Required Courses
Physical Health and Wellness
Senior Seminar
This requirement seeks to help students understand the integrative and holistic nature of their education; integrate faith with learning, and theory with practice; and focus on real-world issues within the framework of a biblical worldview.
Communication
These courses teach students to communicate ideas effectively through various media for different purposes. Students will learn to access appropriate and relevant information necessary to understand real problems. Further, students will learn to be critically aware of their culture, technology, and identity. Based on these understandings, students will gain the proficiency to create media that relate ideas effectively for different purposes.
Freshmen will take UNIV 100, 101, and 102. Residential transfer students should take THEO 310. Students admitted into one of our degree completion majors will take LEAD 306. Student enrolled in the UTEP program will take UNIV 407.
Students completing the Engineering major will take ENGR 101 Introduction to Engineering instead of UNIV 100, 101, and 102.
Students admitted to the McAllaster Scholars program will take HONR 105 Humanities I: Writing in the Liberal Arts instead of UNIV 100, 101, and 102.
Students completing the Computer Information Systems major will take CIST 101 Introduction to Information Systems instead of UNIV 100, 101, and 102.
English Proficiency
All first time freshmen must demonstrate proficiency in high school English in order to enroll in ENGL 105 Writing and Critical Inquiry, a graduation requirement. Students may demonstrate proficiency by:
- Scoring above the 30th percentile on the English portion of the ACT or SAT, or
- Completing ENGL 100 (College Writing Strategies) with a grade of C or better or
- Completing a course deemed equivalent to ENGL 100 at another institution and transferring the credits to Greenville University
Credits earned for successfully completing ENGL 100 count toward graduation credits.
Liberal Arts
Freshmen will take UNIV 100, 101, and 102. Transfer students who arrive at Greenville University with 60 or more credits or an A.A. or A.S. degree will take LEAD 306, THEO 310, or UNIV 407 depending on their major. The exception is students who have an Associate's degree and have graduated from high school within nine months of being enrolled at GU will be scheduled to take UNIV 100, 101, and 102. Any freshmen or transfer (with less than 60 credits) student beginning at GU in the spring semester will start by taking UNIV 102 then complete UNIV 100 and 101 in the subsequent semesters. Students should be sure to speak with their advisor before selecting this communication requirement.
Christian Foundations
These courses introduce students to the Scripture, classical teachings, and essential practices of Christian faith. Students will draw from the authorities of Scripture, reason, tradition, and experience to develop a mature understanding of a Christian worldview. Focused attention is given to the relationship between science and Christianity.
Different courses are required for our freshmen and transfer students. The requirements for each group of students can be found below.
Other BIBL courses may be substituted for BIBL 205 or BIBL 215. Students interested in an alternative course should check with the Chair of the Philosophy and Theology department and the Records Office to ensure that another course will fulfill this requirement.
Residential Freshmen
Residential Transfers
Transfer students who have 60 or more credits and/or who have attained an A.A. or and A.S. degree are exempt from completing a biblical studies (BIBL) course.
Transfer students with 60 or more credits and/or who have an A.A. or A.S. degree should take THEO 310. Often there are conflicts in the schedule, so students who cannot take THEO 310 may substitute THEO 110.
Degree Completion Transfers
UTEP Transfers
Required Areas of Study
Students are required to study in a number of additional areas in order to complete their general education requirements. These are areas of study as opposed to specifically required courses. In each of these areas, students may choose among a number of different course options. These are listed by area below.
Activity
Most students pursuing B.A. or B.S. degrees must complete one ACTY credit in order to graduate. ACTY courses are usually 0.5 credit courses offered for eight weeks of each semester. Students may choose from a variety of individual and team sports. Any course with the prefix of ACTY will fulfill the requirement.
Students who enter with an A.A. or A.S. degree are not required to complete the ACTY requirement. Students completing a B.M.E. only need to complete one half credit of ACTY.
Students participating in a varsity sport, cheerleading, dance team, or marching band for a complete season may waive a half (.5) activity credit. Students do not earn ACTY course credit for their athletic participation; they waive the activity requirement. In other words, participation cannot help students accumulate credits towards graduation but can help them fulfill this requirement. The waiver applies only to ACTY credits, not PHED 101 or PHED 102 requirements.
Veterans or students over 25 years of age when entering Greenville University for the first time may also waive the ACTY credit. The PHED 101 and PHED 102 requirements still must be completed.
Students are not permitted to take more than one credit of ACTY.
Creative and Performing Arts
These courses help students recognize the contribution of art and creativity to human life by learning about the creators of art or by creating art themselves.
Student need to complete a minimum of two credits of the following courses:
Students seeking a B.A. or B.S. degree are required to complete the fine arts requirement. Students must complete HUMA 211: Fine Arts (3 credits) or any three credits in art, theatre, or music. All fine arts courses must contain a history component. Eligible courses include:
Students who enter with an A.A., A.S., or A.A.T. degree are not required to complete the fine arts requirement. B.M.E. students should take MUSG 309 Music History I to fulfill this requirement.
Foreign Language
Students pursuing a B.A. degree who enter Greenville University without an A.A. or A.S. degree must complete the foreign language requirement. The language requirement may be met either by passing six credit hours of language coursework (courses numbered 101 and 102 at GU, e.g. SPAN 101 and SPAN 102) or by demonstrating intermediate proficiency on a Greenville University approved proficiency examination. Greenville University offers examinations in three languages: Spanish, French, and German. Students wishing to demonstrate proficiency in other languages may make arrangements for an approved examination on their own.
Majors from the Bastian School of Theology, Philosophy, and Ministry may elect to complete the two elementary Greek courses to fulfill their foreign language requirement. Students completing a major from another department must select a modern foreign language to fulfill the requirement.
Students who have had extensive language training in high school may fulfill their foreign language requirement and receive credit through Advanced Placement (AP) or College Level Examination Program (CLEP). All foreign language exams are accepted, but a minimum score is required to receive credit for both the 101 and 102 levels.
Students whose primary language is not English and who are citizens of countries other than the United States may waive the language requirement upon successful completion of twelve or more credits at Greenville University.
Students should contact the chair of the Language and Culture Department for more information about competency testing. Transfer students who have earned an Associate of Arts in Teaching (A.A.T.) degree with a general education core of 40-45 credits are considered to have met the foreign language requirement.
American Sign Language will not fulfill the foreign language requirement.
Global Foundations
All students must complete a global foundations course or experience. Either a global foundations course or an approved cross-cultural experience will meet the graduation requirement. Greenville offers many courses during the academic year that meet the global foundations requirement. Students may also gain cross-cultural credit through participation in off-campus programs such as those offered by the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities.
The Diversity Committee must approve all courses that seek to fulfill the cross-cultural requirement.
In cross-cultural classes, the following three learning objectives must be incorporated.
Students will be able to -
1. Articulate a Christian call to unity that supports a greater good and extends respect and understanding to all humankind, as all are created in God’s image.
2. Explain ethnocentrism and its role in the development of perceptions and reality.
3. Demonstrate an expanded knowledge base about another culture(s), including cultural beliefs, values, customs, language, non-verbal communication and accomplishments. (International students may study U.S. culture.)
Additional Criteria: Faculty must include at least one of these additional learning objectives in the course:
Students will be able to –
1. Explain the issues of cultures in conflict between or within nations.
2. Articulate an understanding of social and cultural change.
3. Relate the importance of cultural and ethnic self-identification.
Further, faculty must incorporate these components into their cross-cultural classes:
1. Administer pre- and post- assessments that measure students’ learning with regard to cross-cultural knowledge.
2. Travel courses must include coursework (readings, reflection, assessments, etc.) about the culture being studied. Courses taught from our home campus must include an experiential component that engages students in the culture being studied. Experiential learning may be done through service learning and/or collaborations with local and regional institutions.
An International student is considered to have met the requirement by studying in the United States. Other students who have lived abroad for significant periods of time (e.g. missionary kids or students with dual citizenship) may choose to meet with the Dean of General Education to demonstrate competency of the criteria above. Students who wish to transfer a course from another institution should present the course syllabus to the dean for review.
In unusual circumstances a student can meet the CC requirement through an alternative experience (CCE). The objective of the CCE alternative is to encourage formal cross cultural interactions, intentional learning, and engagement. A CCE must take place in an intercultural setting through an approved institution, voluntary service agency, or other approved organization. Completion of the CCE requires at least 100 contact hours with people of a different culture.
CCEs must be approved by the Dean of General Education and the student’s faculty advisor at least two months before they occur. In no case will CCE approval be granted after an experience has occurred. The CCE alternative is intended for those who plan to participate directly in a cross cultural setting in service, work, and study activities. It cannot be met through informal travel or extended tourist activities. Students interested in completing a CCE can get a proposal form from the Dean of General Education.
Humanities
These courses teach students to analyze information and perspectives, to identify relationships between ideas, hidden assumptions and potential bias, and to distinguish between known elements (facts) from suspected elements (hypotheses, opinions), and between correlations and causal relationships. Further, they challenge students to understand the human condition, empathize with those suffering, recognize injustice, and detect God's creative presence in the world.
Students completing a bachelor of arts degree will need to complete three of the following courses. One course will need to have and ENGL prefix, another will need to have a HIST prefix, and the third will need a PHIL prefix.
Students completing a bachelor of science degree will need to complete one of the following courses.
Education majors should take ENGL 350 Children's Literature to fulfill the humanities requirement.
Music education majors should take MUSG 309 Music History I to fulfill the humanities requirement.
International students may take either HIST 304 American History I or HIST 305 American History II.
Quantitative Reasoning
These courses help students gain competency with quantitative information and relationships.
Students will need to complete one of the following:
All students except those entering Greenville University with an A.A., A.S., or A.A.T. degree must complete the mathematics or quantitative reasoning requirement. Any mathematics course numbered 101 or higher offered for three or four hours of credit will meet the requirement, as will PSYC 202 Statistics or SCWK 202 Statistics (both three credits). Both MATH 143 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers and MATH 144 Geometry for Teachers are required in order to fulfill the mathematics general education requirement. MATH 145 Algebra and Statistics does not fulfill the quantitative reasoning requirement.
Education majors should take MATH 143 Mathematics for Elementary Teachers and MATH 144 Geometry for Teachers to fulfill the quantitative Reasoning requirement.
Mathematics Proficiency
Students must demonstrate high school mathematics proficiency in order to complete a college level mathematics course, a graduation requirement. Students may demonstrate proficiency in any of the following ways:
- Scoring above the 30th percentile on the mathematics portion of the ACT or SAT,
- Passing a mathematics proficiency exam (normally offered during orientation in the fall semester),
- Completing MATH 090 (Developmental Mathematics) with a grade of C or better, or
- For students entering GU with transfer credit, completing a college intermediate algebra course or a higher level mathematics course with a grade of C or better. (Greenville University will accept in transfer college algebra or a higher level mathematics course.)
Credits earned for successfully completing MATH 090 do not count towards the 120 credits needed to graduate. However, the credits do count towards the full time status of students registered for MATH 090 during a semester that may allow the student to be eligible for financial aid, participate in athletics, and earn semester honors. The grade received for MATH 090 is included in the cumulative GPA.
Physical or Life Science Laboratory
These courses seek answers to the fundamental questions about the structure and function of God's creation. The scientific disciplines employ the scientific method, which permits robust discoveries about God's creation and allows for the designing and understanding of technological advances. In today's world, Christians must be introduced to the natural sciences in order to develop the knowledge and skills required for a broadly informed, ethical, and Christ centered education in the liberal arts and professional studies.
Students will need to complete one of the following:
Most students at Greenville University must complete one natural science laboratory course. Natural science courses are those taught in Biology (BIOL), Chemistry (CHEM), and Physics (PHYS). Courses that have laboratory components all require students to sign up for separate laboratory sections.
Some students are exempt from the natural science requirement. Those entering GU with an A.A., A.S., or A.A.T. degree do not have to take a natural science class to fulfill the general education requirement.
Social Science or Business Management
Students will need to complete one of the following:
Education majors should take EDUC 282 Educational Psychology Application.
Upper Division Writing Intensive Course within a Major
All students must complete an upper division writing intensive (WI) course within their major field of study. These courses fulfill the general education requirement for a Writing Intensive course, but because they fulfill major requirements as well, do not increase the required credit hours for general education.
In order for a course to be designated a WI course, the course must possess the following characteristics:
- Students write to learn. The course uses writing to promote the learning of course materials. Instructors assign formal and informal writing, both in class and out, to increase students' understanding of course material as well as to improve writing skills.
- The course should distribute writing throughout the semester rather than concentrate the writing assignments at the end. If writing is being used as a mode of instruction, then it is clearly not appropriate to have written assignments concentrated at the end of the semester. The best WI courses tend to contain a series of short papers distributed through the semester rather than one or two major projects.
- The course provides interaction between teacher and students while students do assigned writing; in effect, the instructor acts as an expert and the student as an apprentice in a community of writers. Types of interaction will vary. For example, a professor who requires the completion of one long project may review sections of the project, write comments on drafts, and be available for conferences. The professor who requires several short papers may demonstrate techniques for drafting and revising in the classroom, give guidance during the composition of the papers, and consult with students after they complete their papers.
- Writing contributes significantly to each student's course grade.
- The course requires students to do a substantial amount of writing: a minimum of 5000 words, or about 20 pages. This may include informal writing. Depending on the course content, students may write analytic essays, critical reviews, journals, lab reports, research reports, or reaction papers, etc.
- To allow for meaningful professor-student interaction on each student's writing, the class is restricted to 20 students. (Any larger enrollments must be justified by other factors related to the instructor's and the department's overall teaching responsibilities.)
Writing Intensive courses will be approved by the Dean of General Education.
The courses listed below are WI courses:
CORE 101 has been broken into three one credit courses labeled as UNIV 100, UNIV 101, and UNIV 102.
CORE 102 is noted above as THEO 110.
CORE 301 is noted above as THEO 310.
CORE 302 is noted above as SCIN 301.
Individual courses that fulfill the Required Areas of Study catagories may need to be tweaked as course objectives are matched to SLOs. ISAAC and then Faculty Assembly will approve all changes before they go into effect.