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Nov 21, 2024
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
General Studies (AA.GEN)
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 Return to: Academic Program list
Program Description
Vermont State University’s Associate of Arts in General Studies program is designed to enable students to complete general education requirements in preparation for the completion of a bachelor’s degree. As former Academic Dean Dan Regan stated in the 2015 program review, the degree “exposes students to a range of disciplines and provides a sound educational base for future studies at the bachelor’s or professional level.” The Associate of Arts in General Studies program also allows students to improve their employment prospects by having a record of program completion rather than simply some higher education experience. As noted in Public Purpose (Spring 2015, 1920), the degree is “a marker of completion for employers”. Accordingly, the degree can fit the needs of part-time students who are unable to commit to full-time, higher education participation. In addition, for those students who are unable to finish a planned, four-year degree program, they may opt to complete the Associate of Arts in General Studies.
The Associate of Arts in General Studies program shares its program goals and outcomes with the Connections General Education Program.
Program Goals
- Develops essential academic skills that students will use in critical analysis and communication;
- Engages students in an intentional and meaningful way in a wide range of disciplines;
- Encourages students to experience the transformational power of integrating learning in their general education, co-curricular activities, and major or professional program;
- Fosters student commitment to the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion;
- Promotes responsible, informed, and engaged citizenship in the university, local, and global communities;
- Cultivates curiosity and stimulates a commitment to life-long learning.
Program Outcomes
- Communication: Students will create and deliver written, oral, and/or visual communication that is purposeful, organized, engaging, and adheres to academic standards of clarity, development, and presentation.
- Critical Thinking: Students will utilize different perspectives and methods of diverse disciplines to analyze and effectively address problems in those disciplines and in the world.
- Equity: Students will identify, describe, and/or analyze systems of inequity and/or just responses to them.
- Integration: Students will reflect upon and assess their learning throughout the general education program, considering how it can be integrated with learning in their major program, co-curricular activities, and/or their lives.
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Program Core (40 credits)
Completion of the Connections General Education Program, excluding Connections Seminar 3. 40 credits required.
Program Electives (20 credits)
Take 20 credits in addition to, and distinct from, courses in the Connections General Education Program (courses cannot be counted in both areas).
Credits Required for Major: 60
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