General Education (GE) builds a foundation that encourages students to develop as informed and engaged thinkers. Covering a spectrum of subjects, GE at EWU introduces research, creative and service projects, while emphasizing life skills and strategic learning outcomes.
The current GE system was established in May 2017 by vote by faculty senate. See below for key changes from the former system and a timeline for the rollout of the current GE system.
Key Differences
The key differences between the previous General Education model and the new model are:
In its final implementation the new General Education program will have around fifteen credits fewer
The new model requires two courses from each of the main Breadth Areas:
- Social Science
- Natural Science
- Arts & Humanities
This will streamline the General Education experience for students.
Outcomes have become a more ingrained aspect of General Education at EWU to help make the experience more cohesive for students and more assessable for faculty.
The following outcomes come from the American Association of Colleges & Universities best practices.
Breadth Area courses support two Learning Outcomes:
One of the following:
- Analytical Thinking
- Creative Thinking
- Information Literacy
And one of the following:
- Written Communication
- Quantitative Literacy
Diversity & Global Studies support one Learning Outcome:
One of the following:
- Analytical Thinking
- Creative Thinking
- Information Literacy
More about Outcomes
For more information, see our Outcomes page.
The existing CPLA requirement has been dropped in recognition of students’ incoming levels of computer literacy.
Wondering if you have to take it? See our FAQ page.
Graduation Requirements that were retained from the prior GE system were:
- Writing competency
- Writing proficiency
- Quantitative literacy
- Capstone
Implementation Timeline (Archive)
Academic Year 17-18: Beginning of implementation
- Reduce the general education requirements to 2 courses in each breadth area,
- Offer more FYE pairs and single FYE courses. Support for FYEs (summer workshops, integration of goals, assessment)
- Each currently approved general education course identifies the outcomes that best fit their course
Academic Year 18-19: Continued Implementation
- Phase out CPLA requirement (possibly replace with technology across the curriculum [TAC])
- Build FULL capacity in FYEs and assess them
- Provide stipends to faculty who volunteer to incorporate goals into their courses and assess them
- Build capacity for writing and quantitative stand-alone courses
- All new courses submitted to CPAC intended to meet GE requirements describe the goals they intend to integrate and assess
- Completion of development of Breadth Area Criteria
Academic Year 19-20: Continued Implementation
- Development of Diversity and Global Studies Criteria
- Development of Quantitative and Symbolic Reasoning Criteria
- Development of Writing Proficiency Criteria
Academic Year 20-21: Anticipated Completion of Implementation
- Completion of Capstone Criteria
- Complete and total roll out of new General Education program
