General Education Program

General Education Program

At College of the Ozarks the General Education Program plays a vital role in the full restoration of students to what it truly means to be human beings created in the image of God. Students engage the Western liberal-arts and American traditions, develop a range of essential skills, and cultivate virtues of Christ-like character guided by faculty and staff who understand and order their lives in accordance with a Christian worldview. The General Education Program helps students integrate knowledge and skills from their academic courses with enriching co-curricular opportunities and the college’s unique work program to form students as whole persons who can faithfully pursue their vocations in family, community, country, and the global society. More specifically, the General Education Program seeks to fulfill the following objectives and learning outcomes.

The objectives of the General Education (GE) program are to

1. Help students understand, recognize the value of, and critically assess the Western liberal-arts and American traditions from a Christian worldview perspective.
2. Help students develop essential skills and abilities that mark a person as being well-educated and equip them to live out their vocations in family, church, country, and the global community.
3. Help students acquire a sound knowledge of the Christian faith.
4. Encourage students to demonstrate Christ-like character.

The outcomes of the General Education program are that students will

1. Understand, recognize the value of, and critically assess the Western liberal-arts and American traditions from a Christian worldview perspective.
   A. Identify key people, places, ideas, and institutions that have shaped the Western liberal-arts and American traditions.
   B. Identify math, natural science, and social scientific methods and practices that inform modern society.
   C. Explain key ideas and theories that have shaped the Western liberal-arts tradition.
   D. Apply math, natural science, and social scientific ideas and theories to concrete situations and questions.
   E. Evaluate from a Christian worldview perspective the ideas, methods, and ideologies that have shaped the Western liberal-arts and American traditions.
    
2. Demonstrate essential skills and abilities that mark a person as being well-educated and equip them to live out their vocations in family, church, country, and the global community.
   A. Critical thinking
   B. Creative thinking
   C. Quantitative thinking
   D. Written communication
   E. Oral communication
   F.  Information literacy
   G. Technological literacy
   H. Cultural awareness
    
3. Acquire a sound knowledge of the Christian faith.
   A. Identify key individuals and theological themes in the Biblical narrative.
   B. Summarize and explain a Christian worldview and how it relates to competing worldviews.
   C. Apply Christian theology to their own lives, behaviors, and chosen fields of study.
    
4. Demonstrate Christ-like character as exemplified by these virtues:
   A. Citizenship
   B. Courage
   C. Hope
   D. Humility
   E. Wisdom

General Education and Degree Distinction Requirements: 55-67 credit hours

Essential Skills: 10-18 credit hours

• IDS 100 - Character Camp
• IDS 101 - First Year Experience or IDS 10V  BASE Camp (3-6 credit hours)
• ENG 103 - College Composition
• ENG 253 - American Rhetoric
• SPC 103 - Public Speaking

Historical and Theological Foundations: 18 credit hours

• BTS 103 - Christian Worldview I
• BTS 4003 - Christian Worldview II
• ENG 163 - Readings in Western Civilization
• HTY 153 - Western Civilization I
• HTY 163 - Western Civilization II
• HTY 253 - The American Experience

The Created Order: 10-12 credit hours

Human Creativity and Flourishing: 6 credit hours

Patriotic Education and Fitness: 5 credit hours

• IDS 103 - Patriotic Education I
• IDS 401 - Patriotic Education II
• PED 121 - Swimming (Co-Ed) (The swimming requirement can be met by passing the swimming proficiency test or by successful completion of PED 121 . If swimming is met by proficiency then a student must take PED 101 .)
• PED 101 - Lifetime Wellness (Required if the swimming requirement is met by proficiency.)

Total General Education Program: 49-59 credit hours

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science Distinctions: 6-8 credit hours

In addition to the above requirements, candidates for the B.S. degree will select one course from two of the following areas (6-8 total hours): Agriculture (AGR 103  or AGR 213  or AGH 133  only), Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science (excludes CSC 113 , CSC 123  and CSC 253 ), Engineering (excludes ENR 1123  if used to satisfy the information management requirement), Physics, Science, Mathematics (excludes MAT 013 ). Physical Education K-12 majors may count PED 293 .  

B.A. degree candidates will select two courses in one foreign language (Greek, Hebrew, Latin, or Spanish, as available): 6 hours. SPA 113 , SPA 123 , or SPA 143  may count for only one of these two courses. Students completing one of these courses should then take SPA 153 . Students beginning with SPA 153  should then take SPA 203 ; those beginning with SPA 203  should then take SPA 213 .

Notes:

Minimum GPA for the General Education program, including the BA/BS Distinction, must be 2.0 for graduation.

Students who do not place into college-level Composition or Mathematics will be required to complete the appropriate developmental course,  ENG 013  or MAT 013 .  Students may not drop these courses.  Student will be allowed a maximum of two opportunities to pass these courses and demonstrate the required level of competency.

Transfer equivalency is not guaranteed for college composition courses. Students who desire to transfer in writing courses to meet composition requirements (ENG 103 College Composition and ENG 253 American Rhetoric) must take the College’s Composition Proficiency Exam to determine whether they receive credit for required composition classes or elective credit. This exam is offered regularly on campus.