The School of Graduate and Professional Studies: Core Program
The Core Program
The Core Program supports the academic goals expressed in both the Elizabethtown College’s mission statement and the School of Graduate and Professional Studies mission statement. It has four major purposes: to provide a sense of mission and purpose to general education, to provide a foundation for successful study in liberal arts and professions, to integrate knowledge across the disciplines by engaging students in the study of the natural world and the human experience, and to develop habits of the mind that foster continued intellectual growth. The Core Program promotes truth, tenable judgments and important ideas by assuring that a student has the opportunity to acquire significant knowledge and accepted methods of inquiry.
Student Learning Outcomes of the Core Program
Students completing the Core Program offered by Elizabethtown College through the School of Graduate and Professional Studies will be able to:
- Integrate the skills of critical thinking to their lives, workplace and the world around them.
- Explain how knowledge can be applied to problems relevant to our contemporary world.
- Critically evaluate cultural influences that have shaped societies.
- Evaluate ethical and social issues and their impact across different cultures.
- Solve problems through use of well-considered and applicable methods and techniques.
- Illustrate the elements of effective persuasive communications in oral or written presentations.
Baccalaureate Core Program Structure
The Baccalaureate Core Program is divided into two basic categories – common learning experiences (Foundations for Accelerated Learning and the Core Program Capstone), 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.
Completion of the Core Program requires three 2000-level or above core courses.
The Baccalaureate Common Core
All adult students matriculated in baccalaureate degree programs offered by SGPS share in the Common Core by successfully completing the following two courses:
FS 1500 Foundations for Accelerated Learning
Foundations for Accelerated Learning is designed to introduce adult students to the scholarly demands of Elizabethtown College’s accelerated coursework. Emphasis is placed upon self-reflection and collaboration with peers, implementing skills for success in an accelerated learning environment, evaluating personal strengths, and identifying strategies to overcome challenges. Students will develop research, writing, and presentation skills that lay the foundation for future success.
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Apply academic success skills for learning in an accelerated program
- Identify personal strengths and areas of improvement related to effective learning
- Develop key writing skills to avoid plagiarism
- Use APA format in college-level writing
- Demonstrate college-level communication and research skills
Foundations for Accelerated Learning should be taken during the first semester of a student’s entry into college. The School will accept transfer credits from students who have previously taken an accelerated course similar to Foundations for Accelerated Learning.
IDC 4900 Core Program Capstone
This course serves as the Core Program’s capstone course with a final project that represents the student’s ability to define a contemporary problem and construct a defense of the thesis, both orally and in writing. The course also provides the opportunity for the student to reflect on the impact of Core Program learning and explore how that learning relates to a contemporary problem being studied.
The Core Program Capstone should be taken only after students have satisfied Power of Language, Foundations for Accelerated Learning, and Math Analysis requirements. Those taking Core Program Capstone should also have senior status at the College. The Core Program Capstone must be taken at Elizabethtown College
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Write clearly and persuasively incorporating APA guidelines.
- Develop a persuasive presentation incorporating research.
- Analyze arguments and positions that support a thesis.
- Solve problems logically and creatively.
- Identify the impact of liberal arts core coursework in the past, present, and future.
- Apply concepts from a number of different disciplines in examining a contemporary problem.
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. Areas of Understanding are described below and each area’s learning outcomes are listed.
Power of Language: 3 credits
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 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.
The following course offered by the SGPS fulfill this area:
Mathematical Analysis: 3 credits
Mathematical Analysis fosters competency in quantitative reasoning and the mastery of problem-solving skills.
After successfully fulfilling this requirement, the 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.
- Problem-solve.
The following courses offered by the SGPS fulfill this area:
Other mathematics courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Creative Expression: 3 credits
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 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 SGPS fulfill this area:
Other art, English, music, and theater courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Western Cultures: 3 credits
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 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 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 SGPS fulfill this area:
Other art, English, history, music, philosophy, religion, and theater courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
World Cultures and International Studies: 3 credits
The World Cultures and International Studies Area of Understanding promotes analysis of the global human experience.
After successfully completing this requirement, the 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 SGPS fulfill this area:
Other anthropology, history, political science, and religion courses can be reviewed for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
Natural World: 3-4 credits (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 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 four-credit lab courses offered by the SGPS 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
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 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 SGPS 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
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 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 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 SGPS 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 three credits (Foundations for Accelerated Learning); and learning experiences in five Areas of Understanding, which vary from 15-16 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 students matriculated in associate degree programs offered by the School of Graduate and Professional Studies must complete the following:
FS 1500 - Foundations for Accelerated Learning 3 credits (1 course)
Power of Language: 3 credits
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 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.
The following courses offered by the SGPS fulfill this area:
Mathematical Analysis: 3 credits
Mathematical Analysis fosters competency in quantitative reasoning and the mastery of problem-solving skills.
After successfully fulfilling this requirement, the 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.
- Problem-solve
The following courses offered by the SGPS fulfill this area:
Other mathematics courses can be evaluated for transfer to fulfill this requirement.
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, except for Human Services majors, 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.
Students may elect to participate in 3-day seminar courses for variable credit. These courses cover a range of timely and relevant topics.
Students who elect to take the seminar for 3-credits may use it to fulfill specific core or program requirements dependent on topic; students who elect to take the 1-credit option may only use it to satisfy general elective credits needed for degree completion.
Students are not limited to the number of seminars they may take for core or general electives, but may only take two seminars to meet major program requirements. Students are strongly encouraged to work with their academic advisor to determine best fit for program progress and degree completion.
Courses Transferring into the Core Program
Students admitted to Elizabethtown College through the Office of Admissions with an earned associate degree, consisting of at least 40 corresponding general education credits, will be recognized as meeting all of the requirements of the Elizabethtown College Core Curriculum, including upper-level Core requirements, with full junior Standing. The foregoing provision does not supersede curricular prerequisites or departmental program requirements established in the College catalog. Nor does it exclude the student from completing the Foundations for Accelerated Learning (FS 1500) and the Core Program Capstone (IDC4900) requirement, or residency requirements, for completion of a bachelor’s degree. Elizabethtown College is accredited by Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).
Elizabethtown College will accept the transfer of credits up to a maximum of sixty-four applicable semester credit hours from a two-year institution. Students may earn up to a maximum of 32 credits earned through examination (i.e., AP, IB, CLEP, etc.). Official certification of exam scores and official college transcripts are required for credit transfer. Transfer credit will not exceed the maximum of 95 total credits. Students must meet all residency requirements. Please refer to the Elizabethtown College Catalog Academic Policies for more detail on graduation, residency, etc.
Foundations of Accelerated Learning (FS1500) and Core Program Capstone (IDC4900) will be waived for students that have already earned a bachelor’s degree.
