Mission and Competencies
The General Education program is foundational to the University’s mission to “prepare 21st century learners to become innovative problem-solvers and high-tech professionals in STEM fields.” As such, the program’s mission is to prepare students for their majors and beyond. It is designed to foster a solid foundation in mathematical and scientific reasoning essential to STEM programs. At the same time, through exposure to methods of inquiry and expression in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, the program fosters intellectual curiosity and life-long learning in preparation for engagement in professional and civic life. The University recognizes that tomorrow’s leaders must be technically proficient, ethically-minded, and possess effective communication skills to affect positive and lasting change in the world.
The University faculty has developed student learning outcomes that support the following General Education competencies:
1) Communication Skills - Students will demonstrate the ability to communicate effectively and to analyze communication critically in both oral and written mediums.
2) Critical Thinking Skills - Students will demonstrate the ability to formulate problems and comprehensively explore and evaluate issues, ideas, artifacts, and information before reaching a conclusion.
3) Ways of Knowing in the Arts and Humanities - Students will understand how questions are posed and how insights and creative responses to them are formulated in the Arts and Humanities.
4) Ways of Knowing in the Social and Behavioral Sciences - Students will understand how questions about individuals and social groups are posed and addressed through research, experimentation, and analysis in the Social and Behavioral Sciences.
5) Mathematical Reasoning - Students will develop mathematical skills that are crucial to success in all STEM fields.
6) Scientific Reasoning - Students will demonstrate an understanding of the scientific method and use it to explain the natural world.
Requirements
Each undergraduate degree program requires the successful completion of a general education component at the collegiate level. The University’s general education courses support and enhance the core STEM learning and competencies at the institution, providing students with breadth of knowledge, critical thinking and writing skills, and other proficiencies.
In accordance with Section 1007.25 of the Florida Statutes and the recommendations of the General Education Steering and Faculty Committees, Florida Polytechnic University students complete 36 credit hours of General Education Program coursework within the subject areas of communication, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and natural sciences. Each student must complete at least one approved course in each subject area.
Approved courses for each area are listed below. Where applicable, courses taken to meet state common prerequisites for a program also may be used to fulfill General Education requirements. All first-time-in-college students are expected to take ENC 1101 (Composition I) during their first semester at Florida Polytechnic.
In compliance with State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.024, a transfer student who has successfully completed the General Education requirements for any public university or community college in Florida prior to enrolling as a degree-seeking student at Florida Polytechnic University, and has this completion noted on the official transcript, shall be considered to have satisfied the General Education requirements at Florida Polytechnic. All other transfer students are expected to complete the Florida Polytechnic General Education Program. Transfer students’ transcripts will be evaluated to determine course equivalencies and fulfillment of Florida Polytechnic’s General Education requirements.
All courses listed are approved for meeting General Education requirements. Courses marked with (W) can be used to satisfy a portion of the Florida college-level writing requirement, and all mathematics courses can be used to satisfy a portion of the computation requirement (State Board of Education Rule 6A-10.030).
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