{"id":286,"date":"2018-10-25T20:44:38","date_gmt":"2018-10-25T20:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-educationalplanning\/?post_type=chapter&p=286"},"modified":"2020-11-27T15:45:56","modified_gmt":"2020-11-27T15:45:56","slug":"escs-academic-expectations-undergraduate-area-of-study-guidelines","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-esc-educationalplanning\/chapter\/escs-academic-expectations-undergraduate-area-of-study-guidelines\/","title":{"raw":"ESC's Academic Expectations - Guidelines & College Learning Goals","rendered":"ESC’s Academic Expectations – Guidelines & College Learning Goals"},"content":{"raw":"

Guidelines<\/h2>\r\nEmpire State College Area of Study Guidelines\u00a0explain the types of learning expected for broad areas of study and specific concentrations within those areas.\u00a0 They help you decide what to include in your degree.\r\n\r\nAll students at Empire State College need to address the Area of Study Guidelines for their particular type of degree through 1) their choice and pattern of courses in their degree plan and<\/i> 2) their rationale essay. Address<\/b> and guidelines<\/b> are the two important concepts to understand here.\r\n\r\nGuidelines<\/b> are suggestions made by knowledgeable professionals about appropriate contents for certain types of degrees. They are not requirements in the sense of \"you must take a course in ___.\" For example, professionals in the field know that all business students (and, in fact, most college students in all areas of study) need to show competence in using the computer. A requirement would state \"you must choose from these 5 computer courses.\" A guideline, instead, says that \"the student should show knowledge of computers.\" You can address<\/b> this guideline in a number of ways: by taking a course, by pursuing credit by evaluation for your learning in the field, or by discussing in your rationale essay how you use computers at work and how these skills apply to study in your field. Guidelines are intentionally broad; you do\u00a0not<\/em> need a direct, one-to-one correspondence between each guideline statement\u00a0and\u00a0each course in your degree.\r\n\r\nRealize that some areas of study have fuller, more specific guidelines than others. For example, accounting, business administration, psychology, and information systems concentrations have quite full and specific guidelines that need to be addressed. Academic expectations for these concentrations don't vary much from college to college in the U.S. Professional expectations also coincide with academic expectations\u2014so there's a relatively standard body of knowledge expected for U.S. degrees with these concentration titles, and relatively little ambiguity in designing these concentrations.\r\n\r\nOn the other hand, some areas of study have very general guidelines, because concentrations in these areas can be designed in many different ways. For example, community and human services guidelines\u00a0state that degrees should address broad areas (e.g., \"knowledge of human behavior,\" \"diversity\"). Degrees can address these areas in many different ways, given the student's \"specific interests and goals, the student\u2019s prior learning and experience, the organizing framework, and the general expectations of recognized helping professions.\"\r\n\r\nBecause, in many cases, there are different ways to deal with guidelines, your rationale essay will need to explain how<\/b> you've dealt with guidelines and why<\/b> you've dealt with them in certain ways, especially in an area of study with more general guidelines, one that allows for more individualization. You can also address guidelines by the way in which you place and group courses on your degree plan.\r\n\r\nUse the guidelines when you write your rationale essay to\u00a0explain\u00a0how\u00a0you've gained, or intend to gain, the\u00a0knowledge they identify.\r\n