General Education Goals 3/6/2006 2:01 PM
The General Education Program at SCSU is committed to the ideal of liberal education that provides knowledge,
skills and experience and promotes critical thinking and ethical values for a lifetime of integrative learning in a
diverse and changing society.
Direct from Judy’s document
1) Integrated
2) Empowered-Skills
a) Communicate orally, in writing, and collaborate on ideas
b) Understand mathematical techniques and reason quantitatively
c) Identify, analyze and critically evaluate reasoning
d) Information literacy and technology
3) Informed-Knowledge
a) Appreciate aesthetic values in visual arts, music, literature; understand, analyze and evaluate systems of
thought
b) Discover and understand the natural world and reason scientifically by advancing hypotheses and testing
them
c) Discover and understand social and historical structures of human society
4) Responsible-Values
a) Respect values of diverse society, and understand and critique power structures relating race, gender,
and culture
b) Demonstrate concern for individual worth and human rights, be socially ethically and civically
responsible, and understand and promote just communities
c) Understand natural environment and critique conceptions of our relations to it
Edited from Judy’s document
1) Integrated
2) Empowered-Skills
a) Communicate orally
b) Communicate in writing
c) Collaborate on ideas
d) Reason quantitatively (understand mathematical techniques)
e) Identify, analyze and critically evaluate reasoning
f) Information literacy and technology
3) Informed-Knowledge
a) Appreciate aesthetic values in visual arts, music, literature
b) Understand, analyze and evaluate systems of thought (see 2e?)
c) Reason scientifically by advancing hypotheses and testing them
d) Discover and understand the natural world
e) Discover and understand social and historical structures of human society
4) Responsible-Values (Be socially ethically and civically responsible)
a) Recognize values of diverse society, understand and critique power structures relating race, gender, and
culture
b) Demonstrate concern for individual worth and human rights,
c) Understand and promote just communities
d) Understand the natural environment and our relations to it
[Note: The framework/organization of goal areas are drawn from work done through AAC&U's Greater Expectations
initiative (available at http://www.greaterexpectations.org/).]
GEC has decided to make this unedited version available for later reference, but will use an abbreviated
listing of goals for the Faculty Forum Day on April 5, 2006.
General Education Goals: (From Judy—partial draft of 3/1/06)
Students who have completed SCSU’s General Education Program will become intentional learners who
can adapt to new environments (or, who can adapt to a changing world), integrate knowledge from
different sources, and continue learning throughout their lives.
[Note: The framework/organization of goal areas are drawn from work done through AAC&U's Greater
Expectations initiative (available at http://www.greaterexpectations.org/).]
Integrate learningi
Students will explore and integrate knowledge to see how various disciplines interrelate. They will
understand what knowledge is, where it comes from and how it is created. They will be able to evaluate
claims about knowledge and information, and will be able to apply this understanding to a variety of
historical and contemporary issues.
To thrive in a complex world, these intentional learners should also become:
Empowered through the mastery of intellectual and practical skills
The empowered learner. The intellectual and practical skills that students need are extensive,
sophisticated, and expanding with the explosion of new technologies. As they progress through grades K12 and the undergraduate years, and at successively more challenging levels, students should learn to:
Communicate well both orally and in writing and collaborate on ideas ii
Students will demonstrate competency in using the English language effectively in reading, writing,
speaking, and critical listening. As a base, all students should complete introductory communication
requirements early in their collegiate studies. Writing competency is an ongoing process to be reinforced
through writing-intensive courses and writing across the curriculum and within the major. Speaking and
listening skills need reinforcement through multiple opportunities for public speaking, group
deliberation, and interpersonal communication.
Understand mathematical techniques and reason quantitatively iii
Identify, analyze, and critically evaluate reasoning iv
Information literacy and technology v
Students will have the ability to recognize when information is needed and to locate, evaluate and use
effectively the needed information. Information technology skills are interwoven with, and support,
information literacy.
Informed by a breadth of knowledge about the natural and social worlds and about forms of inquiry
basic to these studiesvi
The informed learner. While intellectual and practical skills are essential, so is a deeper understanding of
the world students inherit, as human beings and as contributing citizens. This knowledge extends beyond
core concepts to include ways of investigating human society and the natural world. Both in school and
college, students should have sustained opportunities to gain: familiarity with various modes of inquiry;
experience with the human imagination and its artifacts; understanding of the world's cultures; knowledge
of science and technology; and familiarity with the histories underlying U.S. democracy.
Appreciate aesthetic values in the visual arts, music, and literature; understand, analyze, and evaluate
systems of thought vii
Discover and understand the natural world and reason scientifically by advancing hypotheses and testing
them viii
Discover and understand social and historical structures of human society ix
Approach issues from a global perspectivex
Students will develop the ability to apply a comparative perspective to cross-cultural social, economic and
political experiences. They will demonstrate sensitivity to the growing interdependence of nations and
peoples.
Responsible for their personal actions and for civic values.
The responsible learner. The integrity of a democratic society depends on citizens' sense of social
responsibility and ethical judgment. Students should demonstrate responsibility for their personal and
civic values through intellectual honesty; discernment of the ethical consequences of decisions and actions; a
commitment to social justice; an understanding of self and respect for others; and active participation in
civic life.
FROM CAROLYN 03/17/06-Ethical and Civic Responsibility: Goal: to develop
understanding of and concern for individual worth and human rights, to improve students’
understanding and practice of citizenship, and to encourage behavior which is socially,
ethically, and civically responsible and which promotes just communities.
From Michelle 03/22/06- Civic Values
Goal: to enhance an understanding of the multiple facets of citizenship and responsibility in a pluralistic
society (knowledge), to identify and develop students' skills for engagement in participatory democracy
(skills), to provide opportunities to practice skills of active citizenship (practice), and to encourage
behavior which is socially, ethically, and civically responsible and which promotes just
communities(values).
(the last red part is Carolyn’s from above)
-MATERIAL BELOW IS BACKGROUNDCourses on Democratic Citizenship, currently designated as Core 5 of the General Education curriculum, are
based upon three goals in the St. Cloud State University mission and goals statement. These are; 1) to promote
understanding of ethical behavior in personal, professional, and public life; 2) enhance understanding of a
citizen’s responsibilities to others, to society, and to the environment; and 3) encourage involved citizenship at
the local, state, national, and global level. In the current Gen Ed structure, to accomplish this end students take
a course from one of six departments: Community Studies, Economics, History, Political Science,
Sociology/Anthropology, or Social Work.
Democratic Citizenship has a set of objectives and criteria that were established with the creation of the
requirement when the university last redesigned its general education program in the transition from the quarter
system to the semester system. At the end of the goals that group also indicated what type of goal it is and how
it fits with the general education program.
 These Criteria Are:
 Students will understand and appreciate that an important and primary purpose of higher education and
of general education is preparation for citizenship and for participation in a democratic society.
[Value/belief/attitude] [General Education goals: values awareness, critical thinking]
 Students will identify the skills needed for responsible citizenship and demonstrate the ability to apply
those skills to contribute to the common welfare of society. [Content/subject/knowledge;
Skill/ability/capability] [General Education goals: values awareness, critical thinking]
 Students will analyze the citizens’ role in society and critically examine diverse values about people,
society, and the environment. [Skill/ability/capability] [General Education goals: multi-cultural
awareness, critical thinking]
 Students will integrate knowledge from several disciplines and demonstrate understanding that
citizenship and responsibility have multiple facets within a pluralistic society.
[Content/subject/knowledge; Skill/ability/capability] [General education goals: interdisciplinarity]
 Students will evaluate ethical responsibilities in their personal, professional and public lives and relate
these values to other people, to society and to the biophysical environment. [Value/belief/attitude;
Content/subject/knowledge] General education goals: values awareness, critical thinking]
Respect the values of a diverse society, and understand and critique power structures and systems of
domination relating race, gender and culture xi
Demonstrate concern for individual worth and human rights, be socially, ethically and civically
responsible, and understand and promote just communities xii
Understand our natural environment and critique conceptions of our relations to itxiii
Taken together, these outcomes form the core of a twenty-first century liberal education—liberal not in
any political sense, but in terms of liberating and opening the mind, and of preparing students for
responsible action. Liberal education in all fields will have the strongest impact when studies look beyond
the classroom to the world's major questions, asking students to apply their developing analytical skills
and ethical judgment to significant problems in the world around them. By valuing cooperative as well as
individual performance, diversity as a resource for learning, real solutions to unscripted problems, and
creativity as well as critical thinking, this newly pragmatic liberal education will both prepare students
for a dynamic economy and build civic capacity at home and abroad.
i
SCSU: Explore and integrate knowledge to see how various disciplines interrelate
SCSU: Identify, interpret, evaluate, and integrate human values
GEC Committee:
 Integrate goals (e.g., apply scientific understanding to public policy; using quantitative arguments to
compare & contrast cultures, etc.)

Students need analytical skills sufficient to interpret complex and ambiguous statements and
information by synthesizing “common knowledge”.

Students should understand what knowledge is, where it comes from and how it is created. Thus
they should be able to evaluate claims about knowledge and information. They should be able to
apply this understanding to a variety of historical and contemporary issues, especially current
emotionally charged and politically controversial issues.

Students need to be able to process information at a deep enough level to translate it into terms
that can be understood by people who are not their friends, family, or peers.
Note: This also is addressed in Peer Review, Summer/Fall 2005
ii
SCSU: Competent in academic skills—writing, reading, speaking, listening, reasoning
GEC Committee:
 Clearly communication in writing, presenting/speaking, & listening

Communication

Students need teamwork and group work skills beyond those learned in kindergarten. They need
the skills necessary to deal with common problems that prevent effective performance.
MTC Goal: To develop writers and speakers who use the English language effectively and who read, write, speak and listen critically.
As a base, all students should complete introductory communication requirements early in their collegiate studies. Writing competency
is an ongoing process to be reinforced through writing-intensive courses and writing across the curriculum. Speaking and listening skills
need reinforcement through multiple opportunities for interpersonal communication, public speaking, and discussion.
iii
GEC Committee:
 Math/quantitative reasoning

Evaluate & apply quantitative arguments and reasoning

Students need to be able to apply basic logic and algebraic skills to real-world problems.
MTC Goal: To increase students’ knowledge about mathematical and logical modes of thinking. This will enable students to appreciate
the breadth of applications of mathematics, evaluate arguments, and detect fallacious reasoning. Students will learn to apply
mathematics, logic, and/or statistics to help them make decisions in their lives and careers. Minnesota's public higher education
systems have agreed that developmental mathematics includes the first three years of a high school mathematics sequence through
intermediate algebra.
FROM CAROLYN 03/17/06-Critical Reasoning: Goal: to improve the ability of
students to reason well. Critical reasoning includes identifying reasoning,
analyzing reasoning and learning how it works, and distinguishing good
reasoning from bad. It is thus essentially evaluative.
iv
MTC: Analyze the logical connections among the facts, goals, and implicit assumptions relevant to a problem
or claim.
SCSU: Use inquiry & critical judgment
GEC Committee:
 Critical reasoning

Critical thinking, logic, etc.

Critical thinking, which includes ethical thinking, may be the very basis of a liberal education.
The issue is depth of thinking, and knowing one’s limitations.
MTC Goal: To develop thinkers who are able to unify factual, creative, rational, and value-sensitive modes of thought. Critical thinking
will be taught and used throughout the general education curriculum in order to develop students’ awareness of their own thinking and
problem-solving procedures. To integrate new skills into their customary ways of thinking, students must be actively engaged in
practicing thinking skills and applying them to open-ended problems.
v
HLC: (Accreditation Criterion 4C) Assessing usefulness of curricula to students who live and work in a
global, diverse and technological society.
From MSU-Mankato: Information technology: To familiarize students with the tools, concepts and societal
impact of information technology and to develop the skills necessary to use this technology critically and
effectively.
GEC Committee:
 Find & critically analyze information (evaluative data mining?)
vi

Familiarity with technology, but more importantly the flexibility to embrace new technology as it is
useful.

Information technology and literacy
HLC: Mastering multiple modes of inquiry.
SCSU: Use inquiry & critical judgment
HLC on “problem solving”: Analyzing & communicating information
GEC Committee: We considered this as belonging initially to “empowered through the mastery of intellectual
and practical skills,” but decided that it was more fitting in the “informed by a breadth of knowledge” category.
vii
HLC: Recognizing the importance of creativity, and values to the human spirit.
GEC Committee:
 Humanities/arts

Appreciate arts (potentially participate in arts)
MTC Goal: To expand students’ knowledge of the human condition and human cultures. especially in relation to behavior, ideas, and
values expressed in works of human imagination and thought. Through study in disciplines such as literature, philosophy, and the fine
arts, students will engage in critical analysis, form aesthetic judgments, and develop an appreciation of the arts and humanities as
fundamental to the health and survival of any society. Students should have experiences in both the arts and humanities.
FROM CAROLYN 03/17/06-Humanities: Goal: to expand students’ understanding and appreciation of
modes of human expression and systems of thought, and to foster their abilities in the production and
performance of meaning. Study of the Humanities includes developing creativity and symbolic
understanding, and contributing to the construction of the cultural life of our communities.
viii
MTC: Evaluate societal issues from a natural science perspective, ask questions about the evidence
presented, and make informed judgment about science-related topics and policies.
SCSU: Foster an understanding for the application of technology and scientific method.
GEC Committee:
 Natural science

Understand, critique & practice scientific process as a way of knowing
MTC Goals: To improve students’ understanding of natural science principles and of the methods of scientific inquiry, i.e., the ways in
which scientists investigate natural science phenomena. As a basis for lifelong learning, students need to know the vocabulary of
science and to realize that while a set of principles has been developed through the work of previous scientists, ongoing scientific
inquiry and new knowledge will bring changes in some of the ways scientists view the world. By studying the problems that engage
today’s scientists, students learn to appreciate the importance of science in their lives and to understand the value of a scientific
perspective. Students should be encouraged to study both the biological and physical sciences.
ix
GEC Committee:
 Social & historical studies

Familiarity with American and world history
MTC Goal: To increase students’ knowledge of how historians and social and behavioral scientists discover, describe, and explain the
behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions. events, and ideas. Such knowledge will better equip students to
understand themselves and the roles they play in addressing the issues facing humanity.
[There was a question about whether or not this was “overarching.” Not all disciplines may approach
material globally. It is listed as one of ten goal areas in the MTC, however.]
MTC: Describe and analyze political, economic, and cultural elements which influence relations of states and
societies in their historical and contemporary dimensions.
MTC: Analyze specific international problems, illustrating the cultural, economic, and political differences that
affect their solution.
x
MTC: Understand the role of a world citizen and the responsibility world citizens share for their common
global future.
SCSU: Enhance understanding of a citizen’s responsibilities to others, to society, and to the environment.
GEC Committee:
 Global perspective

Compare & contrast cultures—exposure to diverse cultures
MTC Goal: To increase students’ understanding of the growing interdependence of nations and peoples and develop their
ability to apply a comparative perspective to cross-cultural social, economic and political experiences.
xi
MTC: Demonstrate communication skills necessary for living and working effectively in a society with great
population diversity.
HLC: Understanding and appreciating diverse cultures.
GEC Committee:
 Diversity


Human diversity—analyze power structures in relation to race, ethnicity (culture), gender.
Diversity issues mean more than knowing the currently privileged perspectives of some group.
One must know how to deal with individuals and groups one has yet to even hear about.
MTC Goal: To increase students' understanding of individual and group differences (e.g. race, gender, class) and their knowledge of
the traditions and values of various groups in the United States. Students should be able to evaluate the United States' historical and
contemporary responses to group differences.
xii
MTC: Understand the expressions of individual and human values within an historical and social context.
MTC: Identify ways to exercise the rights and responsibility of citizenship.
SCSU: Instill a sensitivity and respect for the values of a diverse society and multicultural world and a concern
for individual worth and human rights.
SCSU: Promote understanding of ethical behavior in personal, professional, and public life.
HLC: Informed exercise of local, national, and international citizenship
HLC: Examination and understanding of personal, social, and civic values
GEC Committee:
 Ethical & civic responsibility

Knowledge & application of civic responsibility
MTC Goal: To develop students' capacity to identify, discuss, and reflect upon the ethical dimensions of political, social, and personal
life and to understand the ways in which they can exercise responsible and productive citizenship. While there are diverse views of
social justice or the common good in a pluralistic society, students should learn that responsible citizenship requires them to develop
skills to understand their own and other's positions, be part of the free exchange of ideas, and function as public-minded citizens.
xiii
GEC Committee:
 Environmental studies

Natural environment—people & environment
MTC Goal: To improve students' understanding of today's complex environmental challenges. Students will examine the interrelatedness of human society and the natural environment. Knowledge of both bio-physical principles and socio-cultural systems is the
foundation for integrative and critical thinking about environmental issues.
For faculty presentation at forum April 5 3:30-5
Full size poster of our mission from “tanning bed”.
Poster paper summarizing each goal area up on the walls
Bring post its to tack on each goal area and one marked “other” to invite participation
1. Introduce committee members and mission
2. Explain levels of mission—goals—learning outcomes—structure and our committee responsibilities of
formalizing first two and including faculty specialists while overseeing formulation of learning outcomes.
Assessment considered throughout, particularly at learning outcomes.
Structure will follow outcomes not the other way around—we aren’t thinking from courses up to goals, but
from goals down to courses that might meet them.
3. Clarify timecourse (see strategic planning document).
4. Introduce organization thus far (Judy’s document with improvements) prep work in advance with publicity to
anticipate feedback
5a. Have small group discussions broken down into points?
5b. Have individual additions by strolling post-it comments?
5c. Larger discussion as whole group?
6. Finally invite participation and tracking progress on website and listserv.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Poster of Mission
Copy of MTC documents
Copy of HLC documents
Copy of SCSU documents