General Education
Statement of General Eduation
Jefferson Community College affirms its view of education as an ongoing continuum of personal, intellectual, emotional and social growth. This view recognizes the student’s need to acquire substantive knowledge, the need to develop personal and intellectual resources fundamental to evaluation and assessment, and the need to develop the ability to communicate to others the processes of this effort.
Thus, JCC recognizes the merit of establishing General Educational Objectives for students pursuing studies in its Associate Degree programs.
Objectives of General Education
In the establishment of specific and measurable General Education Objectives, JCC is making a statement of intent to provide its students with the capacity and the skills to continue their educations as a lifelong pursuit, should they so choose.
Therefore, under the auspices of its various Associate Degree programs, JCC is committed to enabling its students to meet the following General Education Objectives:
- Graduates shall be able to utilize effective communication skills
in reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- Graduates shall be able to solve problems through logical reasoning
and the scientific method and they shall be able to discern thought
patterns and beliefs in their own decisions and in the works of others.
- Graduates shall be mathematically competent to interpret, compute
and apply quantitative data.
- Graduates shall demonstrate the ability to select and use the most
appropriate technological tool(s) and understand technology’s
impact on self and society.
- Graduates shall have the ability to access, evaluate, synthesize
and communicate information effectively using a variety of sources,
including print and electronic.
- Graduates shall demonstrate knowledge of diverse peoples and their cultures.
SUNY-Based General Education Objectives
In the adoption of these General Education Objectives, JCC affirms its commitment to provide an academic foundation of such caliber that its graduates, with confidence and purpose directing their efforts, may take genuine pride in the continuing enrichment of their academic, professional and personal lives.
In December 1998, the SUNY Board of Trustees adopted a resolution establishing a 30 credit hour General Education requirement for all baccalaureate degree candidates to begin with the freshman class entering in the fall of 2000. The resolution requires SUNY baccalaureate degree holders to spread their general education course work across the following ten categories of knowledge and skills learning outcomes: Mathematics, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, American History, Western Civilization, Other World Civilizations, Humanities, the Arts, Foreign Languages, and Basic Communication. The following competencies are expected to be infused throughout the General Education program: Critical Thinking and Information Management. Specific Jefferson Community College courses approved as meeting the knowledge and skills learning outcomes are listed on SOAR (Student Online Access to Records). Associate degree graduates transferring to a SUNY baccalaureate program are expected to have met seven of the ten knowledge and skills learning outcomes.