GU101 Student Success
Assignment : "Degree Planning"
This week, we introduced the idea of general education - the core courses you will take before you jump into your program of study.
In this assignment, you will explore the Grantham University catalog to determine which general education courses you will be taking, along with the elective courses that round out your education. You will definitely need to read the online catalog in order to complete this assignment.
Review Section 7 in the catalog for the General Education program description, categories, and list of courses. Make sure you understand why we require students to complete the General Education slate of courses.
Then look for your degree program in Section 8 of the catalog. You will see each program listed by college (School of Business, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering and Computer Science, School of Nursing and Allied Health). After reading the description of the program and the student learning outcomes, you will see the tables that list the General Education courses, the Program Core, and the electives.
Once you have read these sections in the catalog, you are ready to start this assignment. Your job is to write a response to each of the following four prompts:
Prompt 1: General Education Requirements
A. To start this assignment, write a paragraph explaining the reason why we require students to complete the General Education courses (you may need to refer to section 7 of the catalog for this rationale).
B. Then using this template list and then describe the courses you will take to complete the General Education requirement for your program. In some programs, you have choices - in other programs, you do not have choices (they tell you which courses to take).
Prompt 2: Program Core Requirements
A. In a paragraph state your degree program and explain why you chose your program of study. In your answer explain how will this program of study will help you in your career advancement?
B. Next, in the same template as Prompt 1, list and describe the courses you are required to complete for the program. Be sure to point out which courses are prerequisites for more advanced courses. This is important because you must enroll in these courses in sequence - you have to pass the pre-requisite before you can attempt the higher course.
Prompt 3: Electives
Each program has a different number of electives that you can select to complete your degree.
Take note of special requirements, such as the fact that some electives have to be chosen from the program (versus those that can be chosen from any course listed in the catalog). Also note whether the elective must be a course numbered 300 or above.
A. In the same template as Prompts 1 and 2, include the courses you choose as electives
B. For each elective include a statement explaining why you are interested in the course in the table
Prompt 4: Sequencing of Courses, Credit Hours and Graduation Requirements
This is the truly important part of this assignment. Some courses have prerequisites, which means you have to take a designated lower-level course before you can take the advanced course.
A. In your template, make sure to designate all classes that have pre-requisites in your template.