The New General Education Program at the University at Albany proposes a set of knowledge areas, perspectives, and competencies considered by the University to be central to the intellectual development of every undergraduate. Through a distribution of courses in the Arts, Humanities, Natural Sciences, and Social Sciences, the General Education Program seeks to introduce students to a broad range of disciplinary perspectives and areas of knowledge. Through courses in the category of National and International Perspectives, the General Education Program seeks to introduce students to the complex intersections of the local and global, and to the different perspectives that emerge from a focus on the national, the regional, the global, and the cross-cultural. Through courses in Mathematics and Statistics, Information Literacy, Written and Oral Discourse, and Foreign Language, the General Education program seeks to provide students with the analytic, interpretive, and communication competencies central to academic success and to becoming effective citizens of the 21^st century. Through its Pluralism and Diversity requirement, the General Education Program seeks to promote in students an awareness of human diversity and cultural pluralism, a respect for difference, and a commitment to civic dialogue as a means of negotiating conflicts in cultural and political values arising from diversity and pluralism.

In addition, the General Education Program in conjunction with students' majors and minors is designed to develop capacities for critical thinking and judgment. Whether selecting and pursuing a major or choosing how to fulfill a General Education category, students need to think critically about why and how choices contribute to one's education at the University. As Albany continually seeks to improve its programs, students are not discouraged from questioning the value of any given requirement, since developing the capacity for such questioning is a key goal of general education.

Students are also encouraged to reflect on their general education program as a whole, to explore the relation of requirements to each other, to measure any given course against the stated goals for its specific category and for the program, and to use the experience of general education to develop their own understanding of what constitutes a meaningful university education.

To be approved for inclusion in the General Education Program, courses should contribute to the following objectives to the extent that they are applicable in the different disciplines:

General education offers introductions to the central topics of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. Approved courses also may satisfy major or minor requirements, but their primary purpose is to inform students who do not plan to pursue more advanced coursework in that field.

General education offers explicit rather than tacit understandings of the procedures and practices of disciplines and interdisciplinary fields. The goal is to explain what it means to be practitioners of disciplines and fields by encouraging both faculty and students to reflect about the nature of disciplinary knowledge.

General education recognizes multiple perspectives on the subject matter, reflecting our pluralistic culture within and beyond the university.

General education emphasizes active learning in an engaged environment that enables students to be producers as well as consumers of knowledge. At the University at Albany, a public research university, engaged learning may involve student participation in cutting-edge research, but all courses seek to engage students in the active generation and evaluation of knowledge."

General education promotes critical inquiry into the assumptions, goals, and methods of various fields of academic study; it aims to develop the interpretive, analytic, and evaluative competencies characteristic of critical thinking.

The General Education Program at the University at Albany consists of a minimum of 30 credits of coursework in the following areas: disciplinary perspectives, national and international perspectives, mathematics and statistics, pluralism and diversity, communication and reasoning competencies, and foreign language.

The General Education Program is summarized in the following table:

Disciplinary Perspectives:
Arts	(min. 3 crs)
Humanities	(min. 3 crs)
Natural Sciences	(min. 6 crs)
Social Sciences	(min. 6 crs)
National and International Perspectives:
U.S. Historical Perspectives	(min. 3 crs)
Historical Perspectives on Cultures and Regions	(min. 3 crs)
Global and Cross-Cultural Perspectives	(min. 3 crs)
Mathematics and Statistics	(min. 3 crs)
Pluralism and Diversity	(min. 3 crs)
Communication and Reasoning Competencies:
Information Literacy	(min. 1 course)
Oral Discourse	(min. 1 course)
Written Discourse:
Lower-level Writing	(min. 1 course)
Upper-level Writing	(min. 1 course)

Foreign Language: two semesters of collegiate study of an introductory human language or the equivalent)

Most General Education courses are at the 100 and 200 level. Students are encouraged to complete the majority of the requirements in their first two years. The lower-level writing requirement must be completed within the freshman or sophomore year.

Students may not use the same course to fulfill both the Arts and the Humanities categories. Otherwise, if a course fulfills more than one category, students may use the course to fulfill all of those categories. Although such "double counting" may reduce the number of credits needed to fulfill General Education, to graduate from the University each student must have satisfactorily completed a minimum of thirty (30) graduation credits in courses designated as General Education requirements. If a course fulfilling a General Education category also meets a major or minor requirement, there is no prohibition against counting the course toward General Education and the major or minor.

The humanities and arts, natural sciences, and social sciences are commonly considered to be the core of a liberal arts education. Courses in the category of Disciplinary Perspectives are designed to familiarize students with the objectives, assumptions, subject matters, methods, and boundaries of knowledge organized in terms of academic disciplines. Requirements in this category seek to introduce students to a broad range of disciplinary perspectives and areas of knowledge.

21^st century students will inhabit an environment increasingly characterized by global dynamics in which decisions made in the United States will affect the lives of people elsewhere and decisions made elsewhere will affect the lives of people in the United States. Moreover, they will inhabit an environment increasingly shaped by forces that transcend national borders and interests and that are reconfiguring the globe's regions and cultures in the service of various economic and political agendas. Courses in the category of National and International Perspectives are designed to increase students understanding of the history of this nation (U.S. Historical Perspectives); of cultures other than their own and of geographical, cultural, or economic entities that transcend or divide nations (Historical Perspectives on Cultures and Regions); of the global forces that give rise to and shape nations, cultures and regions, and of the larger perspectives that emerge from cross-cultural comparisons (Global and Cross-Cultural Perspectives). The Foreign Language requirement is also designed to enhance students' global awareness and to expand their knowledge of different cultures.

Social Sciences: Approved courses provide theory and instruction on the role of institutions, groups and individuals in society. The focus of these courses is on the interaction of social, economic, political, geographic, linguistic, religious, and/or cultural factors, with emphasis on the ways humans understand the complex nature of their existence. Courses include discussion of skills and practices used by the social sciences: data collection, hypothesis development, employment of mathematical analysis, and critical evaluation of evidence. Opportunities to experience social science methods in the field may be provided.

Approved courses generally fall into one of three categories:

1. introductions to the various disciplines of the social sciences;
2. introductions to disciplinary subfields, designed for majors, non-majors, or both;
3. courses open to majors and non-majors on broad topics that are addressed by one or more social scientific disciplines.

Humanities and the Arts: The humanities and the arts are closely related categories. "Humanities" may be the more inclusive term, encompassing the study of language, thought, and other creative expression as these reflect and interpret human values, beliefs, and traditions; in other words, culture. "The Arts" are generally concerned with the medium of creative expression-studio art, music, theater, and writing.

The General Education program requires one course each in Humanities and in the Arts and designates courses accordingly. In recognition of the close relationship between the two often- overlapping categories, the program also offers many courses that are designated as applicable to both requirements. However, a student may not use the same course to fulfill both of these requirements.

Humanities: Approved courses are concerned with defining and disputing that which is understood to be quintessentially "human": studying language, texts, thought, and culture; their definition, interpretation, and historical development; and their reflection of human values, beliefs, and traditions. Courses in a variety of disciplines explicate the underlying assumptions, methods of study, practices, theories, and disputes appropriate to those disciplines.

Approved courses generally fall into one of three categories (all open to majors and non- majors):

1. introductions to basic materials and methods in the disciplines;
2. introductions to subfields or groupings of materials in the disciplines;
3. literature and culture courses taught in a foreign language higher than the third- semester level.

The Arts: Approved courses provide instruction in or about a medium of creative expression. Courses may focus on the physical practice and techniques of the medium, on its critical and theoretical interpretation, on its historical development, or on a combination of these approaches. Courses explicate the methods used to study and critique the medium as a vital element of personal or cultural expression and exchange.

Approved courses generally fall into one of four categories (all for majors, and/or non-majors):

Courses about the development and interpretation of a medium:

1. introductions to the disciplines;
2. introductions to subfields in the disciplines;

Courses on the physical practice of a medium (studio art, creative writing, music composition or performance, dance, and theatre acting, directing or stagecraft):

3. instructional courses on the skills and methods required and their critical evaluation;
4. courses focussed upon performance.

Note:  The requirement calls for three credits. In the case of categories 3 and 4 (skills and performance), where approved courses may bear only one or two credits, the requirement may be fulfilled through two or three courses with a minimum total of three credits.

Note: Transfer students who enter the University with credit for an "English Composition" course or a two-semester combined literature and writing course will be considered to have completed the lower-level writing intensive requirement at this University.

Oral Discourse: Approved courses provide opportunities for students to develop the oral communication skills they need to participate more effectively in public and academic debates and discussions. Courses offer opportunities to participate in a variety of communication contexts and to reflect on the principles and theory relevant to specific oral communication activities.

A.  Students admitted to the University whose basis of admission is "FRESHMAN":

The new requirements will apply to all students whose basis of admission is "freshman" who matriculate at the University in Fall 2000 or thereafter.

B.  Students admitted to the University whose basis of admission is "TRANSFER":

The new requirements will apply to all other students whose basis of admission is "transfer" and who matriculate at the University in Fall 2002 or thereafter.

For at least the next four years, the Office of Undergraduate Studies will provide through the print and web versions of the Undergraduate Bulletin and through other media as deemed necessary, a full description for both the current and the new general education requirements. Students who feel their placement within either system of general education requirements is inappropriate to their circumstances or may cause undue hardship may appeal to the General Education Committee through the Office of Undergraduate Studies.

In accordance with the Trustees' policies, if a student from a SUNY state-operated campus or SUNY community college has fulfilled, as determined by the policies of the other SUNY campus, one or more of the Trustees-mandated general educational categories, the University at Albany will also consider the student to have fulfilled that category or those categories. This is true even if 1) Albany requires more credits or courses for the given category; 2) the requirement is fulfilled by a course whose Albany equivalent does not fulfill the same requirement; 3) the student received a non-transferable but minimally passing grade in the course; 4) due to limits on total transferable credits, the student is unable to include that course among those transferred to Albany; 5) the student was waived from the requirement based on high school achievement or other standards different from those employed by Albany; or 6) the student was covered by a blanket waiver of the requirement by the SUNY Provost because the other SUNY campus was not yet able to implement the given requirement.

The same principle of reciprocity should apply to students who transfer from non-SUNY schools. If a course approved for transfer from a non-SUNY school is deemed to be equivalent to a University at Albany course that meets a general education requirement, the student shall be considered to have fulfilled the Albany general education category represented by that course. This is true even if 1) Albany requires more credits or courses for the given category; 2) the student receives a non-transferable but minimally passing grade in the course; or 3) due to limits on total transferable credits, the student is unable to include that course among those transferred to Albany.

The foregoing conditions only apply to prematriculation credits.

The only exception to the policies outlined above is the University's upper division Writing Intensive requirement, which shall be considered a "local" campus requirement, independent of the SUNY Trustees' system of General Education, and shall be required of all students whose basis of admission is "transfer" who matriculate at the University in fall 2002 or thereafter. Students may continue to present credit for courses the University deems equivalent to the upper division Writing requirement, but for the transfer course to fulfill this requirement it must be completed with a grade of C or better or a grade of S.

Students who feel they have not been appropriately accorded equivalence for any given course or courses are encouraged to consult with their academic adviser; if the academic adviser determines that the student has not been awarded appropriate equivalency, the student or the adviser may then appeal the decision through established procedures. Students who believe their transfer work or academic circumstances may justify a waiver or substitution for part of the general education requirements may appeal to the General Education Committee through the Office of Undergraduate Studies (LC 30). As the new requirements are implemented, the units considering transfer equivalencies should, if there is demonstrable ambiguity, decide in favor of the transfer student.

C. Transfer Credit D Grades:

Except for the University's writing requirements, for which a grade of C or higher or S is required, either pre- or postmatriculation transfer work graded D+, D or D- in a course that applies to one or more of the University's General Education requirements may be applied toward fulfilling the requirements, even if the student receives no graduation credit for the course.

The Dean of Undergraduate Studies is responsible for the administration of the program, including interpretation of legislation, assessing the number of seats required and communicating that information to Deans, evaluation of courses, faculty development and program assessment. The Dean shall also have the explicit authority to grant waivers and make appropriate substitutions for individual students, and to decertify courses that do not meet the program's standards. The Dean shall have sufficient material and human resources to meet these responsibilities.

The General Education Committee, appointed by the Dean, will advise the Dean on these matters. The General Education Committee shall have between 12 and 15 members, with broad representation across the University, and shall be chaired by the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies with specific responsibility for the General Education Program.

Course proposals originate in departments or programs, pass through appropriate College curriculum committees, and are reviewed by the General Education Committee. It is the responsibility of the Dean and of the General Education Committee to insure that course proposals meet the values and criteria of the general education program. New course proposals must also be approved by the Undergraduate Academic Council of the University Senate; revisions to existing courses designed to qualify them for the general education program will be reviewed only by the General Education Committee.

The General Education Committee will review approved courses on a regular cycle of three years. At the end of the review process, the committee will continue the course for another three-year cycle, suggest revisions necessary for its continuance, or designate the course to be discontinued as a general education course, effective at the end of the spring term of the next academic year. Any decision to discontinue a course must provide sufficient opportunity for appeal and revision.