General Studies Requirements

General Studies Requirements Information for Faculty and Staff Advisors

Which GS courses fulfill my requirements? What if I change majors? What are the best GS courses for me to take? How will the change to GS in Fall 2012 affect me?

Faculty and staff advisors hear these questions from students on a regular basis. This site is geared to helping advisors guide students to the right answers. If you or your student needs more specific guiance, please let us know.

General Studies Categories - New and "Old"

Although the General Studies requirements are changing for students with catalog term of Fall 2012 and later, for students whose catalog term is Summer 2012 or earlier, the previous requirements will apply, and thus the "old" General Studies requirements will be with us for some time to come. Please note that the new General Studies program is not split into Level I & Level II. The table is laid out as it is for comparison purposes only.

 * The Multicultural requirement is not part of the General Studies program. It is a graduation requirement. A course that fulfills the Multicultural requirement can also fulfill a General Studies requirement OR a major requirement OR a minor requirement.

** The Global Diversity requirement is part of the General Studies program. A course that fulfills the Global Diversity requirement can also fulfill another General Studies requirement. Students cannot take a Global Diversity course in the department of the major or minor.

*** The goal is to encourage students to take a Multicultural class that also fulfills another requirement, so that the total number of hours to complete General Studies and Graduation requirements isn't larger. Similarly the goal is to encourage students to complete Global Diversity with a course that also completes another General Studies category. Where this isn't possible or doesn't happen, the total number of hours to complete these requirements increases.

Considerations When Discussing Changing the Student's Catalog Term

Students are able to change their to any term after they matriculated up to the term they graduate, provided they are continuously enrolled (defined as not missing 3 or more consecutive term, Summer included). In certain very specific circumstances, a student can elect to use a catalog term prior to their matriculation.

Until recently, students choosing to change their catalog term generally did so because a change in major or minor requirements made it advantageous to do so. With the change in General Studies requirements beginning Fall 2012, however, the student will also need to take into consideration how a change from a catalog term of Summer 2012 or earlier to a catalog term of Fall 2012 or later will affect their General Studies requirements. A change that is an advantage for the major or minor may well be a disadvantage for General Studies. Students cannot elect to have General Studies requirements from one catalog term and major/minor requirements from another.

Important Considerations:

• The student should know specifically how the change of catalog term would affect different degree requirements
• The student should agree to making the change in a way that can be documented
• If CAPP adjustments have been made, changing the catalog term can mean resubmitting those

The primary tool for determining whether the advantages outweigh the potential disadvantages would generally be a "what-if" CAPP report. For Fall 2012, however, the CAPP reports won't be built until late Summer. In the meantime, the process below or one similar (depending on departmental procedures) should work:

• The student or department runs a CAPP report for the current catalog term
• Check the list General Studies Approved Courses ( 174 KB)
• Note any courses that are fulfilling General Studies requirements that have not been approved for the new program
• Using a department checksheet or similar document (if applicable and available), determine whether major requirements and/or department-specified General Studies requirements would change
• If the student and advisor determine the change makes sense, there are two ways it can happen:
  • Submit a CAPP Adjustment form
  • Submit a Change of Major form

Given the uncertainties for Spring and Summer 2012, changing to the Fall 2012 catalog term ought to be approached with caution.

Considerations for Changing Catalog Year for Incoming CCCS Students

Students who have been continuously enrooled in a Colorado Community College System (CCCS) institution are eligible to use a catalog term up to 3 years prior to matriculation at Metro State. We actively encourage students enrolled in CCCS institutions to plan their community college curriculum with an eye toward how those courses will transfer here. So this policy is designed to make sure that if they have been following our planning guides, the courses will transfer as expected.

How to determine if a student is eligible

• Determination is made by looking at the CCCS transcript
• The student must be coming from a Colorado Community College (not a 4-year school, not a community college outside Colorado)
• The student must have been continuously enrolled (meaning not interrupting enrollment for three or more consecutive semesters--one academic calendar-year--including the summer semester)
• The student can choose a catalog term up to 3 years prior to matriculation
• For example, a student who had been enrolled continuously since Fall 2008 entering Metro State in Fall 2012 could chosse a catalog term from Fall 2009 forward--2008 is more than 3 years prior to matriculation
• But if the student started in CCCS in Fall 2010 and met the continuously enrolled definition, they could choose a catalog as far back as Fall 2010--they can't go back farther than they were in attendance at the community college
• Clues that a student might be eligible
• The notation on an official transfer evaluation, "Eligible to use catalog older than 201250
  Provided student remains continuously enrolled"
• On a preliminary transfer evaluation, the "Attended Colorado Community College" box is checked

If a student is eligible, how to determine if the change makes sense

• If the student is not transferring in a course that completes Global Diversity, a change is more likely to benefit the student than if they are
• Classes from Community Colleges that WILL fulfill Global Diversity
• HIS 101 = HIS 1010
• HIS 102 = HIS 1020
• HIS 111 = HIS 1030
• HIS 112 = HIS 1040
• GEO 105 = GEG 1000
• ART 111 = ARTH 1600
• ART 112 = ARTH 1700
• ANT 111 = ANT 1010
• If the student is transferring in a course or courses that are not part of the new General Studies AND are not part of the gtPathways program, then changing the catalog term is more likely to benefit the student
• An example of these courses would be REA 151, equivalent to our RDG 1510, which had been approved as a Communications course but is not approved for Oral Communication course, and is also not approved as a gtPathways course (and never has been)

Incoming Transfer Students with Fall 2012 Requirements, but Evaluated as though They Had Earlier Requirements

Because the courses that will be part of General Studies for Fall 2012 didn't receive final approval until early March, and because we begin evaluating transcripts for Fall 2012 in September 2011, we had a dilemma in how to evaluate transfer credits for those prospective Fall 2012 students. Waiting until the courses had all been approved would have meant in some instance a delay of several months in evaluating transfer credit. Prospective students have come to expect that we will get transcripts evaluated in under a week, generally, so a delay this long would likely have meant fewer students would choose Metro State. So here's how the process has worked.

Students submitting at least one transcript before March 19, 2012

• Although students entering in Fall 2012 will have those degree requirements, we evaluated their transcripts as though they were under the Fall 2011 catalog.
• After all the courses were approved, those students' transcripts were reevaluated, based on the courses that had been approved, and changes were made if they benefited the student d

Students submitting transcripts after March 19, 2012

• Transcripts will be evaluated using the new requirements, based on courses equivalent to those approved for General Studies in Fall 2012

Why March 19, 2012?

• Contrary to belief in some quarters, it wasn't intentionally made to coincide with the transfer evaluators' move to the Student Success Building in order to make their lives completely chaotic--it just worked out that way
• This date was the first practical date after we were expecting Fall 2012 General Studies courses to be approved

We have not identified a great name for this process. It's not quite "grandfathering," but it has similarities. Similarly, these aren't "exceptions," exactly, but that isn't far off the mark, either.