The Middle States Commission on Higher Education's Standards for Accreditation detail the following General Education criteria ("Criteria 5") as part of "Standard III - Design and Delivery of the Student Learning Experience":
An accredited institution possesses and demonstrates the following attributes or activities:
5. at institutions that offer undergraduate education, a general education program, free standing or integrated into academic disciplines, that:
a. offers a sufficient scope to draw students into new areas of intellectual experience, expanding their cultural and global awareness and cultural sensitivity, and preparing them to make well-reasoned judgments outside as well as within their academic field;
b. offers a curriculum designed so that students acquire and demonstrate essential skills including at least oral and written communication, scientific and quantitative reasoning, critical analysis and reasoning, technological competency, and information literacy. Consistent with mission, the general education program also includes the study of values, ethics, and diverse perspectives; and
c. in non-US institutions that do not include general education, provides evidence that students can demonstrate general education skills
Geneseo's campus-based General Education Areas correspond to following system General Education Outcomes and Middle States criteria.
Geneseo General Education Area | SUNY General Education Outcomes | MSCHE Criteria |
|---|---|---|
Critical Writing/Reading | Basic Communication (written) | oral and written communication |
Critical Thinking | critical analysis and reasoning | |
Mathematics | Mathematics | scientific and quantitative reasoning |
Natural Science | Natural Science | scientific and quantitative reasoning |
Social Science | Social Science | scientific and quantitative reasoning the study of (...) diverse perspectives |
Fine Arts | The Arts | |
Western Humanities | The Humanities | the study of values, ethics, and diverse perspectives, critical analysis and reasoning |
Western Civilization | ||
U.S. Histories | U.S. History | |
Non-Western Traditions | Other World Civilizations | the study of (...) diverse perspectives |
Foreign Language | Foreign Language | the study of (...) diverse perspectives |
Oral Discourse | Basic Communication (oral) | oral and written communication |
Basic Research | Information Management Outcomes 2 and 3 | information literacy |
Information Management | Information Management Outcome 1 | technical competence, information literacy |