AISS Newsletter: November/December 2025

A snowy day outside an academic building on UAlbany's Uptown Campus.

 

Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS) Course Designations for all Undergraduate Courses

The New York State Department of Education (SED) policy stipulates that a Bachelor of Science degree must include a minimum of 60 LAS credits, and a Bachelor of Arts degree must include a minimum of 90 LAS credits. Regarding the requirements for earned undergraduate degrees, the New York State Board of Regents Regulation 3.47(c) states that:

Undergraduate degrees shall be distinguished by the minimum amount of liberal arts content required for each degree. The required liberal arts core shall not be directed toward specific occupational or professional objectives.

To remain compliant with SED policy, we must be able to identify each individual course as either a LAS course or a non-LAS course. To this end, the Office of Undergraduate Education (UGE) reviewed course descriptions for all active undergraduate courses listed in the undergraduate bulletin and assigned the LAS or non-LAS attributes following the SED guidelines. Going forward, new course proposals will need to indicate in the Course Action Form (CAF) if the proposed course is a LAS or non-LAS course. If a department or program determines that a course has been erroneously designated as LAS or non-LAS, there is a LAS Designation Change Form that can be completed and submitted with the course syllabus to initiate review of the requested redesignation. Effective Fall 2025 semester, each undergraduate course is designated as a LAS or a non-LAS course. A course that has been designated as a LAS course will show with an attribute in PeopleSoft and in the Schedule of Classes (SOC) Lookup.

 

Submit Upper-Division Courses to become General Education Designated Courses

All students graduating with a bachelor's degree must complete the General Education program. Students transferring to UAlbany with an AS degree from a SUNY Community College transfer in with their SUNY General Education program completed. However, if a student has an AAS or did not graduate from a SUNY school, that student has to satisfy the University at Albany General Education program requirements.  

Transfer students needing to complete the General Education program also have to complete all the other requirements for a bachelor's degree including meeting the number of LAS credits for their degree, the upper-division credits, and the requirements for the major. Upper-division General Education courses can give students the opportunity to complete some of their upper-division requirements, their Gen Ed requirements, and often their LAS requirements all in one course.  

SUNY has recently confirmed that upper-division courses can also be used to meet General Education requirements. Expanding our options to include upper-division Gen Ed courses offers significant benefits, particularly for:  

  • Transfer Students: more flexibility can greatly streamline their degree completion.
  • Students in Specialized Programs: programs such as Engineering and Nursing often have heavy foundational requirements, leading students to defer some Gen Ed courses until their Junior or Senior year.
  • Meeting SED Requirements: since SED requires a minimum of 45 upper-division (300+) credits for a bachelor's degree, an upper-division Gen Ed course would allow students to satisfy two requirements (Gen Ed and upper-division credit) simultaneously, helping them meet graduation requirements in a timely manner.

Process to Request an Existing Course become a General Education Designated Course:

  1. To get this designation added, please complete the Course Action Form (CAF).
  2. On the CAF, you will indicate that this is a "General Education Course Proposal to add a designation to an existing undergraduate course." The form will ask you for an explanation. Please feel free to state that UGE (Undergraduate Education) suggested that the course be considered for the Gen Ed category designation.
  3. You will need to submit a recent syllabus for the course and confirm that the course learning outcomes meet those of the General Education category. The General Education Committee will review all such submissions. 

 

A student works on a laptop inside a shared study space.

 

AISS launches first of its kind class for parents and families of first-year students

In the fall of 2024, the University at Albany launched a semester-long, online class for the parents and families of our newest students called Great Danes 101. The goals were to de-mystify the college experience for family members and help them be great coaches for their students.  The course offers families the ability to learn about the support services and opportunities available to their students here at UAlbany. This program best prepares the family members to support their students in ways that will help them get the most out of their university educational experience here at the University at Albany.  

The first year of the program in Fall 2024 saw 538 families create accounts to be part of the Great Danes 101 course. Several hundred accounts remained engaged throughout the semester and since the close of that semester, 67 participants have continued to use the site.  This year there are approximately 1,375 family members signed up.  

The course has a syllabus and modules/classes that broadly mirror the first-year experience.  The topics covered are related to what students are learning and discussing in their FYE courses. The course covers topics such as what their students can expect in the first year of university study, study tips, information about academics, and the student support services available on campus, etc.  

At the end of 2024, 97% of families said that the Great Danes 101 course was excellent in helping them support the success of their students.  

Innovative Educators, a company that focuses on online services for student orientation, support, and training named UAlbany their Partner of the Month for November because of the dedication of Great Danes 101 in enhancing parent and other student supporter experience.

 

A purple square with gold ornaments, white snow flakes and the words, "Happy Holidays."

 

Season’s Greetings

Thank you for all you do for our students and the University at Albany. AISS and UGE wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. We look forward to working with you again in 2026!