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General Education Requirements and Guide

"A truly liberal education is one that prepares us to live responsible, productive, and creative lives in a dramatically changing world. It is an education that fosters a well-grounded intellectual resilience, a disposition toward lifelong learning, and an acceptance of responsibility for the ethical consequences of our ideas and actions. Liberal Education requires that we understand the foundations of knowledge and inquiry about nature, culture, and society; that we master core skills of perception, analysis, and expression; that we cultivate a respect for truth; that we recognize the importance of historical and cultural context; and that we explore connections among formal learning, citizenship, and service to our communities."

 

from the Association of American
Colleges & Universities,
“Statement on Liberal Learning”

Bellevue Community College subscribes to the educational purposes and values articulated in the AAC&U’s “Statement on Liberal Learning” and is committed to providing students a comprehensive learning experience which addresses critical dimensions of student personal, professional, and intellectual growth. Accordingly, the college has developed a general education program that incorporates the essential elements of liberal learning.

BCC’s General Education program is designed to address areas and specific requirements which ensure that students’ learning experiences prepare them to build fulfilling and successful lives as individuals, workers, citizens, and life-long learners. To ensure ease of student transfer, BCC has carefully formulated its General Education requirements to correspond with lower division and general requirements at other community colleges and at typical baccalaureate institutions.

In addition to completing the distribution requirements for specific degrees, BCC students must take courses that address the five categories of general education. Opportunities to develop these skills are incorporated throughout the college curriculum, with different courses supporting different general education goals.

Students in professional/technical Associate of Arts degree programs will fulfill the college’s general education requirements by completing the courses required for the particular program. Other degrees offered at BCC are designed to provide appropriate levels of student preparation and learning in the general education categories identified in the chart below.

Students meet General Education Requirements by taking ONE course rated 3 or TWO courses rated 2.

General Education Competency Requirements for Degrees at Bellevue Community College

* A requirement is met in an outcome area by taking one course rated 3 or two courses rated 2 in that area. See Course Catalog for ratings.

** General Education requirements for Health Sciences AA degrees and certificates will be completed for 2008 implementation.

*** The first “responsibility” outcome area will be a requirement for the AAS-DTA and AB-DTA in 2008 and the second in 2009.

Description of General Education Competencies Description of Degree Requirements
Outcome Cluster Outcome Area* For all DTA/MRP Degrees AAS-T and AA AS - Tracks I, II

AAGS

Effective Date   Winter 2005 Fall 2005 ** Fall 2005 Summer 206

(A) Reasoning

One from each area (3)

One from each area (3)

Critical Thinking & Quantitative/Logical (2)

Critical Thinking & Quantitative/Logical (2)

(B) Communication

Writing plus Any Two Areas (3)

Writing plus Any Two Areas (3)

Writing only (1)

Any One Area (1)

(C) Responsibility

Any Two Areas (2) ***

Any one area (1)

None

None

(D) Cultural Traditions

Cultural Diversity plus Any One Area (2)

Cultural Diversity plus Any One Area (2)

Cultural Diversity only (1)

Cultural Diversity only (1)

(E) Science & Environment

Any two Areas (2)

Any One Area (1)

Nature of Science and Science and the Natural World (2)

Any One Area (1)

Competency Total

18

12

10

6

5

View the classes that meet each outcome area

Reasoning

  1. Critical Thinking, Creativity, Problem Solving
  2. Quantitative / Logical
  3. Research / Information Literacy

Communication

  1. Reading
  2. Writing
  3. Listening and Speaking
  4. Visual
  5. Computer Literacy

Responsibility

  1. Self Assessment / Life Goals
  2. Group Processes
  3. Ethics
  4. Lifelong Learning

Cultural Traditions

  1. Historical and Intellectual Perspectives
  2. Aesthetic Awareness
  3. Cultural Diversity

Science and Environment

  1. Nature of Science
  2. Science and the Natural World
  3. Technology