SMC Statements of General Education Goals

• General Education Strategic Task Force
  
  A liberal arts foundation provides a broad vision and perspective that enables women to think and act critically to make a difference in an increasingly diverse and complex world.
  
  The General Education Program establishes a base for liberal learning within the Catholic tradition of open inquiry and social justice, providing a multidimensional approach through which students:
  
  
  1. Develop a deepening awareness of themselves as women through reflection and examination of spiritual and ethical values;
  2. Experience and integrate diverse modes of inquiry;
  3. Apply knowledge through critical thinking, experimentation and problem solving;
  4. Increase communication skills and information fluency; and
  5. Cultivate intellectual curiosity, cultural awareness and independent learning.
  
  
  
  
• Higher Learning Commission Self-Study
  
  A Saint Mary's College student should be able to:
  
  
  1. Think critically about the natural world;
  2. Think critically about human culture;
  3. Exhibit depth and breadth of knowledge;
  4. Show competence in quantitative skills;
  5. Show competence in modern languages;
  6. Think clearly about complex problems;
  7. Communicate with precision and style;
  8. Think critically about the Catholic tradition;
  9. Develop habits of civic responsibility and the ability to make socially responsible choices about the future;
  10. Develop keen self-knowledge;
  11. Develop a lively imagination;
  12. Develop lifelong intellectual and cultural interests.
  
  
  
  
• The Ways of Knowing Document

At Saint Mary's College, students become liberally educated women with the breadth of knowledge to understand the cultural, social, spiritual, and natural worlds in which we all exist. This breadth of vision enables each student to ground her specific major area of study in this larger context.

The General Education Program at Saint Mary's College brings to every student an intellectually vigorous education reflective of the College's overall mission. Proficiencies and courses in this General Education Program especially reinforce Saint Mary's commitment to the education goals identified in its Mission Statement:


1. gaining the ability to think clearly about complex problems;
2. acquiring the capacity to communicate with precision and style;
3. studying freely and critically the rich heritage of the Catholic tradition;
4. developing cultural interests and aesthetic appreciation;
5. thinking critically and creatively about human culture and about the natural world;
6. developing competence in quantitative skills and in modern language.

The Saint Mary's General Education Program enables every student to develop a breadth of knowledge beyond exposure to different content areas. Designated courses in the General Education Program provide explorations into the characteristic ways of knowing in specific disciplines. For example, students not only learn about philosophy; they also learn to think like philosophers.

The flexibility of Saint Mary's General Education Program provides a genuine opportunity for the student to shape the plan for her own intellectual development. Each student is able to choose from among a number of options within a coherent framework, and an advising program provides information and guidance necessary to empower her to fashion her own general education.



• College Bulletin
  
  The General Education Program at Saint Mary's College brings to every student intellectually vigorous education reflective of the College's overall mission. Proficiencies and courses in the program especially reinforce Saint Mary's commitment to the education goals identified in its Mission Statement.
  
  The Saint Mary's General Education Program enables every student to develop a breadth of knowledge beyond exposure to different content areas. Designated courses provide explorations into the characteristic ways of knowing in specific disciplines. The flexibility of the program gives the student a genuine opportunity to shape the plan for her own intellectual development. Each student is able to choose from among a number of options within a coherent framework.
  
  The General Education Program incorporates three areas of requirements: proficiencies, discipline-specific designated courses, and, for certain degree programs, additional designated courses. All courses which satisfy general education requirements must be taken for a grade, and must be taken at Saint Mary's unless an exception is approved by Academic Affairs and First Year Studies.
  
  Writing Proficiency: A student may earn basic proficiency by registering for courses designated with a "W" after the course number in the Schedule of Classes. At the end of the semester an evaluation committee and the instructor will determine whether the student qualifies for basic proficiency. ...
  
  Foreign Language Proficiency: A student must complete two semesters of the same language at the appropriate level unless she is exampted by examination. ...
  
  Designated Courses in Specific Disciplines: Ways of Knowing. This component of the General Education Program reflects our conviction that different disciplines, in addition to teaching their specific content, teach "ways of knowing" characteristic of that discipline. The required designated courses introduce students to a wide variety of ways of knowing, which reflect the long intellectual tradition of higher education. Any combination of courses chosen to satisfy the designated course requirement will provide the student with experience and practice in all these ways of knowing. ...
  
  Additional Designated Courses: Required for some degree programs, these courses give the student the opportunity to build additional depth or breadth into her General Education Program.
  
  
  
• General Education Goals and Objectives (Gail Mandell)
  
  
  1. Develop the process of knowledge acquisition in specific content areas in order to:
     
     • Acquire discipline-specific competencies through critical inquiry in problem solving and research, crucial as a foundation for lifelong learning
     • Develop an understanding of pedagogy necessary for educated discourse and breadh of understanding
     • Build a broad base of general knowledge on which to base future specialized study
     
     
  2. Develop the ability to integrate knowledge in order to:
     
     • Perceive connections between disciplines
     • Explore areas that fall between disciplines
     • Develop the ability to synthesize diverse topics and methodologies
     
     
  3. Appropriate levels of proficiencies in reading, speaking, and writing English and foreign language in order to:
     
     • Enhance communication skills
     • Engage in cross-cultural interchange
     
     
  4. Experience the connection between theory and practice in order to:
     
     • Apply learning to life
     • Commit ideas through action
     • Test theory and assess practice
     
     
  5. Develop through critical and creative thinking an awareness and appreciation of the values implicit in the mission of the College; the Catholic tradition, aesthetic sensibility, ethical sensitivity, women's issues, diversity, responsibility citizenship, and environmental stewardship in order to:
     
     • Establish a habit of self-reflection
     • Make considered choices
     • Empower students to make a difference in the world