General Education Program

General Information:

General Education Requirements:

Optional General Education Character Curriculum:

The College also offers students the option of meeting certain General Education requirements by taking courses in its Character Curriculum. For example, students may elect to substitute ENW 133CC Classical Ideals of Character  for the Literature requirement (see below the three courses for which such substitutions are possible).

The Character Curriculum of College of the Ozarks is founded on the supposition that moral truths can be known and practiced. The virtues that define character—temperance, justice, prudence, and courage—do not change with time; they are among what Faulkner has called the “eternal verities,” moral truths that have been engraved on the heart, the conscience, and the soul. Indeed, the definition of character in the original Greek is “an engraved mark.” Genuine character, therefore, is an interior disposition to do what is right. The ultimate example of character, of course, is found in Jesus Christ; as both God and man, Jesus is the pattern for all Christians to follow. Only in Christ are we able to possess the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love. Consequently, faith is our best tool in knowing and practicing those eternal truths that define character.

Faith, however, has a mighty ally in reason. The greatest thinkers in history have all been concerned in one way or another with the question of character. What is true? Good? Just? What political order is best suited to the development of a good citizen? How do we know what is virtuous? Is there a natural law true for all people in all times, or is law simply a matter of convention? Honest reasoning guided and hedged by Scripture gives us reliable answers. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, and other philosophers and theologians have contributed to our store of knowledge, and all are trustworthy guides in discerning how we should live.

Faith, too, has an ally in the imagination: literature rightly understood reveals the role that character plays in human experience. When Nathan the prophet reveals to King David his sinfulness, he does not offer him a syllogism; rather he tells David a story. Great authors from Homer to Dante to Shakespeare present us with imaginative visions of the human condition, sweeping backgrounds against which we can see the significance of human decisions and the consequences of character. Great literature reveals to us who and what we are. Taken together, faith, reason, and imagination enable the student to know what character is, not merely as a set of precepts or rules, but as an inclination of the heart to nobility, integrity, and love.

Students who successfully complete four of the six character classes will receive a notation on their transcripts recognizing their participation in the program. Also, students who participate in the CALL—College of the Ozarks Academy for Lifestyle Leadership—will be required to take at least one course from the Character Curriculum.

The Keeter Center for Character Education:

Founded in 1997, The Keeter Center for Character Education at College of the Ozarks was created to provide programs and activities to enhance the development of character and good citizenship. In so doing, the Center reflects the principle upon which the College was established: that character in young people is best developed from an education of the head, the heart, and the hands.

The Center serves as the programmatic arm of The Keeter Center facility on campus. Both students and community members benefit from the wide variety of programs. The Gittinger Community Convocation Series has brought noted speakers to campus including Margaret Thatcher, Colin Powell, Franklin Graham, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Sarah Palin.

The Center hosts a forum each spring with a theme that rotates among the topics of character, citizenship, and the work ethic. In addition to a group of the College’s students and those of visiting colleges and universities, cadets and staff from each of the U.S. Military Academies benefit from small group discussions and a question and answer session with each distinguished speaker. Spring forum speakers have included Tommy Franks, Ken Starr, Bob Dole, J. C. Watts, Newt Gingrich, and George W. Bush.

The Center developed and oversees a character education initiative called First PLACE! (Partners Linking Arms for Character Education). First PLACE! is a partnership among the homes, school, and communities of Stone and Taney Counties and focuses on intentionally teaching and modeling good character. Over 500 First PLACE! partners support the initiative which is present in every school building in both counties and is being used as a model around the state of Missouri.

The S. Truett Cathy Poverty Summit provides an opportunity for the College and the greater community to learn about the issue of poverty and gain valuable tools for helping people in poverty learn how to transition effectively into the middle class.

In 2009, College of the Ozarks began the Patriotic Education Travel Program, designed to provide once-in-a-lifetime experiences for students and World War II veterans. The program pairs College of the Ozarks students with WWII veterans, taking them back to the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific where they fought. The effort is designed to reinforce the patriotic mission of the College by honoring the veterans and educating the younger generation about the sacrifices of American soldiers so that their stories will never be forgotten. 

Other programs include School of the Ozarks Laboratory School, Character Curriculum, Focus on the Family Exchange, the College of the Ozarks Academy of Lifestyle Leadership, the Joan Kalimanis Citizens Abroad Program, Character Camp, the Bonner Community Service Program, and Camp Lookout.