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2024-2025 Academic Catalog
Bachelor’s Core Curriculum (60 Quarter Credit Hours)
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Life University is committed to delivering an education designed around a set of Core Life Proficiencies that advance personal integrity and provide the foundation for professional success, social contribution, and cultural change. These proficiencies distinguish a Life University education.
The Undergraduate Program offers several degree programs at the Associates and Baccalaureate level. These degree offerings are provided through the Divisions of Liberal Studies, Health Sciences, Social Science, and Sport Health Science. Students must complete requirements listed in specific degree programs and comply with academic regulations of the University, including completion of a Core Curriculum.
The Core Curriculum provides a common foundation of knowledge for the educated college graduate. Core Curriculum areas include communications and humanities, science, mathematics and computers, and social sciences. Provided below is the Core Curriculum for all Baccalaureate level degrees. A modified core listing is provided with respective Associate degree curricular offerings.
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General Education Core - Critical Perspectives:
Area I: Humanities, Health and Wellness (25 Credit Hours)
CP #1 Learning Theory & Critical Thinking
The development of student’s ability to work with and interpret numerical data, to apply logical and symbolic analysis to a variety of problems, and/or to model phenomena with mathematical or logical reasoning.
- Enables students to identify practical applications of quantitative reasoning as it related to math and science as well as to logic and rhetoric related to real world arguments.
- Prepares students to understand, interpret, critique, debunk, challenge, explicate and draw conclusions regarding data and information encountered as a literate global citizen.
Required Courses: 15 Credit Hours
CP #2 Emotional Intelligence & Wellness
The development of students’ ability to understand, label and appropriately express emotions and understand how emotions impact individual thinking and behavior.
- Enables students to develop an awareness of how emotions drive decisions and behaviors in effectively engaging with and influencing others.
- Provides opportunities to explore a variety of techniques to manage stress, exercise and nutrition and develop skills to ensure personal wellness and self-care.
Required Courses: 10 Credit Hours
Area II: Social Sciences (15 Credit Hours)
CP #3 Global Awareness - Diversity & Human Existence
Acknowledging the importance of understanding the past as the context out of which contemporary modes of inquiry and contemporary fields of study have grown.
- Engages students in exploration of the past through examination of ideas, events, cultural institutions, and practices;
- Enables students to expand their understanding of narratives of the development of the Western tradition over time and provide them with the analytical tools to critique those narratives.
- Engages students in critical analysis of the connections between the past and the present to enable global and holistic thinking.
- Encourages students to consider how our understanding of contemporary events is informed by our grasp of the historical past.
- Engages students in activities and programs to promote awareness of global issues.
- Enables students to identify and implement essential healthy changes in existing cultural systems that dominate our world to effect change within their own culture and sphere of influence.
- Encourages students to consider the global economy, market relations, movement of people and resources, communication, politics, and the effect of human activity on the environment from a local and global perspective.
Required Courses: 10 Credit Hours
Choose from any of the following disciplines:
- ECO
- FLM
- HIS
- HME
- HUM
- ENG
- PSY (above 101)
- POL
- SOC
- ANY Foreign Language
CP #4 Social Inequality & Integrative Change
Concentrating on how inequality, with respect to nationality, race, ethnicity, gender, class and/or sexuality, is produced, reproduced, experienced, and resisted. Critically analyzing the social and cultural differences, traditions, and experiences of marginalized populations in the United States or globally, investigating the social, political, economic, cultural, psychological and/or historical processes that shape the emergence and stat6us of such populations. Courses examine the nature of power and domination, political economy, social justice movements, identity formation and/or cultural artistic productions.
- Engages students in activities and programs that identify and explore the inequality of conditions and the inequality of opportunities.
- Guides students through the exploration of social inequalities and the identification of potential solutions for change.
- Encourages students to identify the relational processes in society that have the effect of limiting or harming a group’s social status, class, and circle.
Required Courses: 5 Credit Hours
Choose from any of the following:
Area III: Science, Mathematics and Computers (20 Credit Hours)
CP #5 Contemporary Scientific Paradigms
Investigating the natural world to enhance understanding of the methods central to modern science. Provides opportunities to explore the broader earth system and universe, its impact on humans and vice versa. As science and technology continue to have a greater influence on the world, students will become familiar with the distinctive ways of thinking characteristic of the sciences and the need to cultivate skill in quantitative reasoning.
- Explicitly address the nature of the scientific method.
- Provide students direct experience in the gathering and analysis of scientific data.
- Emphasize the use of quantitative reasoning.
- Introduce foundations and principles of scientific knowledge.
- Enhance scientific literacy.
- Embraces lab and field experiences.
Required Courses: 20 Credit Hours
Serving Lasting Purpose: Services Project Required for Graduation
A uniquely LIFE-oriented philosophical approach is its guiding principle of Serving Lasting Purpose: To Give, To Do, To Love, To Serve - Out of a Sense of Abundance (SLP), which recognizes that everyone - student, faculty and staff alike - has a duty to share their individual gifts with the world. CGUS faculty believe that SLP is a foundational component of the general education program and as such, each student must complete SLP projects as a graduation requirement, including transfer students. SLP projects will be presented by each of the academic areas on a rotating basis and at least one SLP project will be available each quarter and tracked via Engage on the student’s co-curricular transcript. This is a non-credit bearing graduation requirement. Each SLP project will focus on community service and service learning.
Community service includes activities that contribute to the well-being of our citizens, community and environment. Examples include volunteer time with various non-profit organizations and local school districts. Service learning is defined as a structured learning experience that combines community service with preparation and reflection. Service-learning hinges on a response to community-identified concerns and students learn about the context in which service is provided, the connection between their service and their academic coursework and their roles as citizens and professionals.
Each SLP project is expected to engage students for a minimum of 3 hours, to include both reflection, service time and group discussion regarding the project. A total of 10 hours of SLP are required for graduation. Service performed as part of a program’s curricular requirements will not count toward the SLP requirement. Service or work that is monetarily compensated for will also not count towards time toward the SLP requirement.
SLP Guidelines:
- The service credit is hour-for hour unless specified otherwise by the department sponsoring the SLP activity
- The 10 hours must be served in more than one project or event
- Transfer students are required to complete the 10 hours of SLP
- Students who have a question as to the amount or validity of credit for a given project should first ask the lead faculty member via email. The faculty member will consult with the Assistant Dean of the area as needed and respond to the student and copy the Assistant Dean regarding approval.
- he Assistant Dean may deny service that hasn’t been pre-approved or may change the number of hours for a particular project as deemed necessary. The Dean reserves the right to make final determinations regarding service credit granted.
- Students are encouraged to make certain that their co-curricular transcript on Engage reflects the appropriate service hours as they are completed.
Total Credit Hours Required for Core: 60
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