1. Proposed Global Citizenship Program to replace Webster’s current general education
program.
Webster’s General Education Program, known as the “Global Citizenship Program,” will consist
of the following (definitions for terms are included after the program outline). These
requirements will apply to all B.A. students.
I. Breadth Requirements.
A. Requirements: 24 credit hours distributed as indicated below.
1. Six Credit hours from courses designated “Roots of Cultures.”
2. Six Credit hours from courses designated “Social Systems and Human
Behavior.”
3. Three credit hours from courses designated “Physical and Natural World.”
4. Three credit hours from courses designated as “Global Understanding.”
[Restrictions on I.A.1-4:
a. All courses used to fulfill these breadth requirements outlined
above must show evidence of promise that they cultivate one of the
following skills:
i. Written Communication or
ii. Oral Communication or
iii. Critical Thinking or
iv. Intercultural Knowledge or
v. Ethical Reasoning
b. No course prefix may be used more than once in satisfying the
requirements for an A.1-A.3 area (see above).
5. Three hours from courses designated for “Quantitative Literacy.”
6. Three hours of the student’s choice from all designated courses or from
selected skills courses.
B. Overall Restrictions.
1. No student may include any course that is a requirement of his/her first major
as a course used to fulfill GCP requirements.
(see exceptions, below).
2. No course may be used to fulfill more than one of the above requirements.
3. All sections of the same course must fulfill the same requirements.
4. All courses included in the GCP must be approved by the “Global Citizenship
Program Committee. This will usually be accomplished by the submission of
syllabi to the committee for approval based on the requirements stated above.
The Faculty Senate will create this committee upon approval of the proposed
GCP by the Faculty Assembly.
5. All new courses require the approval of the Curriculum Committee first.
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2. II. Global Citizenship Program Keystone Seminar. Three credit hours.
Total Required Credits: 27
III. Great Thinkers Seminar: Requirement for students entering as new full-time degree-
seeking Freshmen (who have not previously matriculated at another post-
secondary institution or who have fewer than 16 credit hours of college credit;
see other exceptions below for students with AA degree at IV. A).
Total Required Credits for students entering as freshmen: 30 hours.
IV. Exceptions.
A. The GCP breadth requirements do not apply to students entering with an AA degree.
AA students are required to complete a GCP Keystone seminar. However, AA
students are required to complete a GCP Keystone seminar.
B. The GCP requirements do not apply to students seeking a sequential degree.
C. Students pursuing high-credit-hour majors (above 75 credit hours) may be
accommodated as follows:
1. For students pursuing high-credit-hour majors: On the initiative of the
Department responsible for a high-credit-hour major (greater than 75 credit
hours), the requirement that no courses taken in the major (see I. B. 1. above) may
be waived by the Global Citizenship Program Committee.
2. For students pursuing the B.F.A or B. M. degree: on the initiative of the
department responsible for the major, the requirements that 1) no courses taken in
the major, and 2) that no course prefix may be used more than once in satisfying
the requirements for a given knowledge area, may both be waived, or the
knowledge requirements may be reduced to one course in each area, or both. In
no case will meeting the GCP requirements place an undue burden on these
degree programs. All waivers and adjustments for high-credit-hour majors will be
submitted to the Global Citizenship Program Committee for approval.
V. Assessment. The Great Thinkers Seminar and the Global Citizenship Keystone
Seminar serve as the points for the collection of student work for assessment.
Rubrics for assessment will be developed by the Global Citizenship Program
Committee. The complete assessment plan follows on a separate page.
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3. VI Definitions.
A. Breadth Definitions.
1. Roots of Cultures courses are expected to help students develop knowledge of
human cultures and the sources of meaning, focused by engagement with “big
questions,” whether contemporary or enduring.
2. Social Systems and Human Behavior courses are expected to help students
develop knowledge of human cultures and how people and their cultures and
institutions work, focused by engagement with “big questions,” whether
contemporary or enduring.
3. Physical and Natural World courses are expected to help students develop
knowledge of the physical and natural world, focused by engagement with “big
questions,” whether contemporary or enduring.
4. Global Understanding Courses are expected to help students understand
cultures foreign to them, or international languages, or forces that draw people of
the world together and forces that push them apart.
B. Skill Definitions.
1. Critical thinking is a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive
exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating
an opinion or conclusion.
2. Ethical Reasoning is reasoning about right and wrong human conduct. It
requires students to be able to assess their own ethical values and the social
context of problems, recognize ethical issues in a variety of settings, think about
how different ethical perspectives might be applied to ethical dilemmas and
consider the ramifications of alternative actions. Students’ Ethical Self Identity
evolves as they practice ethical decision-making skills and learn how to describe
and analyze positions on ethical issues.
3.Intercultural Knowledge is a set of cognitive, affective, and behavioral skills
and characteristics that support effective and appropriate interaction in a variety of
cultural contexts.
4. Oral Communication is a prepared and purposeful presentation designed to
increase knowledge, to foster understanding, and/or to promote change in the
listeners' attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors.
5. Quantitative Literacy (QL) – also known as Numeracy or Quantitative
Reasoning (QR) – is a "habit of mind," competency, and comfort in working with
numerical data. Individuals with strong QL skills possess the ability to reason and
solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday
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4. life situations. They understand and can create sophisticated arguments supported
by quantitative evidence, and they can clearly communicate those arguments in a
variety of formats (using words, tables, graphs, mathematical equations, etc., as
appropriate).
C. Global Keystone Seminars. This course engages students in developing and using
intellectual and practical skills to demonstrate their understanding of responsible
global citizenship, through collaborative participation in meaningful, real-world
projects and problem-solving experiences. Students practice skills for lifelong
learning and integrative learning through analysis, synthesis, integration and
application (transfer) of prior learning (formal academic concepts as well as
personal life experiences) to address complex problems, locally or globally.
D. Great Thinkers Seminars emphasize exploration and discovery through a range of
topics, teach students to think critically in a community of learners, and set a
standard for academic excellence that continues throughout the academic career of
every student. “Great Thinkers” are visionaries who can be defined in various
ways, from the well known to everyday people who find solutions to everyday
questions. A great thinker has the necessary mindset, as well as the drive and
desire, to learn. In completing this seminar, students become better critical
and creative thinkers and cultivate the skills and knowledge necessary for
lifelong learning. Other goals for the Great Thinkers Seminars include making
students more purposeful in their thinking, exploring interdisciplinary approaches
to subject matter, developing critical and creative thinking skills, improving
communication skills, and developing a connection to Webster University through
interpersonal relationships.
VII. Implementation.
GCP will be implemented as a requirement for all students beginning at Webster in
the Fall Semester of 2012.
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