7.2. ADP General Education

General education in the ADP is tailored toward working adults and transfer students, who frequently have a moderate amount of transfer credit when they first matriculate to Oglethorpe. That is to say, the ADP general education program is a distribution requirement rather than the TU model of an integrated nine-course program, allowing ADP students to apply a larger array of classes to meet their general education requirement.

The ADP general education program consists of nine 4-semester hour courses which seeks to ensure that students have attained the following knowledge, skills and abilities:

  1. The ability to communicate accurately, appropriately and effectively. Courses acting in direct support of this goal include:
    • Two courses (4 semester hours each) which are focused on writing and which are appropriate for general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      WRI 101  Core Writing Workshop
      COR 101 Narratives of the Self I
      COR 102 Narratives of the Self II
  2. An understanding of our cultural heritage as revealed in the humanities and the fine arts. Courses acting in direct support of this goal include:
    • One history course (4 semester hours) suitable for general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      HIS 101 Foundations of the West
      HIS 102 Europe and the World, 1715 to the Present
      HIS 130 United States History to 1865
      HIS 131 United States History Since 1865
      HIS 290 Special Topics in History (depending on topic)
    • And one fine arts course (4 semester hours, in art, music, or theatre) suitable for
      general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      COR 103 Music and Culture
      COR 104 Art and Culture
      COR 105 Theatre and Culture
      THE 220 Theatre History I: Greeks to Renaissance
      THE 210 Theatre History II: Restoration to 20th Century
    • And one literature or philosophy course (4 semester hours) suitable for general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      ENG 101 Ancient Literature
      ENG 102 Medieval and Renaissance Literature
      ENG 103 18th and 19th Century Literature
      ENG 104 Modern and Contemporary Literature
      PHI 101 Big Questions
      Every student attending an Oglethorpe-approved semester or year abroad during their tenure at Oglethorpe may petition the provost to have their course work abroad count as an equivalency for one (and only one) of the courses in this category, depending on the nature of the trip and the course work required. Consult the provost, registrar or the director of the center for global education for details.
  3. An understanding of the forces shaping contemporary society as revealed by the social sciences. Courses acting in direct support of this goal include:
    • Two social or behavioral science courses(4 semester hours each, in economics, politics, psychology or sociology) suitable for general education. The two courses must be from different disciplines. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      ECO 120 Principles of Microeconomics
      ECO 122 Principles of Macroeconomics
      POL 101 Introduction to American Politics
      POL 111 International Relations
      POL 122 Introduction to Comparative Politics
      PSY 101 Introduction to Psychology
      PSY 204 Social Psychology
      SOC 101 Introduction to Sociology
      SOC 202 The American Experience

  4. An appreciation of the methods of science to the acquisition of knowledge, and an understanding of contributions of science to our cultural heritage and to the solution of contemporary problems. Courses acting in direct support of this goal include:
    • One science course (4 or more semester hours, in biology, chemistry, general science, physics or physical science) appropriate for general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      BIO 110 Biological Inquiry
      CHM 101 General Chemistry I
      CHM 102 General Chemistry II
      COR 400 Science and Human Nature
      GEN 101 Natural Sciences: The Physical Sciences (depending on topic)
      GEN 102 Natural Sciences: The Biological Sciences (depending on topic)
      PHY 101 General Physics I
      PHY 102 General Physics II
  5. An understanding of mathematical thought and processes and the ability to conceptualize and apply mathematical reasoning to problem solving. Courses acting in direct support of this goal include:
    • One mathematics course (4 semester hours) suitable for general education. Oglethorpe courses guaranteed to satisfy this requirement include:
      COR 203 Great Ideas of Modern Mathematics
      COR 314 Mathematics and Human Nature
      MAT 111 Statistics
      MAT 120 Introduction to Functions
      MAT 121 Applied Calculus
      MAT 130 Advanced Functions
      MAT 131 Calculus I
  6. The ability to read and to think critically. All (or nearly all) of the courses which are listed as acting in support of goals 1 through 5 (above) typically contribute to this final goal.

In the above, the phrase “suitable for general education” commonly means that the course is at the lower level (see especially Sec. 1.4.3.2.) because these courses are developed specifically to provide breadth, foundation and basic knowledge, skills and abilities, all of which are hallmarks of general education. However, there are instances where an upper level course can be appropriate for general education. Likewise, there are instances when there are Oglethorpe courses which will satisfy one of the above requirements but which do not appear among the list of “guaranteed acceptable” courses. Determination such as those described in this paragraph are made on a case-by-case basis by the registrar, a student’s advisor and (when appropriate) after consultation with relevant faculty.

Prior to a student’s first semester at Oglethorpe, the registrar and personnel in the student success office will evaluate how many of the general education requirements have already been met due to (a) credits by examination (see Sec. 6.8.1.), (b) credits from joint enrollment and/or dual enrollment (see Sec. 6.8.2.), (c) credits by transfer (see Sec. 6.8.3.), and (d) credits through transfer under an articulation agreement (see Sec. 6.8.4.). Once that initial evaluation is completed, no further general education requirements can be satisfied by testing (CLEP, for example) or by taking courses as a transient student at any other college or university. Note that while all Oglethorpe’s general education courses are 4 semester hours, the University will accept appropriate ADP general education courses via transfer from other regionally accredited post-secondary institutions even if those courses are worth 3 semester hours rather than 4. The extra semester hour need not be made up.