Office of General Education - GE Reconciliation

Reconciled Essential Learning Outcomes

The Office of General Education reconciled 7 Essential Learning Outcomes for Howard University's undergraduates.

Upon graduation from Howard University, undergraduate students will demonstrate:

Knowledge of U.S. and Global African Diasporic Developments by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including African diaspora awareness, history, emerging trends, domestic and global ways of life and institutions, intercultural knowledge, and cross-cultural comparative skills. 

Knowledge of Human Cultures by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including world language competency, visual literacy, digital arts, creative thinking, humanities, and intercultural knowledge. 

Knowledge of the Physical and Natural World by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including science and environmental consciousness, quantitative research, qualitative research, generativity, and sustainability. 

Intellectual and Practical Skills by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including written communication, inquiry and analysis, financial literacy, oral communication and public speaking, and computational thinking.

Social Responsibility and Knowledge of Political Institutions by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including ethical reasoning, social sciences, history, and civic knowledge and engagement. 

Leadership and Applied Learning by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including foundation and skills for life-long learning, technology and information literacy, entrepreneurship, service and experiential learning, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving. 

Comprehensive Wellness Practices by engaging in learning experiences and disciplines, including emotional wellness and social resilience, physical wellness, organizational wellness, and community wellness. 

Note: General Education Program courses are designed to be open to all students, within reason, across the disciplines. The goal is to have a suite of courses for each ELO to provide options for students and remove barriers to matriculation. Individual courses may meet more than one Essential Learning Outcome, but total credits must equal 30.

Schools / Colleges / Departments will identify courses that meet ELOs, and courses will be tagged to ensure portability across Schools and Colleges.

 

Reconciled Credit Hour Distribution

Based on sample credit hour distributions submitted by respective schools and colleges, the Office of General Education reconciled the initially proposed Credit Hour Distribution to allow more flexibility for schools and colleges to determine the placement of courses with five categories:

  • General Education 
  • Major
  • Flexible Cluster
    • Optional Minor
    • Electives
    • Double-Major (Partial Fulfillment)
    • Pre-Professional Requirements (Partial Fulfillment)
11_9_Reconciled CHD