In an effort to make the new MCC General Education requirements easier for students and advisors to navigate, we have added/updated new college catalog webpages. See:
http://www.monroecc.edu/etsdbs/MCCatPub.nsf/mcc+gen+ed?OpenView
Purpose: The MCC General Education Requirement (MCC-GER) ensures that all students, regardless of their chosen degree program, acquire the knowledge, skills and competencies that help students succeed in whatever educational or career path they choose to follow after graduation.
Background: Beginning fall 2018, most MCC degrees will include a new general education program that requires all students complete courses that provide students with knowledge, skills, and competencies. This new general education model was the result of several years of inquiry by MCC’s faculty regarding best practices in the delivery of effective learning in general education. It is expected by fall 2019, all MCC degrees will be based upon this new general education design.
Program: Students completing any program based upon the new outcomes-based general education design must successfully complete courses that satisfy the twelve general education learning outcomes (GELOs). Most courses that qualify for one GELO will likely qualify for others, so that students can complete more than one general education learning outcome per course. These requirements are included in the Distribution Requirements of each program in the catalog. By design, students who meet all of the listed program requirements for a degree will satisfy the MCC-GER.
MCC General Education FAQs
Why is general education important? Let’s be practical. Students want to graduate and begin working in their chosen fields as quickly as possible. Isn’t this just slowing them down?
MCC’s general education requirements ensure that students have the skills, competencies and knowledge that they need to be successful in their chosen field. Certain skills, like writing, communicating with others, and thinking critically, are important in every field. Sharpening these skills helps students succeed in all their courses, including the ones that are more obviously connected to their future careers.
General education also requires that students gain knowledge in a variety of areas. At first, a student in Air Conditioning Technology or Computer Information Systems may not see the value of engaging in material related to global understanding, viewing issues from multiple perspectives, or gaining an awareness of various forms of cultural expression (as they would in a course designated as meeting the MCC GLO or MCC AH outcomes). However, this material will help them as they interact with people of different backgrounds and examine issues from multiple perspective in their day to day work after they graduate. A student in Creative Writing or Fine Arts may not understand the relevance of scientific reasoning or quantitative literacy, but these general education requirements will serve them by giving them a broader understanding of the world they will be attempting to represent.
MCC general education is designed to serve students in a world where career fields overlap and evolve and people employed in those fields must be able to adapt to continual change. This means that a broad knowledge of the world is essential. According to the US Department of Labor, the average worker changes jobs more than ten times. Even if a person works in the same field for an entire career, that field will alter, and MCC wants to help prepare students for that actuality. Finally, general education is meant to support students not just as members of the future work force but as human beings. It will give students access to knowledge and skills that MCC believes every college graduate should have.
What is the difference between MCC general education and SUNY general education?
MCC general education and SUNY general education are two interconnected general education programs that support our degrees.
MCC general education includes 12 General Education Learning Outcomes; all graduates must show college-level proficiency in these outcomes as part of their degree completion.
SUNY general education includes 10 Knowledge and Skills areas; graduates of AA and AS programs must complete at least 30 credit hours of SUNY general education, and show college-level proficiency in at least 7 of 10 of these areas.
All of the SUNY Knowledge and Skills areas map to at least one (if not three or even four) of the MCC general education outcomes. For example, a student who takes ENG 101, a course which fulfills the SUNY requirement for Basic Communication, also fulfills the MCC requirements for Basic Communication: Writing, Information Literacy, and Basic Communication: Oral Communication. That is three outcomes for one.
Why do students have to meet MCC general education requirements? Aren’t the SUNY requirements enough?
MCC’s general education program includes outcomes that SUNY’s does not. Knowledge and skills related to the MCC general education outcomes for Technological Literacy, Values and Ethics, and Health and Wellness, for example, are not included in the SUNY requirements. These outcomes reflect MCC’s values and are an important addition to the general education program. They also reflect requirements and recommendations from Middle States, the agency that is responsible for accrediting our College.
How will students be able to ensure that they meet the requirements for each general education plan?
All two-year degrees include coverage of MCC’s 12 general education learning outcomes. These learning outcomes substitute for MCC’s old 5 Categories Plus 2 PE credits model. If students follow the four semester sequence or pathway that aligns with that sequence, then they will fulfill this requirement through normal course selection.
Transfer degrees (AA and AS) also satisfy SUNY General Education, just as they have done since 1999. Mathematics and Basic Communication are required Knowledge and Skills areas for all transfer degrees. SUNY general education and MCC general education are fully compatible; every SUNY general education course automatically covers at least one of MCC’s general education learning outcomes, with some covering up to four.
Students will meet some of MCC’s general education learning outcomes by taking specific courses in their program or major. For example, a student in Nursing will fulfill the MCC VE (Values and Ethics) requirement by taking a specific Nursing course, NUR 210: Issues in Nursing. Other skills and competencies may be gained by selecting one of a number of different courses designated as fulfilling the required outcome. For example, that same student in Nursing is able to choose any MCC course designated as MCC AH (Arts and Humanities) in order to fulfill the MCC AH requirement. As long as students are registered in a program and follow program requirements, they will automatically fulfill the SUNY and the MCC general education requirements.
How can an advisor or student find a course when the program requires students to choose an elective that fulfills an MCC general education outcome, to take an “MCC VE” or “MCC HW”?
There are several ways to do this. In Degree Works, students who may choose any course that fulfills the Health and Wellness outcome, for example, are directed to take “One course with attribute MHW.” Students or advisors may click on the blue hyperlinked MHW in the direction and a pop up box of courses meeting that outcome will appear.
The Curriculum Office also has a list of courses that fulfill each outcome. It is currently posted on the Mdrive and will be circulated for use by students and advisors.
Finally, individual programs will also suggest a list of electives that they recommend. This information will be listed in the Program Requirements in the Catalog online.
Will you be able to search on the Master Schedule for courses that have certain MCC general education attributes? Yes, this will be forthcoming.
Will there be MCC general education attribute codes in the catalog? Yes, this will be forthcoming.
With the SUNY general education program, “double dipping” is not allowed. You cannot use one course to fulfill more than one requirement. Why is this different with MCC general education?
MCC’s general education program is outcomes based rather than a course based. An outcomes based program acknowledges that dividing learning into different “subjects” is arbitrary and not realistic in terms of what and how students learn. As an illustration of this, it is easy to imagine that students will sharpen their information literacy and writing skills in a history class and that they will learn something about history and global perspectives in an English class. The new MCC general education program reflects this. The program is also pragmatic, enabling students to complete their degree, including the general education program, in fewer credits and in less time.
How does MCC’s new general education program affect readmitted students?
Students who have been readmitted, even after only one semester off, must follow the program requirements established for the semester in which they are readmitted. In order to graduate, students must have met all twelve MCC general education outcomes. The good news is that Financial Aid will cover the courses that readmitted students need to fulfill the outcomes because they are a graduation requirement.
Do students have to take MCC courses in order to fulfill their MCC general education requirements?
Yes and no. Many of the MCC general education outcomes are mapped to SUNY general education outcomes. A student who wanted to transfer credits for a SUNY course that was categorized as SUNY OWC (Other World Civilization) would receive credit for MCC-SSD (Social Sciences and Diversity) and MCC-GLO (Global Understanding) because these outcomes automatically attach to all SUNY OWC courses. If, however, the student wanted to transfer credits for SOC 101 as a SUNY Social Science, for example, they would get credit for MCC SSD (Social Science and Diversity), MCC SCI (Scientific Reasoning) and MCC CT (Critical Thinking) because those outcomes map automatically to all SUNY Social Sciences, but not for MCC GLO because that is an outcome unique to SOC 101 at MCC.
MCC’s General Education Learning Outcomes (GELOs):
KNOWLEDGE AREAS
- (AH) Arts & Humanities Discuss various aspects of cultural expression.
- (GLO) Global Understanding Examine global issues from various perspectives.
- (HW) Health and Wellness Apply physical fitness principles and practices to a personal wellness plan.
- (QL) Quantitative Literacy Apply quantitative analysis to solve discipline-based problems, analyze patterns and trends, or evaluate data.
- (SCI) Scientific Reasoning Apply discipline-specific scientific reasoning to argument or analysis.
- (SSD) Social Science and Diversity Analyze domestic political, economic, or social issues from various points of view.
SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES
- (BCO) Speaking Engage in effective oral communication in a discipline-based context.
- (BCW) Writing Write effectively in a discipline-based context.
- (CT) Critical Thinking Engage in discipline-based inquiry or problem-solving.
- (IL) Information Literacy Apply research techniques to locate and utilize valid sources of information.
- (TL) Technological Literacy Use technology in discipline-specific ways to further educational or occupational goals.
- (VE) Values and Ethics Express the application of personal, educational, or professional values to ethics-based decision-making
