General Education

Salisbury University’s General Education program is a group of diverse courses and requirements that all students must fulfill before graduation to ensure they have received a well-rounded education. It promotes intellectual development and the search for truth, cultivates an appreciation for learning, and provides opportunities for students to construct a coherent framework for lifelong learning in a diverse and ever-changing world.

Program Principles

The General Education Program advances the University’s Mission to empower our students with the knowledge, skills and core values that contribute to active citizenship, gainful employment and life-long learning in a democratic society and interdependent world by:

providing a coherent integrated curriculum that speaks largely to student learning goals. Coherence is the inter-connectedness of the curriculum within courses, across disciplines and throughout the undergraduate experience.
encouraging the developmental progression of student knowledge, skills and dispositions throughout the undergraduate experience.
providing a broad range of learning opportunities in courses, in co-curricular activities and in settings outside the University.
fostering an academic community that is guided by the University's core values of excellence, student centeredness, learning, civic engagement and diversity through student-to-student, faculty-to-student and faculty-to-faculty collaborative opportunities. Collaboration may occur in linked courses, interdisciplinary courses, undergraduate research, learning communities, community projects and other venues.
incorporating ongoing and comprehensive review of the General Education curriculum and assessment of student progress toward learning goals. This review and assessment will be used for the continuous improvement of General Education to achieve institutional goals and vision.

Student Learning Principles and Goals

The learning principles and student learning goals, which follow, represent the concepts embedded in the University’s Mission and accepted by the faculty. These principles and goals help guide the development of the General Education program at Salisbury University.

Learning Principles

The General Education program is designed to foster the personal, intellectual and social development of the Salisbury University student and is based on the following set of principles.

The liberally educated person:
communicates effectively in diverse situations,
uses multiple strategies, resources and technologies for inquiry and problem solving,
demonstrates qualities related to personal, social and professional integrity,
integrates knowledge from the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences to broaden perspectives,
reasons quantitatively and qualitatively,
demonstrates global awareness in order to function responsibly in an interdependent world.

These principles are expressed by the following set of student learning goals.

Learning Goals & Outcomes

The General Education program is designed to foster the personal, intellectual, and social development of the Salisbury University student. Salisbury University provides an institutional environment and academic curriculum that supports interconnected learning and experiences, which signify an ability to analyze and make connections between ideas, concepts, and experiences - both on and off campus. The following broad categories organize the student learning goals and outcomes that align with the purpose of General Education. Previously acknowledged Student Learning Goals are aligned with the proposed Student Learning Outcomes listed below.

Essential Competencies
Essential Competencies are the intellectual habits and skills that students progressively develop in order to succeed as undergraduates and as members of a rapidly changing and globally interconnected society. Upon completion of their studies at SU, students will demonstrate effective reading and communication, critical thinking and reasoning, quantitative reasoning, scientific reasoning, information literacy as the means by which to solve problems.
- Critical Thinking & Reasoning: Students will be able to analyze evidence to support or create interpretations, arguments, or claims; identify and analyze the connection between evidence and claims; evaluate the strength and weaknesses of conclusions and opinions; and determine the scope of evidence needed for original arguments.
- Effective Reading: Students will be able to extract and construct meaning by interacting with written language.
- Information Literacy: Students will be able to determine the extent of information needed; access information effectively and efficiently; evaluate information and its sources critically; use information ethically and effectively to accomplish a specific purpose.
- Oral Communication: Students will be able to prepare, deliver, and reflect upon purposeful oral communication appropriate to the audience, purpose, and context.
- Quantitative Reasoning: Students will be able to interpret models and/or solve quantitative problems from different contexts with real-world relevance; create and communicate reasonable arguments supported by quantitative evidence; and clearly communicate those arguments in effective formats (e.g., using words, tables, graphs, and mathematical equations).
- Scientific Reasoning: Students will be able to identify and use empirical evidence to describe/explain and predict natural phenomena through application of the scientific method; and use scientific principles to design, evaluate, and implement strategies to answer open-ended questions.
- Understanding the Human World: Students will apply methods that will enable them to recognize and interpret evidence of human thought, action, expression, and/or experience, using contexts and narratives to explain humanity’s change over time.
- Written Communication: Students will be able to develop and clearly express ideas through writing, in appropriate styles, by incorporating evidence when warranted.
Foundational Knowledge
Foundational Knowledge describes the breadth of information and experiences needed to succeed in a globally interconnected world, and is achieved through the study of the arts, humanities, mathematics, natural sciences, and social sciences. Upon completion of their studies at SU, students will demonstrate knowledge of the human experience, the physical world, and ways of knowing.
- Knowledge of the Human Experience: Students will be able to describe and compare the development and impact of various artistic, cultural, economic, historical, intellectual, linguistic, political, social, and/or spiritual systems; and recognize common questions and/or concerns humans confront and the diverse strategies for resolving those concerns.
- Knowledge of the Physical World: Students will be able to describe some of the major concepts in science to explain natural phenomena; and evaluate the quality of scientific information on the basis of methods used to generate it.
Personal, Social, and Cultural Responsibility
Personal, Social, and Cultural Responsibility integrates the knowledge, skills, and core values that allow students to learn, live, and lead effectively as scholars, employees, and active citizens. Upon completion of their studies at SU, students will show evidence of civic and community engagement, knowledge of emerging and global issues, a commitment to and knowledge of environmental sustainability, ethical reasoning, respect for inclusion and diversity, intellectual curiosity, intercultural competence, as well as be aware of issues of personal health and wellness.
- Civic & Community Engagement: Students will demonstrate knowledge and skills necessary to participate actively in civic and community.
- Diversity & Inclusion: Students will critically examine their own personal beliefs, attitudes, and biases about human diversity and the marginalization of people and cultures in the United States and/or across the world and the practices that lead to that marginalization.
- Emerging & Enduring Global Issues: Students will consider and discuss emerging and/or enduring global issues being attentive to diversity across the spectrum of differences; understand how their actions affect local and/or global communities; and address pressing and enduring issues collaboratively and equitably.
- Environmental Sustainability: Students will describe the interconnections of natural, human, and social systems, including strategies to improve ecological integrity, human well-being, and/or social equity.
- Ethical Reasoning: Students will critically reflect on their own core beliefs and values; recognize ethical issues and their social context in a variety of settings; evaluate different perspectives on ethical issues, guided by ethical principles and theories; and develop their own ethical outlook that is supported with cogent reasons.
- Intellectual Curiosity: Students will explore a range of topics; be open minded to new ideas and ways of thinking; and be able to ask relevant questions or develop original thoughts.
- Intercultural Competence: Students will be able to demonstrate the necessary knowledge, self-awareness, and behaviors to support effective and appropriate interactions that build and enhance relationships in a variety of cultural and/or linguistic contexts.
- Personal Health & Wellness: Students will be able to demonstrate knowledge of skills and habits to promote personal lifelong health and wellness, including emotional, financial, and physical.

General Education Assessment

Ensuring that we are meeting the goals and outcomes of the General Education program is a top priority at Salisbury University. Every semester, the University hosts GULL Week, a time when students can provide feedback on what they are learning so we can see what we are doing well and what has room for improvement. The results from this week and other assessments give us the information we need to make the best General Education program for you.

Please Note: A new General Education model for Salisbury University has been approved by the Faculty Senate. Faculty can review the General Education requirements and implementation plan as well as the aligned General Education Learning Goals & Outcomes. Additionally, historical materials are available on the General Education Revision: Ongoing Work course in MyClasses.