The School of Continuing and Professional Studies: Core Program
The Core Program
The Core Program supports the goals expressed in the Mission Statement of Elizabethtown College and the Mission Statement of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies. Through the School’s Core Program, Elizabethtown College offers each undergraduate adult student a broad exposure to the liberal arts and sciences in a manner respectful of adult learning needs and styles. Adult students experience a core curriculum that complements and enriches major and elective courses.
Core Program Objectives
Courses, either taken at Elizabethtown College or accepted by the SCPS in transfer, that fulfill Core Program requirements, have learning outcomes that support the following Core Program objectives:
- To unite the program of general education into a cohesive and useful whole.
- To develop the student’s intellect by helping her/him master the skills and competencies associated with the liberal arts, such as:
- Writing
- Speaking
- Researching
- Creating
- Imagining
- Critically analyzing
- Problem solving
- Synthesizing
- Integrating
- Valuing
- Contextualizing
- Appreciating
- To offer the student fundamental knowledge as the basis for future learning.
- To help the student be aware of and to master various methods of knowledge acquisition as the basis for a lifetime of learning.
- To integrate knowledge across disciplines in a way most effective for adult students.
- To facilitate the adult student’s entry or re-entry into college-level learning.
- To encourage the adult student to develop and maintain the skills and competencies associated with lifelong, independent, self-directed learning.
- To broaden adult student perspectives and awareness through valuable learning experiences which enhance and complement the professional and/or academic disciplines.
Learning Outcomes of the Core Program
Adult students completing the Core Program offered by Elizabethtown College through the School of Continuing and Professional Studies will be able to:
- Write clearly and persuasively.
- Speak clearly and persuasively.
- Analyze, critically, arguments, positions, and hypotheses.
- Solve problems imaginatively and creatively.
- Recall and apply fundamental knowledge from a number of different disciplines.
- Find and apply more specific knowledge in a number of different disciplines.
- Synthesize and integrate knowledge from many different disciplines.
- Choose and apply values from many possible choices.
- Direct her/his own independent learning.
- Complete a college-level learning program.
- Apply a broad, human perspective and awareness to professional studies.
Baccalaureate Core Program Structure
The Baccalaureate Core Program is divided into two basic categories – common learning experiences (Foundations for Accelerated Learning and the Senior Research Project), which total six credits; and learning experiences in eight Areas of Understanding, which vary from twenty-one to thirty-one credits, depending on the major. This Core Program is based upon broad learning themes to form a cohesive and useful liberal arts foundation for more intensive learning in the major.
The Baccalaureate Common Core
All adult students matriculated in baccalaureate degree programs offered by the School of Continuing and Professional Studies share in the Common Core by successfully completing the following two courses:
FS 1500 Foundations for Accelerated Learning
Adult students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Implement college-level writing research and communication skills.
- Synthesize information from a variety of sources and apply it to various personal, educational, and professional situations.
- Understand and demonstrate concepts of paraphrasing appropriately, citing works properly and avoiding plagiarism.
- Identify personal strengths and areas for improvement related to effective learning in an accelerated learning environment.
- Describe and analyze his or her own educational development/history and cultural competence.
Foundations for Accelerated Learning should be taken in the first three sessions of an adult student’s entry or re-entry into college.
IDC 4900 Core Program Capstone
Adult students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Write clearly and persuasively incorporating APA guidelines.
- Speak clearly and persuasively.
- Analyze arguments and positions that support the thesis.
- Solve problems imaginatively and creatively.
- Recall and apply fundamental knowledge from a number of courses within the liberal arts core.
- Research, apply, and integrate more specific knowledge from a number of different disciplines.
- Choose and apply values from many possible sources and/or references.
- Self-direct her/his own learning.
Normally, the Senior Research Project should be taken only after adult students have satisfied Power of Language, Foundations for Accelerated Learning, and Math Analysis requirements; those taking Senior Research Project should also have junior or senior status at the College.
Areas of Understanding
Areas of Understanding represent broad, thematic approaches to college-level learning and appear in the Baccalaureate Core Program because of their importance in building a useful and valuable liberal arts learning experience for adult students at Elizabethtown College. Areas of Understanding are described below and each area’s learning outcomes are listed. Courses, taken at Elizabethtown or accepted in transfer, that fulfill these Area of Understanding requirements, should meet a majority of the listed learning outcomes.
Power of Language: 3 credits (1 course)
The hallmark of a liberally educated person is the ability to articulate ideas clearly and persuasively in any number of settings and contexts, ranging from the academic world to the business world.
After successfully fulfilling this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Use language clearly and persuasively to articulate ideas.
- Read and listen carefully and critically.
- Assess the quality of other people’s use of language.
- Analyze and synthesize ideas.
- Speak and write clearly and persuasively.
This requirement is met for all programs with EN 1000 Writing and Language. Other English, communications, and philosophy courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Mathematical Analysis: 3 credits (1 course)
Mathematical Analysis fosters competency in quantitative reasoning and the mastery of problem solving skills.
After successfully fulfilling this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Argue and present using numbers and statistics.
- Respond, critically, to arguments and positions that use numbers and statistics.
- Model real world phenomena, using numbers and statistics.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other mathematics and computer science courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Creative Expression: 3 credits (1 course)
This Area of Understanding fosters the student’s appreciation of the diversity of human perception and its expression. This includes the history, theory, creation, performance, and/or criticism of art forms from music, painting, cinema, architecture, sculpture, and the graphic arts.
After successfully fulfilling this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Identify the basic concepts and the vocabulary employed in the creation and analysis of works of art.
- Make informed aesthetic judgments.
- Discuss the value that an artistic medium has, beyond simple utility.
- Appreciate that creative art forms affirm humanity and express innermost, human feelings.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other art, English, music, and theatre courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Western Cultures: 3 credits (1 course)
While the United States today reflects the blending of many different cultures, Western European cultural traditions form the underlying context within which this blending has occurred. Critical analysis of significant human endeavors from those traditions forms the foundation of this Area of Understanding. This analysis will help adult students to understand themselves and their society better. Subject areas discussed in the course of this analysis may include art, government, history, literature, music, philosophy, religion, science, and social institutions.
After successfully completing this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Discuss important aspects of the western cultural heritage of the United States.
- Analyze the relationship of the western cultural past to the contemporary world.
- Interpret knowledge in a variety of different ways.
- Contextualize culture, historically.
- Analyze critically and use, effectively, primary texts, secondary sources, and other forms of evidence.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other art, English, history, music, philosophy, religion, and theatre courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
World Cultures and International Studies: 3 credits (1 course)
The World Cultures and International Studies Area of Understanding promotes analysis of the global human experience.
After successfully completing this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Compare and contrast the diverse experiences of culture groups across the world.
- Discuss the interdependence of the world’s peoples and countries.
- Demonstrate intercultural awareness and responsiveness.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other anthropology, foreign language, history, political science, and religion courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Natural World: 3-4 credits (1 course – must include lab)
This Area of Understanding promotes the systematic study of the natural world through content and methodology.
After successfully completing this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Collect, analyze, and interpret data.
- Apply the scientific method of inquiry.
- Discuss major concepts associated with the scientific disciplines.
- Demonstrate the criticism, challenge, and revision of scientific theories.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other biology, chemistry, earth science, physics, and psychology courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Social World: 3 credits (1 course)
The Social World Area of Understanding investigates the ways in which human behavior is shaped, ranging from self-formation to international relations.
After successfully completing this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Explore, analyze, and interpret the influences on human thought, feelings, and behavior.
- Apply the methods and procedures of social research.
- Discuss major concepts, theories, and texts that interpret and explain human behavior and interaction.
- Discuss the diversity and/or integration of social worlds.
- Analyze the organization and functions of one or more social worlds.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other communications, economics, history, psychology, religion, sociology, and social work courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Values, Choice and Justice: 3 credits (1 course)
The Values, Choice and Justice Area of Understanding reflects the values of the College’s Brethren heritage and tradition; it affirms human dignity, social justice, peace, and non-violence. Through this Area of Understanding adult students engage value-based decision-making and are encouraged to consider the personal and social aspects of their choices.
After successfully completing this requirement, the adult student will be able to:
- Define self-values.
- Make thoughtful decisions based on self-values.
- Think independently and critically.
- Evaluate options and outcomes.
- Apply all of these skills to the exercise of responsible citizenship and other kinds of service.
- Discuss works that represent aesthetic, cultural, historical, religious, or philosophical approaches to values.
The following courses offered by the SCPS fulfill this area:
Other English, history, philosophy, political science, and religion courses may be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Other Requirements to Complete the Baccalaureate Core Program
- Adult students should take the Foundations for Accelerated Learning within the first three sessions of their academic program.
- Normally, the adult student should have completed the Foundations for Accelerated Learning, Power of Language, and Mathematical Analysis Core requirements before taking any upper-level Core courses.
- Completion of the Core Program requires three 2000-level or above (upper level) Core courses.
- The Core Program Capstone must be taken at Elizabethtown College.
Associate Core Program Structure
The Associate Core Program is divided into two basic categories – common learning experiences, which total six credits; and learning experiences in Areas of Understanding, which vary from nine to thirteen credits, depending on the major. This Core Program is based upon broad learning themes to form a cohesive and useful liberal arts foundation for more intensive learning in the major.
The Associate Common Core
All adult students matriculated in associate degree programs offered by the School of Continuing and Professional Studies share in a six credit Common Core by successfully completing the following two courses:
Areas of Understanding
Areas of Understanding represent broad, thematic approaches to college-level learning and appear in the Associate Core Program because of their importance in building a useful and valuable liberal arts learning experience for adult students at Elizabethtown College. These Areas of Understanding are further described in the Baccalaureate Core section. All associate degree students must complete one course (3 credits) in the Mathematical Analysis area. In addition, associate degree students, except for Human Services, must complete three courses (totaling 9-10 credits) from any three different Areas of Understanding that follow:
- Creative Expression
- Western Cultures
- World Cultures & International Studies
- Natural World (must include a lab component)
- Social World
- Values, Choice & Justice
Because Human Services majors have extensive requirements in the Social World domain, their program requires two courses (totaling 6-7 credits) from any two different Areas of Understanding above other than the Social World.
Waiving Core Requirements
Adult students may petition the Assistant Dean of the School of Continuing and Professional Studies to waive a particular Core Program requirement or to provide a substitute for an existing Core Program requirement. Such petitions should be made in writing using the JayWeb Form Student Petition for Exception/Substitution and should present the special circumstances supporting the waiver request.
Specific Guidelines for Waiving FS150 Foundations for Accelerated Learning
1. We will accept transfer credits from learners who have previously taken an accelerated course similar to our Foundations for Accelerated Learning course (e.g., University of Phoenix)
2. We will waive the Foundations for Accelerated Learning course if a learner has already earned a bachelor’s degree. The learner can bring in the additional credits to fulfill this requirement and does not have to take a substitution course
If a student requests to waive the Foundations for Accelerated Learning without having already completed a bachelor’s, they must meet three of the four criteria:
1. Have attended an institution of higher learning within the past 5 years
2. Be transferring in 60+ credits from a non-technical college/university
3. Be transferring in an English composition course with a B or higher
4. Have been previously enrolled in an accelerated program
If a student meets three of the four above criteria, they will submit a written request to have the course waived. Along with this request, they must submit a 5-7 page research paper that demonstrates writing skills and proper use of APA (could be a paper from a prior course). The student will submit their paper to the Admissions Counselor or Academic Advisor who will then present it to the Assistant Dean for review and approval.
In keeping with the liberal arts philosophy of an Elizabethtown College degree, if the Foundations for Accelerated Learning course is waived, the learner must take a 200-level core class as a substitution. In other words, the learner cannot transfer in three general elective credits as a substitution for the Foundations for Accelerated Learning course. However, a learner who has earned credits for an additional 200-level core class from a prior institution can use that course as a substitution for the Foundations for Accelerated Learning course, as long as those credits do not exceed the maximum number of credits permitted for transfer.
