AA/20/AS/19/GE/UEPC - Upper Division General Education

Effective Winter 2020

Resolved: That the policy shall be shared widely with students, evaluators, and faculty and staff advisors, and the new requirements shall be included where relevant on university websites and documents.

Rationale: Executive Order 1065 section 2.2.3 indicated “At least nine of these semester units or twelve of these quarter units must be upper-division level, taken no sooner than the term in which upper-division status (completion of 60 semester units or 90 quarter units) is attained.” This EO was superseded by EO 1100 (revised) which indicates in 2.2.3, “The 9 upper- division GE courses are designed to be taken after upper-division status (completion of 60 semester units or 90 quarter units) is attained. Students enrolling in upper-division GE courses shall have completed required lower-division GE courses in written communication, oral communication, critical thinking, and mathematics/quantitative reasoning.” The creation of local policy helps to draw attention to the change in policy language in the Executive Orders, and indicates when the campus will start enforcing this new standard.

This policy aligns with EO1100 and the FAQ provided by the Chancellor’s office. The FAQ on Revisions to EO 1100 Revised August 23, 2017 states: “There may be cases in which students with fewer than 60 units may need to enroll in an upper-division GE course to continue making full-time progress toward degree completion. At a minimum, students shall be required to have satisfactorily completed the Golden Four courses (written communication, oral communication, critical thinking and mathematics/quantitative reasoning) before enrolling in upper-division GE courses.” This policy should keep CSU Stanislaus aligned with the intentions expressed by the Chancellor’s office.

Delaying implementation until Winter 2020 allows time for advisors and students to be fully informed about the change in expectations, and for all documents related to upper division GE to clearly reflect the change.

Related Policies and Procedures: AA/14/AS/18/UEPC/GE - General Education (GE) Breadth & Multicultural Requirements , EO 1100 

Review History: Approved by the Academic Senate on May 7, 2019. Approved by President Ellen Junn on May 24, 2019.

Academic Affairs Division has the primary responsibility for this policy.

Attachment(s): AA/20/AS/19/GE/UEPC - Upper Division General Education  

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