Purpose: To ensure that students master the skills they will need to perform effectively in the classroom and as members of the college community.
Writing Proficiency
WRT 101 Introduction to Academic Writing
Credits: 4
In this course, students will learn to use writing as a tool for learning and a means of communication. Students will apply critical reading skills to challenging texts and respond to those readings with writing that is clear, cohesive and logical. Students will learn to read as college writers, mining texts for ideas and techniques to incorporate into their own writing. Through processes that include prewriting, drafting and rewriting, students will learn to employ the conventions of academic writing, including citation, grammar and mechanics. This course provides students with foundational writing skills that they will continue to develop throughout their college careers. Students must earn a minimum grade of C.
Learning Outcomes for WRT 101
- Students will identify and evaluate rhetorical situations and write summaries, thesis-driven argumentative essays and response papers appropriate to an academic audience.
- Students will utilize critical reading, writing and thinking skills needed to enter scholarly conversations with thinkers from both inside and outside the college community.
- Students will evaluate sources for their legitimacy, relevance and authority.
- Students will practice writing as a process that involves prewriting, writing and rewriting.
- Students will formulate, evaluate and integrate criticism of written work.
In addition, students will complete two writing intensive (WI) courses in their major.
Learning Outcomes for Writing Intensive Courses
- Students will evaluate texts that are representative of the writing and rhetoric valued within their major discipline.
- Students will compose papers that demonstrate the standards of effective writing in their major discipline.
- Students will complete writing assignments based on the conventions of drafting and revising based on feedback.
Quantitative Literacy (QL) Proficiency
Credits: 4
Any mathematics course numbered MAT 122 or above; BUS 220
The quantitative literacy course teaches students the necessary skills to understand and use quantitative information to function effectively in their personal, public and professional lives. An educated citizen in an increasingly information-centered world must efficiently gather information, analyze it and use it to make well- reasoned decisions on a variety of issues. The ability to assess quantitative information is also an integral part of effective communication skills.
Learning Outcomes for QL Proficiency
- Students will apply basic arithmetical, algebraic and geometric tools in everyday settings and distinguish between the appropriate use and misuse of numerical information.
- Students will use inductive and deductive thinking.
- Students will correctly summarize and use quantitative information given in the form of descriptive statistics and graphical displays.
- Students will self-report improved confidence in using quantitative reasoning.
In addition, students will take one applied quantitative literacy course in their major.