General Education Core
In its Mission Statement the University of Tennessee Southern pledges to provide undergraduate and professional programs grounded in the liberal arts and sciences that are designed to prepare students for productive careers and lives of continued learning. To meet this pledge, the University offers a coherent yet flexible academic program designed to assist students in acquiring a breadth and depth of knowledge, developing sustainable habits of mind, and mastering specific academic skills. The two chief components of the academic program are the General Education Core and the academic major. The General Education Core is described below; the degree programs for the individual academic majors are described later in this Catalogue.
Through structured coursework, the general education curriculum establishes an essential framework for liberal education and lifelong learning regardless of one's chosen academic major. Its broad aim is to help students develop the ability to critically examine questions of meaning and value and to view the world from a variety of cultural, social, and historical perspectives. More specifically, the general education curriculum offers students multiple options to explore and develop an understanding of the content, disciplinary styles, and modes of inquiry specific to the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences.
Through their study of literary and artistic expression, scientific approaches to the natural world, historical forces that have shaped human cultures, and human interactions and institutions, students will master a set of specific academic skills.
Graduates of the University of Tennessee Southern will be able to
- Communicate effectively in both speaking and writing
- Think critically and creatively
- Reason quantitatively, scientifically, and ethically to reach logical conclusions
- Develop effective research strategies employing appropriate technologies
To further aid in the achievement of these core curriculum outcomes, each student is encouraged to attend a number of campus events called Firehawk Forums events.
In addition to successful completion of the required general education core courses, learning outcomes in the general education core are assessed through course-embedded measures.
Credit Hour Policy
The semester credit hour is the unit of instruction at the University of Tennessee Southern. The University awards one credit hour for an amount of student work that reasonably approximates not less than one hour of classroom or direct instruction and two hours of out-of-class student work per week for a semester. Thus a 3 credit hour course entails an amount of student work that reasonably approximates 150 minutes of classroom or direct instruction per week (a total of 37.5 hours over a 15-week semester) and six hours of out-of-class student work per week for that semester. Courses that may be scheduled differently--such as online or hybrid courses, laboratory work, studio work, practica, internships, or independent study-- award credit based on amounts of faculty instruction and amounts of student work equivalent to those described above. This policy is consistent with Federal Guidelines established in 34 CFR 600.2.