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General University Requirements

All students must have a minimum of 40 credit hours of General University Requirements, which shall be filled by courses in the Foundations and Perspectives of Understanding as outlined below.

Foundations

Fundamental to every student’s success in college and beyond is competency in six areas that provide the foundation for lifelong learning and for personal and professional effectiveness. These areas are computer competence, critical thinking, information literacy, mathematical analysis, oral communication, and written communication. The University recognizes the importance of continuing development in these areas in the context of the student’s major. The target level of competency in these areas will be determined and assessed by the major in which the student is enrolled. Following is a brief explanation of the importance of each foundation area.

Computer Competence

Understanding how to use computer technology is necessary in virtually all professional and personal aspects of life. While computer usage is a ubiquitous requirement in university courses—for word processing, research, communication, and much more—it is critical for students to have the ability to use tools appropriate to their primary discipline for the purposes of computation, data collection, and/or data analysis.

Critical Thinking

The ability to reason logically and to evaluate and analyze arguments or problems is important in reaching sound decisions. The educated person should be able to solve problems, reach conclusions based on a thorough analysis of the evidence, and defend such conclusions in a clear and convincing manner.

While critical thinking is an element in virtually every course, each student must take one course in which critical thinking is a major focus.

Information Literacy

The ability to access and evaluate information on the internet, in existing databases, in the press, and in academic journals and books is an essential tool in today’s world. Students should have the ability to identify, access, evaluate, and ethically and legally use relevant resources for their research. To develop skills in information literacy, instruction will be provided as part of each student’s first year curriculum and standard coursework.

Mathematical Analysis

Daily life, many professional and intellectual pursuits, and success in college require an understanding and appreciation of mathematical reasoning and problem solving. The ability to establish connections between real world phenomena and mathematical ideas, to employ logical mathematical reasoning, to properly use mathematical equations, and to analyze quantitative data allows us to grasp complex issues, solve problems, and better meet the needs of our technological society.

Each student must take two foundational mathematics courses. A minimum grade of C- is required in at least one of these mathematics courses for graduation.

See College of Engineering for a discipline-specific Mathematical Analysis requirement. 

Oral Communication

Being able to communicate well verbally is also essential for success in the modern world. The ability to deliver effective oral presentations includes a logical organizational structure as well as sufficient factual support for one’s key points. Additionally, having a clear and engaging presentation style helps with effective public speaking.

To develop skills in oral communication, instruction will be provided as part of each student’s first-year curriculum or standard coursework.

Written Communication

Effective writing is important in virtually all human activities, from informal exchanges with friends and family to more formal intellectual pursuits and the professional responsibilities of the workplace. The ability to express ideas in writing, using appropriate sentence structure, grammar, and mechanics, as well as a detectable thesis and logical support for the thesis, allows us to communicate effectively with others.

To develop skills in written communication, each student must take two foundational English composition courses. Because writing and reading are closely related and because all students should have some college experience of literature, these courses also feature the analytic reading of literary texts in a cultural context. Each student must complete both of these writing courses with grades of C- or better.

Perspectives of Understanding

Western New England University is committed to developing in its students an appreciation of multiple perspectives of understanding. Perspectives are the systematic ways various academic disciplines view and interpret the world around us. Each perspective enhances the students’ understanding of the complexity of the environment in which we live and of the richness of human experience. Ultimately, these perspectives have the potential to expose us to a breadth of disciplines, deepen our judgments, and inform our responses to the opportunities and challenges of life and work in the 21st century. They can help us to lead more responsible and fulfilling lives as individuals, family members, and citizens of democracy.

Perspectives courses generally emphasize three components: first is the factual foundation of the discipline, second is the approach or method of analysis in the discipline, and third is the contribution of the discipline to a greater knowledge of contemporary issues. Perspectives of Understanding included in the General University Requirements are Aesthetics, Ethics, Global Cultures, History, Natural Science, and Social/Behavioral Science.

Students must complete a minimum of six perspectives courses that collectively achieve the following requirements:

  • All perspectives are covered

  • Two natural science courses, each with laboratories, or

  • Two sequential courses in natural science, the first of which must have a laboratory.

Note: Comparative courses that combine two perspectives, such as Global Cultures and Aesthetics, will satisfy the requirement in both areas. However, students must still take a minimum of four perspectives courses in addition to the two natural science courses.

Aesthetic Perspective (ART,FILM,MUS and THTR)

The aesthetic perspective regards objects in terms of the qualities that make them attractive in and of themselves. Whatever the objects, they are valued not for any utilitarian purpose, but for their inherent richness, their sensual and emotive effect, their form, line, color, sound, texture, feeling, and meaning. Through this perspective, students learn to articulate the economic, political, cultural, historical, professional, scientific, and/or social context for an art form, artwork, or performance.

Courses that satisfy this perspective may be a performance or studio art class or they may be a history or appreciation course.

Ethical Perspective (Any PH excluding PH 110 or PH 204)

The goal of the ethical perspective is to help students form rationally-defensible ethical views to guide their behavior in all aspects of their lives. This requires heightening their sensitivity to ethical issues and providing them with a variety of tools for ethical problem-solving. It involves giving students experience in critical analysis of real-life ethical issues, coupled with a critical examination of the most influential techniques of moral decision-making and moral argument.

Global Cultures Perspective (CUL)

The global cultures perspective gives students an awareness of the multicultural nature of contemporary society, as it is constituted by individuals from different backgrounds, cultures, and/or nations. Students learn about the significance of essential terminology, concepts, events, and/or people important to another culture. This perspective increases students' understanding of the values, attitudes, and beliefs of a distinct culture, as well as the conflicts, differences, and/or changes that have occurred within that culture.

Historical Perspective (HIST)

Through historical inquiry, this perspective enriches insight into the political, social, economic, and cultural forces that have shaped the modern world, providing the context for future events. Students learn to identify and analyze key historical terms, people, places, events, ideas, and concepts. They also learn to analyze primary and secondary sources and historical patterns or changes. This perspective helps students use evidence to assess a historical argument or a historical relationship to a contemporary or universal issue.

Natural Science Perspective (NSP)

The science perspective cultivates familiarity with the vast realm of accumulated knowledge about the structure and functioning of the physical and biological world. Students should learn part of the factual foundation, including vocabulary, of at least one major area of science and should observe and practice the disciplined logic that scientists employ to discover and evaluate new knowledge.

Social/Behavioral Science Perspective (SBP)

The behavioral science perspective uses scientific methods to study the forces and processes that influence the behavior of individuals, groups, governments, and economies.

First Year Seminar

First year seminars orient students to the scholarly community and assist them in their transition to the academic demands of college. Each College will develop courses to meet the needs of its students.

Exemptions to this requirement may be based on the following circumstances:

  • Transfer credit of 27 or more semester hours from a two- or four-year college derived from a full-time course of study. Exemption may be further considered on an individual case basis, provided that a minimum of 21 credit hours are transferred through full-time study.

  • Transfer credits cannot be from CLEP, AP, IB, or high school to college sources.

  • Non-traditional adult learners are exempt from the requirement and the equivalent credit.

In all cases of exemption, substitute credit must be applied, i.e., credits toward the degree are not exempt, simply the course.