ONU General Education Program
Frequently Asked Questions
1.
What is the ONU General Education Program?
The university’s general education program strives to enable students to build proficiency in seven
outcomes: effective communication (both written and non-written); critical and creative thinking;
scientific and quantitative literacy, an understanding of diverse cultures and their effects on human
interaction; integration of concepts across disciplines; informed and ethical responses to personal, civic,
and global needs; and informed responses to aesthetics in art or nature.
Students are required to take four courses as part of the general education program: Writing Seminar
(English 1221 or 1231), a college specific freshman transition experience course (TREX 1001, BIZ 1001,
ENGR 1041, or PHPR 1001), an extradisciplinary seminar course (EXDS 2001), and the capstone course
which varies by program.
2.
What is a tagged course?
Currently, over 275 courses are identified as addressing one or more of the seven general education
learning outcomes. These courses are known as “tagged”. Tagged courses are listed in a master file on
the General Education webpage on the university’s website. To find this page, open the onu.edu
website and click on the “A-Z” index in the upper right-hand corner. Select “G” for “General Education
for Students and Faculty”. On this page, you will also find instructions to complete a search for specific
sections of courses that are tagged via the registrar’s “Schedule/Catalog Search”. In the registrar’s
computer database, the learning outcomes are known as “attributes”. Thus, you can use the
“Schedule/Catalog Search” to find all courses offered at 9:00 a.m. on MWF that are tagged for aesthetics
by selecting the attribute “Aesthetics” in the attribute’s drop down menu. Instructions for using the
search feature are on the “General Education for Students and Faculty” webpage.
3.
What do I need to do in order to complete the general education program?
Students need to complete the four required classes of the general education program (see Question
#1) and additional coursework that is tagged for various general education learning outcomes. The
student has completed the general education program when he or she has accumulated 20 artifacts in
an electronic portfolio and the artifacts are distributed appropriately amongst the seven outcomes. The
distribution requirement for the artifacts and outcomes is most clearly identified on the General
Education Checksheet. The checksheet is accessed on the General Education for Students and Faculty
webpage. To find this page, open the onu.edu website and click on the “A-Z” index in the upper righthand corner. Select “G” for “General Education for Students and Faculty”.
4.
What is an artifact?
An artifact is a record of the individual student’s work, such as a quiz, homework assignment, test
question, essay, research paper, Powerpoint presentation, recording, etc. The artifact must be
converted to an electronic format and uploaded into an electronic portfolio. The portfolio is known as
Taskstream, the vendor that provides this service to Ohio Northern. Electronic scanners are available
for student usage in the Heterick Library. Ask the front desk clerk for assistance.
5.
How do I know which artifacts I have completed?
Currently, students can log into Taskstream (see question #6) and see the artifacts submitted thus far.
Each student will also receive a semester update report via email. Students can then manually track
their progress using the General Education Checksheet available on the General Education for Students
and Faculty website. (To find this page, open the onu.edu website and click on the “A-Z” index in the
upper right-hand corner. Select “G” for “General Education for Students and Faculty”.) The university
will continue to work on this project to identify more efficient report styles.
6.
How do I access Taskstream?
The Taskstream portfolio is accessed via the onu.edu webpage titled “General Education for Students
and Faculty”. (To find this page, open the onu.edu website and click on the “A-Z” index in the upper
right-hand corner. Select “G” for “General Education for Students and Faculty”.) Students and faculty
should log in using an ONU issued Luminis username and password.
7.
I have transfer work. How does that affect the general education program?
For every 6 credit hours that a student has transferred from another institution to his or her Ohio
Northern academic record, earned via an AP examination, received via the retro-language policy, and/or
earned while studying abroad, that student is eligible to waive out of one artifact requirement. The
transferred credit hours must be applicable to the student’s academic program. A student must still
complete the four required courses of the general education program and there are limitations as to
how many waivers can be applied. Please refer to the General Education Checksheet to see how the
waivers can be applied to the 20 artifacts (see Question #3 regarding the checksheet). Note: A student
who transferred to ONU as a sophomore or junior can work with the academic unit and the registrar’s
office to see if the Writing Seminar and the Freshman Transition Experience courses can be transferred
or waived.
8. What is DegreeWorks?
DegreeWorks is an electronic degree audit software package that monitors a student’s progress to meet
graduation requirements. This tool can be accessed by faculty and students within self-service Banner.
DegreeWorks does not share information with the general education portfolio software of Taskstream.
So while DegreeWorks will identify courses that are tagged for the various learning outcomes,
DegreeWorks doesn’t know if the student is uploading your artifacts or not to Taskstream. Thus, Dr.
Hurtig will continue sending each student an email with their semester report prior to advanced
registration to help track the progress towards completing the university general education
requirements. The student meets the general education requirements after he or she has completed
the checksheet and uploaded all of the artifacts to Taskstream.
9.
Why is the “two additional tags” category not marked as complete in DegreeWorks?
The “two additional tags” category will not be marked complete automatically by DegreeWorks.
Instead, when the student has determined that all of his or her general education requirements are met
with the exception of capstone, the student should petition in DegreeWorks to have the “two additional
tags” block approved. At that time, the registrar’s office will review the Taskstream account. If
everything is “done” except capstone, the petition will be approved. Click on the text to the right of the
“Two additional tag” area in DegreeWorks to learn how to file the petition. It’s quite simple – go to the
top of the screen in DegreeWorks, click on “Petition”, “add a petition”, and then write a short note to
say you believe the gen ed is done with the exception of capstone. Please also note if any waivers
should be applied as well; no need to indicate where to apply them, as that will be obvious, but it is
helpful to point out that waivers are needed and available.
As some of students near graduation, here are some scenarios as to when a student can petition to have
the general education record marked as complete.
Scenario #1: The student has taken tagged courses and submitted artifacts to Taskstream that meet the
general education requirements on the checksheet, with the exception of capstone. Please petition to
have the “two additional tags” marked as complete and any waivers applied.
Scenario #2: The student is taking one or more tagged courses this term, but once they are complete
and the artifacts are uploaded, the student will meet all of the requirements on the checksheet with the
exception of capstone. Please file the petition.
Scenario #3: The student will be graduating in Spring and plans on taking one or more courses with tags
during Spring term. Please wait until after Spring term begins, and then file your petition.
10. How do I indicate to ONU where I want my waivers to be applied on my checksheet?
As stated in #9 above, students will petition to have their two additional tags line completed in
DegreeWorks when the student believes the requirements are met. It is at that time of review by the
registrar’s office that any waivers available and needed will be applied to the various learning outcome
categories within the ONU General Education block in DegreeWorks. Students can note in their petition
“apply my waivers” and that is all that is necessary, as it will be quite obvious as to where to place them.