General Education Requirements - CUNY Common Core: Pathways

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General Education for All Degree Programs

Kingsborough’s mission statement begins with the following two goals:

1. to offer an excellent general education to all degree students
2. to develop students’ competence in written and oral communication, quantitative skills, critical thinking, research, and technological literacy

The first goal is addressed in these statements of outcomes:

• Students will choose from a wide range of liberal arts and sciences courses in order to develop the knowledge, skills, and appreciation of disciplines beyond their majors
• Students will increase their knowledge of self and of their physical, social, and cultural environment

The second goal is addressed in these statements of outcomes:

• Students will demonstrate mastery of quantitative skills
• Students will demonstrate their problem-solving skills through their ability to analyze, compare, and evaluate ideas
• Students will demonstrate effective oral and written communication
• Students will use technology to acquire and manage knowledge

Readiness for Academic Success

The City University of New York assesses college readiness by CUNY-wide reading, writing and mathematics placement tests. A passing score in reading and writing is required for credit English courses and may be required for selected courses offered by other Departments. The passing score for credit mathematics courses depends on the level of mathematical skills and knowledge required for a particular course. A passing score in all three tests is required (prerequisite) for almost all laboratory science courses.

Developmental English and mathematics courses and workshops are required for matriculants who have not passed the respective CUNY placement test. The specific developmental courses students

CUNY Pathways Initiative

Approved by the CUNY Board of Trustees in June 2011, the Pathways Initiative, which went into effect September 2013, assures that all three parts of an undergraduate curriculum – general education, major, and elective courses – will count toward graduation requirements among all CUNY colleges. This initiative allows students to experience a broad range of liberal arts courses while assuring the many students who transfer from one CUNY college to another that their credits will transfer, therefore helping them graduate on time.

Pathways will apply to:

• new freshmen
• transfer students starting in September 2013 and thereafter

Students changing majors should meet with their advisors to see how liberal arts credits already earned apply to the new CUNY Common Core.

Current students who continue in the same major can choose to stay with the requirements in place when they entered CUNY, as listed in the college catalog for their start date, or to opt into the new Pathways curriculum.

All CUNY undergraduates will be required to complete the 30-credit CUNY Common Core except students in Associate in Applied Science Programs.

Pathways Components

CUNY’s Pathways initiative offers a new framework for general education. It consists of two parts: (1) the Common Core for all CUNY colleges, requiring 30 general education credits and (2) the College Option, requiring students who transfer to a four-year CUNY college to take six (6) to 12 additional credits at the four-year college, as specified by the student’s status when they enter the four-year CUNY College.

CUNY Common Core at Kingsborough

The new CUNY Common Core consists of two parts: a “Required Core” portion and a “Flexible Core” portion. Courses that have been approved for the CUNY Common Core at the time of publication of this catalog are identified in the Course Descriptions  Section of this catalog.

Required Core

In the Required Core, depending on the major, students must take:

• Six (6) credits in English Composition I and II (ENG 1200  and ENG 2400 )
• Three (3) credits in Life and Physical Sciences
• Three (3) credits in Mathematical and Quantitative Reasoning

Flexible Core

Depending on the major, students take between three (3) and six (6) three-credit liberal arts and sciences courses from the following five (5) areas, with no more than two (2) courses in any discipline or interdisciplinary field (e.g., no more than two psychology courses):

1. World Cultures and Global Issues
2. U.S. Experience in its Diversity
3. Creative Expression
4. Individual and Society
5. Scientific World

Pathways Approved Courses