General education is the common set of multidisciplinary coursework that all students take at an institution, regardless of their major. It sets the intellectual and academic foundation of a four-year degree through a core curriculum of diverse subjects designed to provide students with essential skills such as critical thinking, communication, and cultural understanding. Its emphasis on breadth, reflection, and synthesis is what distinguishes a bachelor’s degree from other forms of training and workforce development credentials.
Each institution’s general education is uniquely designed to reflect its core values and foster broad intellectual growth within the students it serves.
Gen Ed reform is the process of rethinking and restructuring the core curriculum to meet the evolving needs of today’s students and society. This process involves updating outdated programs to be more focused, streamlined, and integrated across the curriculum.
While some revisions of learning outcomes and course requirements were made in 2010 and in 2019, the framework for the current program was actually created in 1996. Over time, the existing program has become rather large, cumbersome, and often confusing for students to navigate. It also includes more credit hours than are required by SACSCOC standards and the VA Transfer Agreement between community colleges and universities to transfer lower division general education credits.
Our current gen ed curriculum is 56 credits. Students take foundational skills classes organized around disciplines and breadth of knowledge courses mapped onto 18 learning objectives organized under 5 learning goals. The curriculum is basically a 2-year core.
The proposed curriculum is a 4-year program organized around goals, themes, or disciplines with opportunities for community building, experiential learning, reflection, integration, and application built into the structure. It is designed to be more intentional, to give students more agency, and to emphasize reflection to help students connect what they are learning in gen ed to their overall plan of study.
The goal is to launch the new General Education program in Fall 2028. Immediate next steps involve soliciting input from the University community about potential new models for this reimagined program and making refinements based on this feedback. Fall 2026 will mark the beginning of developing, piloting, and refining the pieces that will fit within the broad model.
A First Year Seminar (FYS) is a small, discussion-based class that introduces first-year students to a college academic environment by fostering intellectual inquiry, developing good scholarship habits, and building community among students and faculty. These courses explore unique topics from disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspectives and are taught by professors or experts in the field, providing a more engaging and interactive learning experience than a traditional lecture. They aim to develop critical thinking skills, expose students to new subjects, and create a welcoming atmosphere for new students to connect with their peers and professors.
The reason for including an FYS requirement in the general education reform is to promote academic inquiry and foster community building, which have been shown to improve grades and support retention and progression.
Experiential Learning is an educational approach where knowledge and skills are gained through direct engagement in an activity and paired with purposeful reflection. Experiential Learning can take the form of undergraduate research, study abroad, internships and work-based learning, and civic and community engagement.
Students who engage in experiential learning often receive better grades, learn the subject matter more deeply, and report increased confidence in their abilities. The goal of including Experiential Learning in the general education reform is to ensure that all students have the opportunity to benefit from these high-impact learning experiences.
A capstone can be a course or an experience that requires students to synthesize and apply the knowledge and skills acquired throughout their studies to an authentic situation. It serves as a culminating experience, usually completed in the 3rd or 4th year of study, for students to demonstrate mastery and prepare for their professional careers through hands-on, practical work.
Students who complete a capstone report experience deeper cognition, increased confidence, and pride in their accomplishments. A capstone experience requirement has been included in the proposed program to bring coherence to the curriculum. Students will have an intentional space to think comprehensively about their undergraduate experience and bring all of their learning to bear on a project that will set them up for success following their time at ±¬ÁϹÏ.
Through intentionally structured opportunities, students engage in unique conversations with the knowledge they have gained throughout their undergraduate journey, integrating it into their emerging sense of self and connecting it forward to both the major they are pursuing and to the future careers they might embark on.
Students who engage in reflective practice (often through activities such as a longitudinal ePortfolio) are able to more strongly make meaning of their educational journey and growth, articulate the value of their general education experience, and showcase their educational accomplishments. Including reflective practice in the proposed program ensures that all students have the opportunity to benefit from this high-impact educational practice.
We assert that everyone at ±¬ÁÏ¹Ï has a stake in general education and know that inclusion, collaboration, and transparency are essential to the success of the reform initiative and, ultimately, of the program.
If you’d like to get involved, we invite you to:
- Check out our website and newsletter
- Attend an event or invite us to speak with you/your team
- Send us an email
- Participate in a focus group or complete a survey
The committee has engaged a great deal of information to prepare for the reform. In spring 2024, the University solicited an external review to provide insights into the strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities in our existing general education program and make recommendations for ensuring that the program remained a meaningful experience for our students.
In fall 2024, we led 6 reading groups focused on scholarship related to First Year Experiences, High Impact Practices, the Purpose and Value of General Education, Pedagogy and Teaching, and Models and Structures of General Education programs. We also conducted multiple listening sessions to hear directly from our university community.
In spring 2025, we led working groups organized by broad areas of study to integrate this emerging knowledge base into our understanding of our current programs and faculty. This resulted in the drafting of our five learning goals.
Committee members also attended and presented at prestigious international conferences, including AAC&U, AGLS, the Assessment Institute, and the First Year Seminar Institute
We do not know that number just yet as the program is still in development. What we do know is that there will be a minimum of 30 credits in alignment with SACSCOC policy.
Our focus is on creating a meaningful and impactful program that gives students agency and meets ±¬ÁϹÏ’s goals and standards.
How to Get Involved
Send us an email to invite us to speak with your office, program, or team and learn more about getting involved in the reform process.