GENERAL EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS

For ALL students who started attending Goucher College prior to Fall 2011. Students beginning at Goucher College in Fall 2011 or later should go by the Liberal Education Requirements.

Students starting at Goucher prior to Fall 2011 will be subject to the general education requirements listed below, with the following exceptions. Students admitted in 2006-07 as first year students or transfers with fewer than 27 credits need not complete GEN. ED. #11.

Students admitted prior to Fall 2006 and transfer students entering in 2006-07 with at least 27 credits may complete the general education requirements in effect during the 2005-06 academic year instead of those listed below.

Reinstated students should consult the information on page 17 in the catalogue to determine which requirements they will fulfill.

One course may satisfy no more than two of these requirements.

Divisional Requirement:

Each student must take at least one course in each of the following divisions listed below but it need not be a course that satisfies a General Education requirement.

Note: English composition courses and courses used to attain foreign language proficiency may not be counted as fulfilling the required Humanities division course.

Division I: The Humanities

Division II: The Social Sciences

Division III: The Natural Sciences and Mathematics

Division IV: The Arts

 Courses that fulfill the General Education requirement will be indicated in the course listings of the catalogue with the following reference: (GEN. ED. #__).

1. Students must demonstrate proficiency in written communication. (For a more detailed description of this requirement, refer to the College Writing Proficiency section of the catalogue.) This will be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency within the English composition sequence of courses or through a portfolio.

 2. Students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language through the intermediate level. (For a more detailed description of this requirement, refer to the Foreign Language Proficiency section of the catalogue.)

 3. Students must become informed global citizens and gain intercultural awareness through a study-abroad experience. (For a more detailed description of this requirement, refer to the Study-Abroad section of the catalogue.)

 4. Students must become acquainted with different ages, societies, and cultures and learn how to use a variety of historical sources. This will be satisfied by courses identified throughout the curriculum that deal with the past.

 5. Students must be able to reason abstractly and appreciate the elegance of abstract structure. This will be satisfied by a course in mathematics or logic. Courses from across the curriculum may be taken to satisfy this requirement.

 6. Students must understand the methods of scientific discovery and experimental design. This will be satisfied by a natural science course with a laboratory.

 7. Students must acquire problem-solving and research capability by identifying, locating, evaluating, and effectively using information. This will be satisfied by courses identified throughout the curriculum.

8. Students must be able to analyze and understand the creative process, assimilate experience, and communicate it. This course will be satisfied by courses identified throughout the curriculum.

 9. Students must be able to interpret words, images, objects, and/or actions that are expressions of human culture. This course will be satisfied by courses identified throughout the curriculum.

 10. Students must understand the complex nature of social structures and/or human relationships that involve issues of inequality and difference. This will be satisfied by courses identified throughout the curriculum.

 11. Students must explore ecological, policy, social, cultural, and/or historical dimensions of human relationship to the environment. This may include but need not be limited to themes of sustainability and the nature of the environment systems, their change, and threats to their continued function as a result of human activity. This general education requirements begin with students entering Fall 2007.

 Courses that may fulfill a general education requirement pending the topic given in a semester are: FR 272G (#9), FR 330 (#8), FR 333 (#11), LAM 272Y (#10), RUS 272G (#9), and THE 272Y (#9). If the topic allows the course to fulfill the requirement, it will be posted in the Registration Guidebook for that semester.

Physical Education Requirements

Goucher students, including those who transfer to the college, are required to complete a physical education activity course by the end of the junior year. Students who successfully complete a season on a varsity team, a dance performance through the Dance Department, some (but not all) dance courses, or a riding course may use that experience to satisfy the activity component. Goucher does not recognize audits or unsupervised activity as a substitute for course work in physical education.

Students with physical education or health science transfer credits on an official transcript from another college may be able to satisfy all or part of Goucher's physical education requirement. These students should submit course syllabus, catalogue description, or certification document for consideration. Students with a gap of five years or more in their continuous education, or those over the age of 25, are exempt from the physical education requirements but are encouraged to enroll in or audit any physical education course.

College Writing Proficiency

All students are expected to achieve writing proficiency, which is evaluated twice during their college career. College writing proficiency (CWP) is taught and assessed through the Writing Program. The achievement of CWP signifies that students have learned to write clear and coherent academic prose and complete library research. Students achieve writing proficiency in the major through courses designated by individual departments. These courses insure that students have mastered the particular genres, analytical methods, and styles of their majors.

 All incoming first-year and transfer students should submit a writing placement essay, which the Writing Program uses to recommend the best route to achieve CWP. Most first-year students should take ENG 104 to prepare for college-level writing. Some advanced first-year students will be placed in ENG 105 during the fall semester. Transfer students who write a strong placement essay may be asked to submit a portfolio or take a WAC course.

First-year students who do not earn CWP credit in ENG 105 must take either ENG 106 or a WAC course in their next semester. Though students who earn a B- or better in ENG 105 are likely to be writing well enough to achieve CWP, the grade itself is not sufficient evidence that the student writes proficiently. CWP is determined only by the writer's consistent ability to meet the criteria, and may be awarded to students who score somewhat less than a B in the course, or may be withheld from students who score a B- or better (though the latter case is rare).

Some ENG 104 students may be awarded CWP at the end of ENG 104. To qualify, students should consistently meet the CWP criteria and achieve an A or A- in the course. They should also demonstrate research-writing abilities equivalent to those required of ENG 105 students. Students may ask their ENG 104 instructors to consider submitting a portfolio of papers to the Writing Program at the end of the semester. Only papers submitted by instructors will be evaluated for CWP. All ENG 104 students should register for ENG 105 in case their portfolios do not earn exemption.

Students placed in ENG 103 should take this course in the fall of their first year. Most of these students will take ENG 104 in the spring. However, students with at least an A- average in ENG 103 may, upon the recommendation of their instructor, submit a portfolio to the director of the Writing Program. The director will then decide if the student should be exempted from ENG 104. Students exempted from ENG 104 should take ENG 105 in the spring.  

Students who do not earn CWP credit in ENG 105 must take either ENG 106 (Academic Writing III) or a WAC course in their next semester or submit a writing portfolio in each semester until CWP is achieved. Students who earn below a C- average on papers written for ENG 105 should take ENG 106, but students who are nearly proficient may take a WAC course. Courses offered as part of the WAC program are described in the Registration Guidebook published by Student Administrative Services.

As of September 2009, seniors may no longer submit portfolios to demonstrate CWP after they have begun classes with senior standing. Students who will begin taking their senior year classes in Fall Semester must submit portfolios by the previous August 1, and students who will begin taking their senior year classes in Spring Semester must submit their portfolios by the previous December 15. Otherwise, these students must register for English 106 or, if appropriate, for a WAC course whose instructor explicitly agrees in writing to evaluate their work for CWP. Failure to deal with this fundamental general education requirement will prevent students from graduating.

Foreign Language Proficiency

Competence in a language other than one’s own is an integral part of a liberal arts education. Language training has broad cultural implications and develops skills necessary for many careers. All students are required to complete the intermediate level of a foreign language. A minimum grade of C- is required to progress from one language level to another. Students taking a 130-level language course pass/no pass who achieve class scores lower than 70 percent must take the course again. Native speakers and exceptionally well-prepared students in the languages offered at Goucher College may be exempted from the foreign language requirement on recommendation of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department, or through a written or oral placement test (required of all entering students).

Students intending to complete the language proficiency out of residence must get prior approval from the Modern Languages and Literatures Department and complete a minimum of 12 credits (or the last intermediate course offered at that institution). A minimum grade of C is required. If a student intends to fulfill any portion of the foreign language requirement abroad, written approval by both the Modern Languages and Literatures Department and the Office of International Studies is required prior to departure. Students may be required to demonstrate proficiency upon return to campus. Students participating in summer and winter intensive language programs other than those run by Goucher faculty will also need prior approval if they are seeking Goucher credit. Less commonly taught languages not offered at Goucher College will be accepted provided that students fulfill the same requirements as those for languages offered at Goucher. Students must notify the chair of the Modern Languages and Literature Department of their intentions to fulfill their language requirement at another institution, and complete a form specifically designed for this purpose (available online). Results of placement tests taken at institutions in the area must be sent to the chair of the Modern Languages and Literatures Department.

The Department of Modern Languages will evaluate transfer credits of language courses taken at another institution on an individual basis. Ordinarily, a student who has submitted transfer credits at the beginner and/or intermediate level with a grade of C or above and is placed in the first semester of a language no transfer credit will be given; if placed in the second semester of a language up to four transfer credits could be given; if placed in the third semester of a language, up to eight transfer credits could be given. For students who place out of Goucher College’s intermediate level, up to 12 transfer credits could be given and the language general education requirement will be fulfilled.

In order to ensure timely completion of the college foreign language requirement, students need to begin to study a language during their first year. Transfer students who enter as sophomores or higher should begin to study a foreign language immediately. For all students, unless there are extenuating circumstances, the final course to satisfy the college foreign language requirement should be attempted in the fall semester of the senior year.

Study Abroad

Transfer Students and the study abroad requirement

All transfer students who have completed study abroad in college-level academic work for which at least three credits are accepted by Goucher will have satisfied the study abroad liberal education requirement upon enrollment.

Because the requirement will have been completed before actual enrollment at Goucher, no travel voucher will be issued to these students before, during, or after their travel experience. Moreover, because they will already have completed their study abroad requirement, they will not be issued a travel voucher for any subsequent study abroad they undertake before graduation, whether through Goucher or through some other institution.

As with all college level work completed elsewhere, final approval of credits for study abroad work completed before enrollment at Goucher must be confirmed by the registrar after a review of a final, official transcript of that work. The registrar will also confirm at that time whether the work approved for credit at Goucher satisfies any academic requirements, including the study abroad requirement.

All students are expected to make a good faith effort to complete the study abroad requirement. Students who cannot complete the study aborad requirement may petition the associate dean for international studies for an exemption. Students who are granted an exemption from the international study requirement will be required to substitute an off-campus experience to satisfy this requirement.

The following are also required for graduation: