You are in the official 1999-2000 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.


General Education

 

General Education

Developed by both faculty and students, the university's General Education Program is an introduction to the breadth and depth of the dynamics of human experience. It provides students with a foundation in the liberal arts and sciences and prepares them for specialized study in a particular discipline or program.

The overall objective of General Education is to create a context wherein basic skills are developed and strengthened, scholarship and disciplined thinking emerge, awareness and reflection occur, and ultimately - the integration of knowledge begins.

With the 1999-2000 academic year, the university introduces a major revision of the General Education program that the faculty believes is improved in content and which facilitates transfer to the university. All students enrolling in the university as first-time freshmen for the fall semester, 1999, and all transfer students entering fall 1999 who elect to adopt the 1999-2000 catalog will be required to complete this new General Education Program.

NOTICE TO STUDENTS ENROLLED
UNDER EARLIER CATALOGS:

The revised program presented in this section is different from the program which you are expected to satisfy. Please refer to the catalog under which you are enrolled for information about the requirements and the courses appropriate to those requirements.

 

FOUNDATION, BREADTH, INTEGRATION,
and MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL

The General Education Program is an integrated curriculum of courses organized into four groups:

FOUNDATION, the basic foundation of one's university education, consists of courses in fundamental skills and knowledge.

BREADTH exposes students to a variety of disciplines within a structured framework that develops knowledge in four basic areas of human endeavor.

INTEGRATION ties together the Program by providing an integrative experience at the upper-division level in three of the four areas of breadth.

MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL completes the General Education Program with an upper-division experience as preparation for an international, multicultural world.

 

Requirements

The General Education Program requires students to complete a minimum of 51 semester units. All requirements must be met with courses of at least three semester units. The requirements include: four courses in FOUNDATION, nine courses in BREADTH, and four upper-division courses - three INTEGRATION courses and one MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL course. These four upper-division courses must be taken after 60 units of college course work have been completed. A minimum of 9 units of course work for General Education must be taken in residence (see Degree Requirements) at California State University, Fresno.

Because the goal of General Education is to provide a solid foundation with a broad scope and the goal of the major is to provide depth in a specific discipline or program, the following stipulations apply:

  1. The FOUNDATION courses must be completed with a grade of C or better to satisfy the General Education requirement.
  2. A maximum of two General Education courses from one department or program may be applied to satisfy BREADTH, INTEGRATION, and MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL requirements. (However, a department or program may prohibit any General Education course from simultaneously satisfying its own departmental or programmatic requirements.) INTEGRATION and MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL courses used to satisfy this requirement must be taken outside the department of the student's major.

General Education in A-E Format

While the revised General Education Program is presented here in terms of FOUNDATION, BREADTH, INTEGRATION, and MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL, it relates simply to the A-E format widely used throughout the state as indicated by the course prefixes in the table:

Note: Please consult the Schedule of Courses for the fall 1999 and spring 2000 semesters for a list of courses included in the G.E. program.

FOUNDATION

Oral Communication

 

Written Communication

 

Critical Thinking

 

Quantitative Reasoning

 

BREADTH - Physical Universe and Its Life Forms

Physical Sciences

 

Life Sciences

 

BREADTH -Arts and Humanities

Arts

 

Humanities

 

BREADTH - Social, Political, and Economic Institutions and Behavior, Historical Background

American History

 

American Government

 

Social Science

 

 

BREADTH - Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development

 

INTEGRATION

Physical Universe and Its Life Forms

 

Arts and Humanities

 

Social, Political, and Economic Institutions and Behavior, Historical Background

 

 

MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL

 

While the revised General Education Program is presented here in terms of FOUNDATION, BREADTH, INTEGRATION, and MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL, it relates simply to the A-E format widely used throughout the state as indicated by the course prefixes in the table above.

G.E. requirement: 51 semester units minimum to include 12 upper-division semester units.

Area A
(9 semester units minimum. One course is required in each subarea.)
A1 Oral Communication
A2 Written Communication
A3 Critical Thinking

Area B
(12 semester units minimum including 3 units upper division. One course is required in each subarea.)
B1 Physical Science
B2 Life Science
B4 Quantitative Reasoning
IB Upper-Division G.E. Integration, Area B

Area C
(12 semester units minimum including 3 units upper division. Select one course from C1, C2, and IC plus one additional course from either C1 or C2.)
C1 Arts
C2 Humanities
IC Upper-Division G.E. Integration, Area C

Area D
(15 semester units minimum including 6 units upper division. One course is required in each subarea.)
D1 American History
D2 American Government
D3 Social Science
ID Upper-Division G.E. Integration, Area D
MI Upper-Division G.E. Multicultural/International

Area E
(3 semester units minimum.)
E1 Lifelong Understanding and Self-Development

Note: Please consult the Schedule of Courses for the fall 1999 and spring 2000 semesters to see a list of courses included in the G.E. program.


 

General Education Menu

  • FOUNDATION
  • BREADTH
  • INTEGRATION
  • MULTICULTURAL/INTERNATIONAL

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    Academic Regulations

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