Lanah Stafford (Director of High Impact Learning Initiatives)

Visit the  for more information about the reform initiative, including committee agendas, reports, and collected readings on general education.

January 2025 Events

  • Student Committee Info Session: January 16, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. via Zoom
  • Reform Team Retreat: January 31, 2:00 - 5:00 p.m. Webb Center

Fall Recap & Survey

Click below to view our Fall 2024 recap PDF file. Interested in getting involved? Take our Fall 2024 Survey.