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GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENT BY ANTHONY VOLKAR

ORIENTATION 2011

Why do we have GE?

All students have the opportunity to develop expertise in depth in their majors, minors, or a combination of these. The General Education (GE) requirement adds to that depth a breadth of knowledge and experiences represented by coursework outside of the area of the student’s major.

New GE Requirement

The GE requirement has two components:

Topical Breadth Core Literacies

New GE is defined in terms of units, not courses.

Topical Breadth

The Topical Breadth component requires 52 units total, which includes the following areas:

Arts and Humanities (AH) - 12-20 unitsScience and Engineering (SE) - 12-20 unitsSocial Sciences (SS) - 12-20 units

The units of most undergraduate courses at UC Davis are assigned to one of three Topical Breadth areas.

Topical Breadth (cont.)

In the case of a course that has been certified in more than one Topical Breadth Area, a student may count the units of the course in only one of the areas in which it has been certified.

Core Literacies

Core Literacies requires 35 units total, which includes the following elements:

Literacy with Words or Images (at least 20 units)Civic and Cultural Literacy (at least 9 units)Quantitative Literacy (at least 3 units)Scientific Literacy (at least 3 units)

Literacy with Words or Images

English Composition requirement (8 units or the equivalent)

Each college has a different English Composition requirement. You must complete the requirement for the college in which you plan to graduate. Students must have completed the Entry-Level Writing Requirement before receiving credit for this element.AP/IB exams, English composition exam still satisfy requirement


Writing experience (WE) coursework in the student’s major or elsewhere (at least 6 units)

Provides the student with instruction on how to communicate ideas in the subject matter of a course. Students must have completed the Entry-Level Writing Requirement before receiving credit for this element.


Oral skills (OL) coursework or additional writing experience coursework (at least 3 units)

The skills involved in the effective communication of ideas through oral presentation build on and strengthen the critical thinking skills exercised through writing.

Students may receive credit for Oral Skills PRIOR to completing the Entry-Level Writing Requirement.


Oral skills (OL) coursework or additional writing experience coursework (at least 3 units)

As an alternative to developing oral communication skills, the student may take additional coursework certified as writing experience.


Visual literacy (VL) coursework (at least 3 units)

To provide undergraduates with the analytical skills needed to understand how still and moving images, art and architecture, illustrations accompanying written text, graphs and charts, and other visual embodiments of ideas inform and persuade people.

Core Literacies



Civic and Cultural Literacy

American Cultures, Governance, and History (ACGH) - at least 6 units*

*At least 3 units must be in a course certified as focusing on issues of Domestic Diversity (DD). To provide understanding and appreciation of the social and cultural diversity of the United States, and of the relationships between these diverse cultures and of larger patterns of national history and institutions.

Civic and Cultural Literacy

World Cultures (WC) - at least 3 unitsto assist undergraduates with creating a global perspective, so they can live productively in a world where communication technologies, economic relationships, and the flow of people across national borders increasingly challenge national identities. Requirement can be satisfied through coursework or through certified study abroad.

Core Literacies



Core Literacies (cont.)

Quantitative Literacy (QL) - at least 3 unitsThe objective –to help students understand quantitative reasoning to evaluate claims and knowledge generated through quantitative methods

Scientific Literacy (SL) - at least 3 unitsThe objective is to help students understand the fundamental ways scientists approach problems and generate new knowledge, and how scientific findings relate to other disciplines and to public policy.

Locating GE Classes

The Class Schedule & Registration Guide will not be printing the list of all GE classes anymore.Students will need to use the Course Search Tool on the Registrar’s websiteregistrar.ucdavis.edu/html/ocl.htmlAnother tool is included in it…http://registrar4.ucdavis.edu/courses/GE_courses/

Keep in mind that most courses will offer some GE credit now.

New GE Reminders

Students may take courses Passed/Not Passed to fulfill their GE requirements, up to the limits set by college and campus regulations.

College of Engineering does not permit P/NP for GEStudents may not use Advanced Placement (AP) or International Baccalaureate (IB) credit in satisfaction of GE requirements.Units approved for a Core Literacy will be accepted toward satisfaction of the appropriate Topical Breadth component. However, units may be counted toward satisfaction of only one Core Literacy component.

New GE Implementation guidelines:Transfer Students

The “Catalog Rights policy of the college will determine which GE requirement applies to new transfer studentsCompletion of IGETC (IntersegmentalGeneral Education Transfer Curriculum) satisfies the UCD GE requirement.Incoming transfer students will use the current (old) system…probably for 3 more years.

Transfer Courses

A community college course that is approved as being comparable to a UCD course (www.assist.org) counts toward satisfaction of the same GE component(s) as its UCD course equivalentThe Dean’s Office will make decisions on non-articulated courses

The Checksheet

general education requirementanimalscience.ucdavis.edu/asac/.../handouts_pdf/general_education...the...

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