2024-25 Undergraduate Catalog
General Education
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2023 SUNY Cortland General Education
The 2023 General Education requirements apply to all undergraduate students entering in the fall of 2023. All students should follow the requirements of the catalog year documented on their DegreeWorks audit.
The purpose of General Education is to provide students with an intellectual and cultural basis for their development as informed individuals in our society. This requires that they understand the ideas that have formed our own civilization, that they appreciate other cultures and that they have knowledge of the fundamental principles that govern the physical universe.
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General Education Requirements
General Education Requirements
The Cortland General Education Program fulfills all SUNY General Education requirements and includes elements specific to the Cortland degree. There are 11 required knowledge and skills area categories. Students must complete a minimum of 30 credit hours of SUNY approved course work. Most categories require one course, with the exception of:
- World Language, where the requirement varies depending upon degree program.
- Basic Communication, which is met through a combination of writing and presentation skills course work as described. CPN 100/102 and CPN 101/103 count towards the SUNY GE credit total, for a maximum of eight credit hours. The use of a single course to satisfy more than one category is allowed but no single course may be used to satisfy more than two General Education categories.
All undergraduate degree-seeking students must demonstrate the required student learning outcomes in two core competencies; Critical Thinking and Reasoning and Information Literacy.
Cortland General Education Knowledge and Skills Area Categories
- Communication [GEC1, GEC2]
- Writing Studies (CPN) - up to eight credit hours of CPN may count towards GE credit hour total
and
- Presentation Skills (PRES)
- Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice [GEDI]
- Mathematics (and Quantitative Reasoning) [GEMA]
- Natural Sciences (and Scientific Reasoning) [GENS]
- Humanities [GEHU]
- Social Sciences [GESS]
- The Arts [GEAR]
- US History and Civic Engagement [GEUS]
- World History and Global Awareness [GEWH]
- World Language — refer to degree program [GEWL]
- Science, Technology, Values and Society [GEST]
Cortland General Education Core Competencies Learning Outcomes
Critical Thinking and Reasoning
Students will
• clearly articulate an issue or problem;
• identify, analyze, and evaluate ideas, data, and arguments as they occur in their own or others' work;
• acknowledge limitations such as perspective and bias; and
• develop well-reasoned (logical) arguments to form judgments and/or draw conclusions.
Information Literacy
Students will
• locate information effectively using tools appropriate to their need and discipline;
• evaluate information with an awareness of authority, validity, and bias; and
• demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation, and dissemination.
Transfer and General Education
For information on transfer policies related to General Education, including course work and waivers, see Transfer Credit Policies and Evaluation under Academic Policies .
Academic Planning and General Education
Academic planning is key to fulfilling all degree requirements and ensuring that General Education requirements are integrated with planning for the major and other academic opportunities such as study abroad.
Utilizing the following resources, students are able to ensure that General Education requirements are fulfilled through academic planning:
- Degree Works, our campus degree audit system, will identify requirements and track student progress.
- The online Course Schedule allows students to search by General Education courses offered in an upcoming semester through search-by-attribute feature.
- A list of all approved General Education courses is provided in the following section of this College Catalog.
- Faculty advisors and the Advisement and Transition Office work with students to assist with all academic planning.
Communication
The goal of this category is to develop written and oral communication skills. This category consists of Writing Studies (CPN) and Presentation Skills (PRES).
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- produce coherent texts within common collegelevel written forms;
- revise and improve their written texts.
- demonstrate the ability to research a topic, develop an argument and organize supporting details;
- demonstrate proficiency in oral discourse;
- evaluate an oral presentation according to established criteria;
- demonstrate the ability to evaluate communication for substance, bias, and intended effect.
And one course fulfilling Presentation Skills (PRES)
One course from the Presentation Skills list
Diversity: Equity, Inclusion, and Social Justice
The goal of this category is for students to reflect critically about the causes and consequences of prejudice and discrimination from individual to institutional levels. Courses in the category examine the challenges of constructing a more diverse and inclusive society.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate the ability to describe historical and contemporary societal factors that shape the development of individual and group identity involving race, class, and gender;
- analyze the role that social structures and systems play in the creation and perpetuation of the dynamics of power, privilege, oppression, and opportunity;
- apply the principles of rights, access, equity, and autonomous participation to social justice action.
Mathematics (and Quantitative Reasoning)
The goal of this category is to develop mathematical and quantitative reasoning skills.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- interpret and draw inferences from appropriate mathematical models such as formulas, graphs, tables, or schematics;
- represent mathematical information symbolically, visually, numerically, or verbally as appropriate;
- employ quantitative methods such as arithmetic, algebra, geometry, or statistics to solve problems.
Natural Science (and Scientific Reasoning)
The goal of this category is to provide students with an understanding of the process of scientific inquiry, some of the major scientific theories and their application to modern life. Students will practice the methods of science in a laboratory experience.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate an understanding of the methods scientists use to explore natural phenomena, including observation, hypothesis development, measurement and data collection, experimentation, evaluation of evidence, and employment of mathematical analysis;
- demonstrate knowledge of the principles of one or more of the natural sciences.
- demonstrate the ability to apply scientific data, concepts and models in one or more of the natural sciences, and relate the relevant technology and principles they have studied to modern life.
The Humanities
The goal of this category is to help students appreciate and understand the humanities. Courses in this category will address a humanities discipline through a variety of resources and critical approaches.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate knowledge of the conventions and methods of at least one of the humanities;
- apply the methods of at least one area in the humanities by recognizing and analyzing nuance and complexity of meaning through critical reflections on written texts, visual images, sonic expressions, or other materials.
Social Sciences
The goal of this category is to familiarize students with the methodology of social scientists and provide a substantial introduction to a social science discipline.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- describe major concepts and theories of at least one discipline in the social sciences;
- demonstrate understanding of the methods social scientists use to explore social phenomena.
The Arts
The goal of this category is to engage students in self-reflective practices within the arts. Courses in this category will help students develop an awareness of the creative process as a system of inquiry in which aesthetic elements are involved (ex: studio art, design, emerging media, creative writing, music composition or performance, directing or stagecraft).
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- apply the methods used to study and critique an artistic medium and its physical practice that informs, persuades, or otherwise engages with an audience;
- establish knowledge of diverse histories and/or contemporary practices within the arts;
- develop and articulate an understanding of creative expression in terms of its social, political, cultural, aesthetic and historical context.
US History and Civic Engagement
The goal of this category is to familiarize students with the history and nature of the American state and society by examining relationships within and among the elements of that state and society, including governing structures or policies, formal and informal institutions, and the public.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate knowledge of a basic narrative of American history, such as political, economic, social and cultural, including knowledge of unity and diversity in American society;
- demonstrate understanding of state and mediating institutions in American society and how they have affected different groups, including ethnic minorities and women;
- demonstrate an understanding of America's evolving relationship with the rest of the world.
World History and Global Awareness
The goal of this category is to provide students with an understanding of non-Western cultures and societies. It is intended to provide a counterpoint to the European focus of the Western Civilization category and explore the distinctive features of one non-western civilization. Courses in this category would be non-European and non-U.S. in focus.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate knowledge of a broad outline of world history and/or the development of the distinctive features of at least one non-Western or Indigenous civilization or culture in relation to other regions of the world;
- demonstrate understanding of the structures, systems, and interrelationships among civilizations and cultures within historical and/or contemporary contexts, and their impact on environmental, social, or economic sustainability.
World Languages
The goal of this category is to develop familiarity with a world language.
Learning Outcomes
Students will:
- demonstrate basic proficiency in the understanding and use of a world language;
- demonstrate an understanding of the distinctive features of culture(s) associated with the language they are studying.
Students earning a final grade of 85 or higher in their third year of high school foreign language study or passing any subsequent year of high school foreign language study or scoring an 85 or higher on a Foreign Language Regents Exam or a local exam aligned with a discontinued Regents Exam (Checkpoint B Exam) fulfill the GE world language requirement.
Science, Technology, Values and Society
The goal of this category is for students to reflect critically on problems that involve ethical or values-based judgments of technical information and issues that arise at the interface of science, technology and society.
Learning Outcomes
Students will demonstrate an understanding of
- the manner in which value judgments are justified and how interpretation of technical information can lead to different conclusions, and
- issues at the interface of science, technology and society and how the methods of science and scientific data are understood in the context of social issues.
World Language Requirement: Bachelor of Arts Candidates
Students enrolled in a B.A. program must
- successfully complete the fourth semester (202) of a college-level world language sequence or
- confirm proficiency equivalent to successful completion of the fourth semester (202) of a college-level world language sequence through a testing program approved by the Modern Languages Department.
World Language Requirement: Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Science in Education and Bachelor of Fine Arts Candidates
Students enrolled in a B.S., B.S.Ed. or B.F.A. program in the School of Arts and Sciences or the School of Professional Studies need only one semester of a world language with the exception of speech and language disabilities majors (SLD/SLDW), who must successfully complete the fourth semester (202) of a college-level world language sequence. Students in the program listed above may meet the world language requirements by:
1) successful completion of a one-semester college-level world language course (101) or the equivalent;
2) having earned a final grade of 85 or higher in the third year of high school world language study or a passing grade in any subsequent year of high school world language study; or
3) having earned a score of 85 or higher on a foreign language Regents Exam or a local exam aligned with a discontinued Regents Exam.
Students enrolled in the B.S. program in early childhood, childhood, early childhood and childhood, adolescence education, inclusive special education and the B.S. in Speech and Hearing Science must:
- successfully complete the second semester (102) of a college-level world language sequence or
- confirm proficiency equivalent to successful completion of the second semester (102) of a college-level world language sequence through a testing program approved by the Modern Languages Department.
Note: Some departments require specified courses in world language in support of their major program requirements in addition to those described above.
Writing Studies (6-8 cr. hr.)
Students must successfully complete CPN 100 or CPN 102 and CPN 101 or CPN 103 with a grade of C- or better. Writing Intensive (6 cr. hr.)
Writing intensive courses must be taken at SUNY Cortland and must include at least one course in the major; the other course can be in or out of the major. Students must successfully complete CPN 100 or CPN 102 and CPN 101 or CPN 103 with a grade of C- or better before enrolling in a Writing Intensive course. Presentation Skills
In fulfilling the basic communication learning outcomes, students must demonstrate skills and experience in making oral presentations, including self critique and peer critique of oral presentations. If a course is taught both in the traditional classroom and online, the traditional classroom delivery may be submitted for Presentation Skills (PRES) designation. Students cannot take an online course to satisfy the Presentation Skills requirement. |
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