General Degree Requirements for Full-Time Students

The requirements for baccalaureate degrees granted by EC have been established by members of the faculty so that each graduate receives a broad general education with realistic and appropriate work experiences.

To receive an Artium Baccalaurei (A.B.) or Scientiae Baccalaurei (S.B.) degree from EC, a student must complete a minimum of 120 credits, with a cumulative grade-point average (G.P.A.) of at least 2.000. The last 30 of these credits must be earned at Elmira College. For the A.B. at least 90 credit hours must be in the liberal arts and sciences; for the S.B. at least 60 credit hours must be in the liberal arts and sciences. Each student must also earn a minimum grade-point average of 2.000 within the major.

Students must earn a stipulated number of credits - with a passing grade - in the completion of General Degree Requirements and a Major. You have the option of completing a Minor, in which case a 2.000 G.P.A. within the minor must be completed.

Students are expected to have the following skills relating to the operation of a computer prior to coming to EC: (1) Basic computer operation - on and off, use of the keyboard, using a mouse and graphical interface, and basic file organization; (2) Word processing, and printing; (3) Web and E-mail skills.

General Degree Requirements				credits
Courses taken to fulfill the Communication Skills and Core requirements fulfill no other requirements except the 120 credits required for graduation. Other General Degree requirement courses may be used to fulfill other requirements.

A. Communications Skills Program				3.0-6.0
All full-time students who enter Elmira College as freshmen, including those who receive AP or other English college credit, are evaluated during Freshman Orientation for assignment to an appropriate course within this program:

WRT 1010		College Composition I		3.0
		and
WRT 1020		College Composition II		4.0

B. "W" Course (A list of courses approved for this category may be found in the back of each term's Schedule and Course Descriptions.)				3.0

C. Mathematical Competency				3.0
MAT 1030		College Algebra
Or other approved method that meets the requirement

D. Core Program				6.0
FRS 1010		When Worlds Collide		3.0
FRS 1020		Order and Chaos		3.0

This sequence of courses, taken during the freshman year, seeks to provide the student body and the faculty with a sense of intellectual community and a shared exploration of ideas. All full-time freshmen will be enrolled in the program, and faculty from all academic disciplines teach in it. Drawing upon literature, the arts, and the natural and behavioral sciences, the program introduces students to the history of ideas in the Western tradition as those ideas were and are in dialogue with the cultural traditions of Asia, Africa, and the Americas. A focus of the program will be on the ways in which human beings come to know themselves, others, and the world in which they live. The program will also provide opportunities for enhancing students? skills in reading and written and oral communication.

E. Distribution Requirements
1. Culture and Civilization				15.0
(Including at least 3 but no more than 6 credits from each sub-groups a., b., and c., below.) Foreign Language courses may be used to satisfy this requirement, but only if two consecutive courses are completed in the same language.
	a. United States Culture and Civilization
	b. European Culture and Civilization
	c. Non-Western Culture and Civilization
	d. General Culture and Civilization
2. Contemporary Social Institutions				3.0
3. The Scientific Method				6.0-9.0
(One course from the Physical and Life Sciences and one from the Behavioral Social Sciences. One of the two must include a laboratory experience.)
4. The Creative Process				3.0
(One or more courses providing a student with direct experience of creativity-for example, drawing or voice class.)

F. Physical Education				2.0
A full-time student must complete two courses from the list of approved Physical Education courses. The two courses do not have to be in different sporting activities. Alternatively, participation in a Varsity, Junior Varsity sport, club sport, or the ROTC program, counts as a substitute for a Physical Education activity, provided that the participation comprises at least eighteen contests, contacts, or practices.

G. Encore or The Performing Arts Appreciation Requirement				1.0
(ENC 1010, 1020, 2010, 2020)
Attendance at eight performing arts events, identified in advance, will be required of all full-time students in each long term of the freshman and sophomore years. The Encore requirement does not apply to part-time students.

H. Field Experience-Practicum				7.5-13.5
Elmira College offers its students the opportunity to participate in Field Experience and Practicum programs enabling them to apply concepts they have learned in the classroom, test possible career choices, develop the ability to deal effectively with new people in different settings, develop an understanding of community life, and establish professional credentials.

The program has three parts:
1. Community Service (FEX 2520)			60 hours of Community Service	1.5
Students may opt to register for a second 1.5 credit Community Service during their sophomore through senior years, providing they have enough Pass/Fail credits remaining.
2. The Career Related Internship (FEX 4510)
Is a paid or unpaid work experience related to students' majors or career interests that will lead either to fulfilling work or graduate school after Commencement (see the Pre-graduate School Internship below). In the internship, students should be able to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to the specific circumstances of the work setting, and there test its validity.
3. Pre-Graduate School Internship (FEX 4510)
A Pre-Graduate School Internship may be pursued by those students who are planning to attend graduate school and who meet the high standards of graduate study. The Pre-Graduate School Internship fulfills the Career Related Internship requirement.

NOTE: Normally, the Career Related Internship and the Community Service are not completed at the same organization.