Most courses from the Fulton School of Liberal Arts are changing from 3-credits to 4-credits. In most cases, students will meet as a class the same number of hours they are meeting in a 3-credit class but will be required to do more independent or otherwise out-of-class work, particularly the kind focused on developing and exercising higher critical thinking skills (e.g. undergraduate research, increased technology, readings, service learning opportunities, etc). These out-of-class requirements are referred to as enhancements and will provide a more focused, more engaged, and more rigorous learning experience. Students will benefit from opportunities to work more closely together with other students and their faculty for a more invigorated exploration of the liberal arts. Additional Fulton School reform information is available at www.salisbury.edu/fulton/currref-students.html.

Gen Ed Changes for Fall 2008

The Liberal Arts component of the current Gen Ed curriculum (currently Groups I and II) has been changed for students choosing to move to the Fall 2008 catalog in order to complete their graduation requirements. The changes are occurring in the Liberal Arts areas only. There will be fewer courses to complete in the new Liberal Arts requirements, but the courses will almost exclusively be 4-credit courses. The Liberal Arts requirements will be distributed into three groups (Groups I, II, and III) instead of the two groups in the current Gen Ed requirements (Groups I and II). A brief summary of the changes are described below.

Almost all courses in the humanities and social sciences will become 4-credit courses.
The English/literature requirements (Current Gen Ed IA) will change from requiring ENGL 101, ENGL 102, and a literature course for a total of three 3-credit courses (9 credits) to requiring ENGL 103 and a literature course for a total of two 4-credit courses (8credits).
The history requirements will change from requiring HIST 101 and HIST 102 for a total of two 3-credit courses (6credits) to requiring one course from HIST 101, 102, or 103, and one course from HIST 101, 102, 103, or a history class above the 100 level (8credits).
Under the current Gen Ed requirements, students must take 2 humanities courses (Gen Ed Group IB) and 3 social science courses (Gen Ed Group IIB) for a total of 5 courses (15 credits) in the humanities/social science electives. Students graduating under the Fall 2008 catalog will be required to take at least 1 humanities course, at least 1 social science course, and 1 humanities or social science course from a different department for a total of 3 courses (12 credits) in the humanities/social science electives. Some of the courses students can use to satisfy this requirement (e.g. economics classes and human geography classes) will still be three credit courses so the credit requirement now depends (as it always has with the current Group III) on the choice of courses.
The number of courses needed to complete the liberal arts Gen Ed requirements will change from 10 courses to 7 courses. The credits will change from 30 to 28 credits (or fewer – see 4) credits. The reduction in the number of courses required supports the use of enhanced courses to meet Gen Ed outcomes. The reduction in the number of credits needed to complete the liberal arts Gen Ed curriculum (from 30 credits to 28 credits) offsets the additional credits associated with the liberal arts enhanced courses changing from 3-credits to 4-credits.
The current science and mathematics requirements in Group III remain the same but become Group IV.
The current health/fitness requirement remains the same but becomes Group V.

Review with questions and answers listed below for additional information and visit the following websites for additional advising and registration information!

Q & A

Do I need to take the “new Gen Eds” or can I continue with the old requirements?

You may graduate under any catalog in which you have been registered as a matriculated student in a Maryland community college or university as long as that catalog is no more than 7 years old. Therefore, you may choose to move to the Fall 2008 and complete the new Gen Ed requirements or stay in your existing catalog and complete the old Gen Ed requirements. If you have already completed the majority of your Gen Ed requirements, you will probably benefit from staying with the old requirements. If you are a freshman who has just begun your Gen Ed requirements, you will probably benefit from changing to the Fall 2008 catalog because there are fewer course requirements and most of the Gen Ed courses will be 4-credit courses by Fall 2008. Thus if you stay in the old catalog you will be taking more credits to complete the liberal arts Gen Ed requirements. TALK WITH YOUR ADVISOR TO CONFIRM WHICH IS BEST FOR YOU.
Who can help me determine whether I should stay in my current catalog or move to the new catalog?
Your academic advisor will be your best resource to help you make this decision. In general, the following principles will apply in most cases. However, you still need to discuss your choices with your advisor.
- Students graduating in December 2007, May 2008, or December 2008 will most likely stay in their current catalog.
- Students graduating after December 2008 and completing a Fulton School major will probably benefit from moving to the new catalog.
- All freshmen and most sophomore students will probably benefit from moving to the new catalog.
- Juniors graduating after December 2008 may or may not benefit from moving to the new catalog depending upon their completion rate of the old Gen Ed requirements and whether their major has changed in the new catalog.

If I decide to move to the new catalog, how will the Gen Ed courses I’ve already taken transition into the new Gen Ed requirements?

Courses taken to fulfill the current Gen Ed requirements will be transitioned to the new Gen Ed requirements on a course-by-course basis. Remember the new Gen Ed requirements are based on courses, not credits. Therefore, approved Gen Ed courses, whether taken for 3 credits or 4 credits, can be used to fulfill the appropriate new Gen Ed requirements. The following transition chart illustrates a suggested transition plan for moving to the new Gen Ed requirements.

Gen Ed Requirements met prior to Fall 2008	How these requirements apply to the New Gen Ed Requirements
ENGL 101 taken prior to Fall 2008	Take ENGL 102 S08 or no later than F08; take an approved IB literature course
ENGL 101 and 102	Take the IB literature requirement
ENGL 101, 102, and an approved literature course	Group IA and IB have been met
Fail to earn C grade in either ENGL 101 or ENGL 102	Repeat the course with ENGL 103 once ENGL 101 and ENGL 102 are no longer offered
HIST 101 or HIST 102 ONLY	Group IIA has been met
HIST 101 AND HIST 102	Group IIA and IIB have been met
2 GE humanities and 1 GE social science	Group III has been met
2 GE social science and 1 GE humanities	Group III has been met
2 or more GE social Science and no GE humanities	Take one GE humanities course to complete Group III
2 or more GE humanities and no GE social sciences	Take one GE social science course to complete Group III

If I decide to complete the new Gen Ed requirements and move to the Fall 2008 catalog, will my major and minor requirements change?

Possibly. You must complete graduation requirements under one catalog. If you move to the Fall 2008 catalog and complete the new Gen Ed requirements, then you must complete the major and minor requirements under that catalog. In many cases the major and minor requirements will not change in the Fall 2008 catalog; therefore, the requirements you are currently pursuing will remain the same. However, if the requirements for the major or minor you are pursuing do change for the Fall 2008 catalog, you will have to meet the new requirements. For students pursuing majors or minors from the Fulton School, for a short period of time, adjustments will be made to ensure any courses already taken for the major or minor will be applied to the new requirements should the student move to the new Fall 2008 catalog.
How will my transfer courses be applied to the new requirements?

Transfer courses will be applied to graduation requirements on a course-by-course basis. The new liberal arts Gen Ed curriculum (Groups I, II, and III) is based on courses rather than credits. Therefore, if a student transfers a 3-credit course from another institution that is equivalent to an SU 4 credit course, the transfer course will be equivalent to the SU course and will fulfill the same requirement. However, the student will still receive the 3 credits earned at the transfer institution, not the 4 credits of the equivalent