Becoming a lifelong learner is a process, and we hope to encourage students not only in the classroom but also in their extra- and co-curricular experiences to explore the connections between what they study and their everyday lives – and perhaps help them imagine a future that will change the world for all of us.
General Education Program
- Kisha Tracy, Chair, General Education Program Area
- Franca Barricelli, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
- Petri Flint, Chair, Humanities
- Laura Garofoli, FYE Coordinator
- Elizabeth Gordon, Chair, Earth & Geographic Science
- Cate Kaluzny, Director of Assessment
- Sara Levine, Dean of Arts and Sciences
- Denise Sargent, Chair, Education
- Zachary Miner, Exploration Representative
- Reid Parsons, Integration Representative
- Brian Schremser, SGOCE Representative
- Ambassador and Assessment Program 2021-2022
- Chris Cratsley (Quantitative Reasoning, Procedural and Logical Thinking)
- Katherine Jewell (Inquiry and Analysis)
- Kori Ryan (Personal Wellness, Ethical Reasoning, Integrative Learning)
- Connie Strittmatter (Information Literacy, Reading, and Writing)
- Email:generaled@fitchburgstate.edu
- Social Media:
Overview of Program
Foundation: Foundations for Lifelong Learning
Foundation courses are taken in the first year and are intended to help you develop the skills necessary to succeed personally, academically, and professionally as well as increase your familiarity with campus resources. In these five courses, you will focus on college-level reading, writing, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, and speaking and listening.
Benefits:
- Foundational skills
- Cohesive first-year: especially for first-generation and at-risk students
Exploration: Critical and Creative Thinking across the Disciplines
Exploration courses will allow you to experience topics from different viewpoints and use a variety of methods to think about our world - past, present, and future - as well as build upon the skills you develop in the Foundation. In these nine courses, you will be exposed to a number of artistic, civic, diverse, ethical, historical, literary, and scientific perspectives while expanding your approaches to thinking and wellness.
Benefits:
- Building on Foundation skills (plus)
- Creative Thinking
- Critical Thinking
- Digital Literacy
- Information Literacy
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Reading
- World Languages, Speaking & Listening
- Writing
- Breadth of exploration and exposure
- Balance of interdisciplinary and disciplinary
Integration: Advancing and Applying Liberal Arts and Sciences Learning
Integration courses provide the opportunity to combine what you have learned in the General Education program and your major to think about more advanced ideas and problems. In these three courses, you will learn how to take knowledge and skills from different perspectives and apply them in new ways. You will also participate in a high-impact, experiential learning experience, ranging from community engagement and study abroad to independent research and internships.
Benefits:
- Continued development of Exploration learning
- Ability to choose focus
- Potential to take a minor to satisfy requirement (plus)
- High-impact practice
- Civic Engagement
- Experiential Learning/Internship
- Student-Faculty Research Project
- Student-Faculty Creative Project
- Study Abroad
- Team Teaching/Learning Community
- Writing Intensive
Transfer plan
- Liberal Arts and Sciences Program (students admitted prior to Fall 2021)
- Interactive Requirements Tool (Coming soon)
- Resources
- Skill Guides
- Tutor Center
- Math Center
- Benefits of Taking a Minor
- Transfer plan
- Lifelong Learning
- Teaching resources
- Syllabi materials
- Skill Guides
- CTL
- Advising resources
- Interactive Advising Tool
- Benefits of Taking a Minor
- Liberal Arts and Sciences Program (students admitted prior to Fall 2021)
- Advising Integration Pathways (see graphic below)
- MAJ approved courses
- Courses with approved designations
- AUC:
- Transfer plan
- Archive
The liberal arts teach you how to think critically and support the formation of your soul, and contribute to the humanity in a person.
The Curriculum
- Personal Wellness
- Campaign Resources
- Counseling Services
- Disability Services
- Recreation Services
- Civic Learning
- Constitution Day
Overview of Program
Foundation: Foundations for Lifelong Learning
Foundation courses are taken in the first year and are intended to help you develop the skills necessary to succeed personally, academically, and professionally as well as increase your familiarity with campus resources. In these five courses, you will focus on college-level reading, writing, information literacy, quantitative reasoning, and speaking and listening.
Benefits:
- Foundational skills
- Cohesive first-year: especially for first-generation and at-risk students
Exploration: Critical and Creative Thinking across the Disciplines
Exploration courses will allow you to experience topics from different viewpoints and use a variety of methods to think about our world - past, present, and future - as well as build upon the skills you develop in the Foundation. In these nine courses, you will be exposed to a number of artistic, civic, diverse, ethical, historical, literary, and scientific perspectives while expanding your approaches to thinking and wellness.
Benefits:
- Building on Foundation skills (plus)
- Creative Thinking
- Critical Thinking
- Digital Literacy
- Information Literacy
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Reading
- World Languages, Speaking & Listening
- Writing
- Breadth of exploration and exposure
- Balance of interdisciplinary and disciplinary
Integration: Advancing and Applying Liberal Arts and Sciences Learning
Integration courses provide the opportunity to combine what you have learned in the General Education program and your major to think about more advanced ideas and problems. In these three courses, you will learn how to take knowledge and skills from different perspectives and apply them in new ways. You will also participate in a high-impact, experiential learning experience, ranging from community engagement and study abroad to independent research and internships.
Benefits:
- Continued development of Exploration learning
- Ability to choose focus
- Potential to take a minor to satisfy requirement (plus)
- High-impact practice
- Civic Engagement
- Experiential Learning/Internship
- Student-Faculty Research Project
- Student-Faculty Creative Project
- Study Abroad
- Team Teaching/Learning Community
- Writing Intensive
You never know when a particular subject or teacher will light a spark that will shape the rest of your life.
Student Learning Showcase
The Curriculum in Action
Foundation
Foundations for Lifelong Learning
Exploration
Critical and Creative Thinking Across the Disciplines
Integration
Advancing and Applying Liberal Arts and Sciences Learning