The General Education Core Curriculum was established to serve the long-term educational needs of ULM students; it provides students with broad-based knowledge and transferrable skills applicable to all majors and careers, teaches students to understand and value learning, and encourages students to recognize their ability to affect change in their communities and a diverse world. To these ends, courses have been selected for inclusion in the Core Curriculum based on their development of competencies in at least three of five learning domains identified by the University:
- Quantitative literacy and scientific reasoning (applying mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills; supporting arguments with quantitative evidence; understanding and applying statistical information; understanding the scientific method, laboratory techniques, and experimental design)
- Communication (creating written, oral, and visual presentations of ideas to inform or persuade using text, data, and/or images as appropriate to audience and purpose)
- Critical thinking (recognizing ambiguity, exploring assumptions, and understanding context to create a reasoned, logical analysis)
- Independent and collaborative problem-solving (demonstrating personal effectiveness skills including managing time and resources, focusing through distractions, and contributing positively to team efforts where applicable)
- Civic and ethical awareness (considering multiple perspectives and beliefs; evaluating various consequences of actions; and understanding the individual’s role as a member of local, national, and global societies)
This strong educational foundation was adapted from and adheres to the Louisiana Board of Regents Statewide General Education Requirements, which stipulate that a minimum of 39 hours of credit in certain areas of English composition, mathematics, the natural sciences, the humanities, the fine arts, the social/behavioral sciences, and computer literacy must be earned by students pursuing a B.A. (Bachelor of Arts), B.S. (Bachelor of Science), or a Bachelor’s (non-designated) degree. (A complete list of the Louisiana Board of Regents Statewide General Education Requirements can be found here). ULM’s Core Curriculum ensures that undergraduate students will be intellectually well-equipped to complete their chosen programs of study, as well as to find a meaningful place in today’s integrated world.
ULM Common Core Curriculum
Foundation Courses
It is imperative that undergraduate students entering ULM are provided with a strong academic foundation upon which to build their future college careers. Ultimately, this structure, which follows many national trends, brings a much needed breadth and commonality to the ULM academic experience and makes it easier for students to transfer between majors.
Core Curriculum Guidelines
- The student’s work in a major or minor may count toward meeting the University Core.
- Transfer students can apply equivalent hours earned at other universities to meet ULM core requirements (equivalency to be determined by the appropriate department head and the Board of Regents’ Statewide Student Transfer Guide and General Education Articulation Matrix).
- All freshman students are required to take the University Seminar for one credit hour (the course will not count toward any degree program and will be nontransferable).
- In the absence of a compelling reason, degree programs should refrain from defining or limiting student choices within the menu of prescribed general education courses.
Core Curriculum Abbreviations Used in Degree Plans or Programs of Study
Some degree plans specified that certain courses must be taken from within a menu of the sets of courses in the core curriculum. For those that did so, first the specific course will be listed in the degree plan, followed by the appropriate abbreviation which indicates which requirement is being fulfilled by the specified required core curriculum course. For example, if MATH 1013 and MATH 1031 must be taken by Computer Science majors, then the requirement will be listed as “MATH 1013 cm, MATH 1031 cm”. The core curriculum abbreviations which have been used are as follows:
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ce |
Core English Composition |
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ch |
Core Humanities |
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cf |
Core Fine Arts |
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cm |
Core Mathematics |
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cnp |
Core Natural/Physical Science |
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cs |
Core Social Science |
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