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General Education Requirements

General Education Program

What is General Education? . . .

MSU’s General Education program consists of a collection of courses that all undergraduate students are required to take – in addition to coursework in their major. There are two parts of our program, known as GenEd 2002: Core requirements and Distribution requirements.

The Core courses – New Student Seminar, Scientific Issues, and National and Global Issues – are a special feature of GenEd 2002 that give students a common academic experience and provide an interdisciplinary perspective.

The Distribution requirements cover several areas of study – writing and speech; the arts and humanities; math, science, and computer science; physical education; and the social sciences.

. . . and why am I required to take it?

General Education is the core of the educational experience at Montclair State University.

It gives you a common academic experience that you share with your fellow students.

It provides you with a firm foundation of knowledge and “cultural literacy” in both traditional and contemporary fields of study.

It prepares you for the working world where employers repeatedly report that what they value most highly in new employees are: a) excellent communications skills, b) exceptional analytic skills, and c) the ability to understand and think critically about complex issues.

In response to the challenges we know students will face both academically at the university and professionally when they enter the workforce, MSU faculty reviewed and revised our general education program in the late 1990s. Faculty then designed GenEd 2002 as a program that would provide students with . . .

  • Writing, writing, and more writing skills
  • A solid base of knowledge
  • Critical thinking skills
  • Problem solving skills
  • The ability to retrieve and evaluate information
  • An understanding of our democratic processes
  • Multicultural and transnational awareness
  • Awareness of issues related to diversity
  • An understanding of world and national issues
  • Ethical decision-making skills

Before any course can be included in the GenEd 2002 program, it has to go through a thorough review by a faculty committee in order to ensure that it will provide students with these ten basic skills and abilities. Some courses provide certain of these skills more than others: College Writing may emphasize writing skills more than it will ethical decision-making, for example. But as a body of courses, the General Education program prepares you for more in-depth study in your major while also preparing you for a career.

What are MSU’s General Education Requirements?

At Montclair State, we require that students complete General Education coursework in ten main areas of study: writing and speech; the arts, world languages, and humanities; math, science, and computer science; physical education; and the social sciences.

What are the “Core Courses” in GenEd 2002?

The GenEd 2002 Core consists of the New Student Seminar and two required interdisciplinary courses. Taken together, these courses form the heart of the Montclair Experience.

New Student Seminar (category A)

The New Student Seminar (GNED 199 or its equivalent in your major) is designed to enable you to achieve academic success and to adjust successfully to the challenges of college life. This one-hour course must be taken in your first semester.

Interdisciplinary Core courses

The Interdisciplinary Core courses focus on some of the most significant issues of our time, in two categories: Scientific Issues and National and Global Issues. These courses will raise your awareness about what it means to be a responsible citizen of your community, the U.S., and the world. You must take a Scientific Issues course and you must choose between National Issues or Global Issues. You should begin taking these courses in your sophomore year.

Scientific Issues (category B1)

These courses are designed to emphasize contemporary issues involving the application of the natural and/or physical sciences. Students completing one of these courses will achieve an expanded understanding of the application of scientific knowledge and methodology to address issues, problems, and decisions facing contemporary society.

National and Global Issues (Category B2)

National and Global Issues courses examine an important contemporary issue in the U.S. and throughout the globe, such as class, ethnicity, gender, immigration and migration, justice, artistic expression, environmental sustainability, political development and economic change, public health, or world poverty. Faculty from two different disciplines will team-teach these courses.

Please explain the Interdisciplinary Core requirement -- GNED 201, GNED 202, and GNED 303.

The GenEd Interdisciplinary Core requirement may differ based on how and when you entered MSU. Click on the link that applies to you below to learn more.

I entered MSU as a Freshman
. . . before Fall 2002
. . . between Fall 2002 & Spring 2006
. . . in Fall 2006 or later

 

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer Student
. . . before Fall 2006
. . . in Fall 2006 or later [no degree]
. . . in Fall 2006 or later [A.A. or A.S. degree]
(from a New Jersey county/community college)
. . . in Fall 2006 or later [A.A. or A.S. degree]
(from a community college outside New Jersey)
. . . in Fall 2006 or later [A.A.S. degree]

Please remember to consult your record of academic progress online -- your "academic audit"on WESS -- to determine whether you have these or other requirements to fulfill.

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer student before Fall 2006.

You are required to fulfill the 1983 GER program. Changes to the team-taught Interdisciplinary Issues Core course requirement in GenEd 2002 do not apply to you. Do not take any of these courses: GNED 201, GNED 202, GNED 303; or these new student seminar courses: GNED 100, GNED 199 (or equivalents of GNED 199, unless required by your major).

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer student in Fall 2006 or later with no associates degree.

You are required to fulfill the GenEd 2002 program, including the Scientific Issues requirement [GNED 201 or another course on the new B1 list]. You are also required to fulfill all GenEd distribution area requirements not covered by transfer credit evaluation.

Do not take any of these courses: GNED 202, GNED 303; or these new student seminar courses: GNED 100, GNED 199 (or equivalents of GNED 199, unless required by your major).

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer student in Fall 2006 or later with an A.A. or A.S. degree from a New Jersey county/community college.

You are not required to take any General Education courses at MSU, except where required by your major (e.g., collateral requirements).

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer student in Fall 2006 or later with an A.A. or A.S. degree from a county/community college outside of New Jersey.

Your transfer credits will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis.

 

 

I entered MSU as a Transfer student in 2006-07 or after with an A.A.S. degree from a New Jersey county/community college.

Your transfer credits will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis.

 

 

I entered MSU as a Freshman before Fall 2002.

You are required to fulfill the 1983 GER program. Changes to the team-taught Interdisciplinary Issues Core course requirement in GenEd 2002 do not apply to you. Do not take any of these courses: GNED 201, GNED 202, GNED 303; or these new student seminar courses: GNED 100, GNED 199 (or equivalents of GNED 199, unless required by your major).

 

 

I entered MSU as a Freshman between Fall 2002 and Spring 2006.

You are required to fulfill all GenEd 2002 distribution requirements and must use the "replacement course" system for Interdisciplinary Core courses [GNED 201, GNED 202, and GNED 303]. This means that you must complete nine credits of the Interdisciplinary Core requirement. To do this you must take one team-taught Core course, and you must "replace" each of the other two team-taught Core courses by taking a course from a specific category in the General Education distribution requirement. This is in addition to the courses you have taken to satisfy the GenEd distribution areas [categories B1, H, I, K2, and K3]. Use the replacement courses listed below:

To replace GNED 201 -->
(Scientific Issues Core) 		Take an additional course from the GenEd 2002
Math or Natural/ Physical Sciences list [H or I]
or take any course from the new B1 list
To replace GNED 202 -->
(National Issues Core) 		Take an additional course from the GenEd 2002
Social Science/Social Sciences list [K3]
To replace GNED 303 -->
(Global Issues Core) 		Take an additional course from the GenEd 2002
Social Science/NonWestern Perspectives list [K2]

You are currently viewing the link for students who entered MSU as a Freshman between Fall 2002 and Spring 2006.

 

 

To replace GNED 201, take an additional course in one of these GenEd categories:

This GNED 201 replacement option applies only to students entering MSU as Freshmen [non-Transfer] in 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06.

SCIENTIFIC ISSUES [new B1 category]
You can find the courses available in this category here under the heading Scientific Issues under INTERDISCIPLINARY CORE (GenEd2002).

MATHEMATICS [H category]
You can find the courses available in this category here under the heading MATHEMATICS (GenEd2002).

NATURAL/PHYSICAL SCIENCE LABORATORY [I category]
You can find the courses available in this category here under the heading NATURAL/PHYSICAL SCI LAB (GenEd2002).

You are currently viewing the link for students who entered MSU as a Freshman between Fall 2002 and Spring 2006.

 

 

To replace GNED 202, take an additional course in this GenEd category:

This GNED 202 replacement option applies only to students entering MSU as Freshmen (non-Transfer) in 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06.

K3 – Social Science/Social Science
You can find the courses available in this category here under the heading SOCIAL SCIENCE (GenEd2002) under SOCIAL SCIENCE (GenEd2002).

You are currently viewing the link for students who entered MSU as a Freshman between Fall 2002 and Spring 2006.

To replace GNED 303, take an additional course in this GenEd category:

 


[Study Abroad can also fulfill GNED 303.]

This GNED 303 replacement options applies only to students entering MSU as Freshmen (non-Transfer) in 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06.

K2 – Social Science/Non-Western Cultural Perspectives
You can find the courses available in this category here under the heading NON-WESTERN CULTURES (GenEd2002) under SOCIAL SCIENCE (GenEd2002).

 

 

I entered MSU as a Freshman in Fall 2006 or later.

Your GenEd requirements are detailed here. (After the jump, follow the link to your particular degree.)