CLS 101/101A
Freshman Experience (3/1) – GE
Area E
CLS 101 Satisfies Area E
Requirements
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The overriding themes of the course – the
perennial questions of human existence –
are the themes specified in EO 595.
Intellectually demanding and rigorous
introduction to the university experience.
Life long learning skills – including student
success skills – flow from and compliment
the academic focus of the course.
What EO 595 says:
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Each CSU campus is to establish its own
requirements and exercise its creativity in
identifying courses and disciplines to be
included within its General Education-Breadth
program.
Participants should give careful attention to
developing programs that are responsive to
educational goals and student needs, rather
than programs based on traditional titles of
academic disciplines and organizational units.
What the Chancellor’s Office
says:
“It is up to the CSU campuses to decide
for themselves what works for the GE
Areas as they are described in EO 595.”
– Christine Hanson

Interim Dean, Academic Planning Program
Coordinator of GE Affinity Group
Chancellor’s Office
What the Chancellor’s Office
says to community colleges :
From Guiding Notes for CSU General Education Course
Reviewers
“Area E courses should not spend inordinate amounts of
time on college-specific of ‘study skills.’”
(http://www.calstate.edu/app/documents/EO-595/ReviewGuide_Articulation.pdf)
Area E Courses at Cal Poly
Pomona
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ANT 201
AVS 211
HRT 255
KIN/FN 203
KIN 207
PSY 201
PSY 210
Human Nature/Human Affairs: A Biocultural View
Drugs and Society
The Healthy American Cuisine
Health, Nutrition and the Integrated Being
Personal Health
General Psychology
Mind, Brain and Behavior: An Integrated View
Area E Classes at other CSUs
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CSUDH
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HEA 100: Health &
Lifestyles
REC 100: Dimensions
of Leisure
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CSUH (Humboldt)
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CSUN
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CSUF (Fresno)
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Dance 16: Intro to Dance
PSYCH 61: Personal
Adjustment
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RS 400: Paths to the
Center
FIN 302: Personal
Finance
KIN 122A: Badminton 1
CSUS (Sacramento)
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DNCE 3: Beginning
Ballet
More Area E Classes
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CSUS (Stanislaus)
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NURS 2040: Better Health
with Self Care
CS 2000: Effective
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Computing
SONOMA STATE
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ALL CSUs:
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CSU San Marcos
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GEL 101: Library Module
Course/Blackboard
KIN 217: Personal Fitness
and Wellness
Area E credit for
completing
US Military Basic Training
FYE and Area E
CAMPUS
CLASS
AREA E?
Freshman Experience:
UNIV 150
Yes, if enrolled for
Sacramento
ALS 21: Freshman
Seminar
Yes
CSUN
UNIV 100: Freshman
Seminar
Yes
CSU East Bay
Mandatory 1st year
learning communities
Yes
Maritime Academy
Freshman Seminar
Yes
SLO
Various classes across
disciplines (skill-based)
No
Fullerton
Various GE classes
over year; UNIV 100
Yes*/No*
Sonoma
entire year
FYE and Area E
CAMPUS
CLASS
AREA E?
CSULB
Freshman Experience:
UNIV 100
Not at this time
CSU Monterey Bay
ProSem 100
?
San Diego St.
Freshman Success
Program
Not at this time
SFSU
AU 100
Area E is defined
differently
CLS 100:
Fall 2007, sample coursework
The Fall 2007 course focused on the relationship
between technology, the environment, and society and its
effects on human beings as social, psychological and
physiological entities.
 Accomplished by a careful reading and analysis of Dr.
David Ehrenfeld’s controversial book Swimming
Lessons: Keeping Afloat in the Age of Technology
(Oxford University Press, 2002)
 In addition to the text, students read authors such as
Orwell, Dickens, Leopold, Schor, and Krugman.
 Lecture and campus visit for the CLS students and
university community by Professor Ehrenfeld
(Rutgers).
Fall 2007: Coursework, continued
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Student success skills were informed by and
naturally followed from engagement with the text,
fellow students, the faculty teaching the course,
and the author.
Students produced an average of 3000 words of
academic writing; in addition some sections
required journals, an oral presentation, and a final
paper.
Students completed a student success/study skills
portfolio that had a heavy writing component and
required students to learn about the academic
resources the University has to offer.
Science FYE Courses
SCI 101/A, 102/A
SCI 110/A, 111/A
SCI FYE Courses Satisfy GE Area E
Requirements
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Intellectually demanding and rigorous introduction
to the university experience.
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Lifelong-learning skills developed through the use
of discovery, logic, experimentation, reevaluation.
Student success skills provide a framework for
learning and application of scientific principles.
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Scientific inquiry and theory, role of scientists and
mathematicians in society, the intellectual & social
development of the individual… all suggested by
EO 595.
“…lifelong understanding and
development of themselves…”
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Science is a way of thinking and approaching the world in a
systematic way whose key components are the use of logic
and experimentation.
This way of thinking can be applied to not only subjects such
as Biology but can be applied to one’s life and behavior.
Students enrolled in SCI 101/102 come from a variety of
backgrounds, and their knowledge of science is also varied.
Student success skills offer a topic that every student
understands.
As per the Chancellor’s order, the focus is not on “study
skills,” but the subject provides a convenient subject on which
to practice scientific theory.
The lecture/activity model emphasizes the dual need for
theory and discovery. It also follows the university’s learningby-doing model.
The methods learned in this class extend to limitless
situations and will last a lifetime.
“…should facilitate understanding
of the human being…”
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Rational thought can lead to better decision making
and evaluation of personal behavior.
This study also leads to a better understanding of
logical fallacies: what they are, why we make them,
and how to avoid them.
Science provides a framework for the development
of simple, unbiased hypotheses and arguments
needed in work and life.
It also develops a critical eye to claims and
arguments, not only in themselves but in others and
the media.
“…key relationships of humankind
to the physical environment…”
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Science and mathematics are key to
understanding the physical environment and
our relationship to it.
This connection will be explored historically,
as well as the role of these fields in modern
society.
We will also explore the assumptions we
make about this connection -- and discuss its
inherent limitations.