General Education Core Curriculum Requirements

Welcome to General Education at Winston-Salem State University

General Education at Winston-Salem State University provides the intellectual foundation for both the completion of a major program of study and learning beyond college by affording students a broad-based education rooted in the Arts, Humanities and Sciences. The General Education curriculum is designed to foster the development of critical skills such as thinking, writing, and speaking; while offering students the opportunity to explore the vast fields that make up the academy.

General Education Components

WSSU’s General Education curriculum consists of three components: Areas of Knowledge, Student Learning Outcomes, and Curricular Themes.

Areas of Knowledge

One goal of the General Education curriculum is to expose students to the broad array of subject matter that make up the academy. Sampling among course offerings in the arts, humanities, sciences and mathematics provides students with the opportunity to explore discipline-based approaches to understanding the world around them, thus cultivating new lenses from which to view themselves and the human condition. At Winston-Salem State University, students are required to complete at least one course from each of the following areas of knowledge:

Literature: Courses designed to engage students in the careful reading and critical analysis of imaginative literature. Through the close reading of selected texts, these courses seek to deepen students understanding of the ways writers use language to provide both meaning and pleasure for their readers.
Historical Studies: Courses that provide insight into the development of human institutions, their similarities and differences, and the means by which knowledge about the past is acquired.
Social/Behavioral Sciences: Courses that increase students’ knowledge of how social and behavioral scientists discover, describe, and explain the behaviors and interactions among individuals, groups, institutions, events and ideas.
Natural Sciences: Courses that deal with matter, energy, and their interrelations and transformations or with objectively measurable phenomena.
Mathematics and Quantitative Logic: Courses that focus on patterns and relationships using carefully defined terms and symbols with an emphasis on clarity and argument.
Fine Arts: Courses that highlight the ways in which art is a major defining aspect of culture, as well as on how art reflects the lands and times in which we live.
Foreign Language or Culture: Courses that emphasize development of proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, writing, and culture, as well as content-specific courses in which students continue to expand and refine their linguistic and cultural competence.

Student Learning Outcomes

The General Education framework at Winston-Salem State University is designed to help students develop and hone a basic set of transferable skills. These skills include strong written and oral communication. Other skills such as creativity and problem solving ability rank high among the desired outcomes. Such skills will prepare students to better engage their major course of study. Moreover, these skills are viewed as especially significant given our global knowledge based economy where it is predicted that today’s graduates will have at least 10 different jobs during their work career. A strong skill base affords students the flexibility needed to adapt and change as the world continues rapid transformation. The major skills focused on in the General Education core are:

Data Fluency is an understanding of methodologies used to collect and process data coupled with the ability to comprehend and communicate evidence-based decisions.
Oral Communication: use appropriate language, conventions, elocution, poise, organization, supporting evidence, and content to effectively communicate through the spoken word for the purpose and audience.
Problem Solving is the process of designing, evaluating, and implementing a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired goal.
Written Communication: use appropriate language, conventions, organization, supporting evidence, and content to effectively communicate in writing for the purpose and audience.

Curricular Themes

At all times, there are particular concepts, themes, and ideas that raise concern and debate within society. These themes are often particular to the times, but how they are reconciled may have long-term implications for individuals and humankind alike. Creating opportunities for students to grapple with such topics helps to foster attitudes of awareness, interest, attention, concern, and responsibility. Students at Winston Salem State University are required to take at least one course from at least two of the themes listed below.

Globalization: Facilitates understanding the connection between people from diverse cultures; developing awareness of global environmental resources and issues; understanding how their own behavior affects and is affected by larger world patterns; developing insights into alternative worldviews.
Diversity: Facilitates understanding of the dynamics of domestic cultural groups and the impact of characteristics such as race, socioeconomic class, gender, sexuality and the like on human interactions.
Sustainability: Fosters understanding of how to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
Civic Engagement: Facilitates the development of knowledge, skills and values needed to be effective active citizens. This may include understanding the responsibility to improve community conditions, build healthier communities and address social problems.
Moral and Ethical Reasoning: Focuses on the intellectual tools and understandings necessary for reasoning through ethical issues and problems in an insightful manner.
Healthy Living: Facilitates the knowledge and behaviors to make informed decisions about and to live a healthy life.

General Education Requirements

The General Education curriculum at Winston-Salem State University is designed to offer students a mix of the liberal arts as a foundation for the major. Students are required to take approximately one-half (a minimum of 60 semester hours) of their courses outside of their major field of study. Most of these courses are taken in the first two years at the university. Students have choice in the courses they take and are encouraged to sample widely across the curriculum. There are some minimum expectations about the courses taken in general education, dependent on the student’s status upon entering the university.

Requirements for First-Year Students

Four Learning Outcomes

The faculty adopted four learning outcomes on April 27, 2023 as the General Education Student Learning Outcomes for all undergraduates: Data Fluency, Oral Communication, Problem Solving, and Written communication. Students must take three, 3-credit hour courses to satisfy the requirements for each outcome for a total of 36 semester hours. In addition, at least one Data Fluency course must be from the area of Mathematics, at least one Problem Solving course must be from the Natural Sciences, and WRI 1301 is a requirement for the Written Communication outcome. The revised outcomes will go into effect starting in Fall 2025.

Seven Areas of Knowledge

Students must also take at least one course from each of the seven Areas of Knowledge which include Literature, Historical Studies, Social/Behavioral Science, Natural Science, Mathematics and Quantitative Logic, Fine Arts, and Foreign Language or Culture. This requirement by itself would be 21 SH. However, many courses will both address an Area of Knowledge and a general education learning outcome and, thus, fulfilling this requirement may not add any additional hours.

Two Curricular Themes

Finally, students are encouraged to explore courses designed to broaden their perspectives on globalization, diversity, civic engagement, sustainability, moral and ethical reasoning, and healthy living. Students are required to take a minimum of two courses from amongst these Curricular Themes before they graduate. These do not have to be independent courses but rather can be a major focus or outcome of a course that meets the previous requirements of addressing a general education outcome and an area of knowledge.

Requirements for Transfer Students

Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) is especially welcoming to transfer students. We offer a very flexible approach to the pre-major General Education curriculum such that students can maximize the use of credits earned at other colleges and universities towards the degree at WSSU.

Undergirding the approach to General Education at WSSU is the belief that a broad array of courses taken across the liberal arts (Arts, Humanities, Histories and Sciences) provides the best foundation for any major. In general, the pre-major curriculum is intended to help students acquire knowledge and skills that will foster their thoughtful participation in the various communities to which they belong, personal and professional, local and global.

Thus, students are required to take approximately one-half (a minimum of 60 semester hours) of their courses outside of their major field of study. Most of these courses are taken in the first two years of college and can be transferred from regionally accredited community college and universities. Students have choice in the courses they take and are encouraged to sample widely across disciplines. There are some minimum expectations about the courses taken for General Education for transfer students.

Those who transfer from a North Carolina community college with an Associate in Arts Degree or Associates in Science degree will not need to meet additional general education requirements at WSSU. However, there may be pre-requisites courses that are needed for particular major programs. Transfer students are advised to review the WSSU catalog regarding specific pre-requisite course requirements related to courses in the various major programs.
Students who do not have an associate’s degree will have credit evaluated on a course-by-course basis.
- Transfer students are required to take or transfer approximately 60 SH of credits outside of their major program requirements.
- Transfer students should have at least one course (3 semester hours) in each of the seven general education Areas of Knowledge – Foreign Language or Culture, History, Literature, Mathematics, Natural Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and The Fine Arts (minimum of 21 semester hours).
- Transfer students with less than 60 hours of general education transfer credit and who have met all seven Areas of Knowledge will work with advisors to determine if there is a need to enhance any of the skills defined by the general education learning outcomes and to select courses.

Once a student has been accepted to WSSU, the Registrar determines credits that can be transferred. Academic Advisors in University College review the transferred courses and credits and determine what courses align with a WSSU Area of Knowledge. Academic advisors also determine if any remaining credits align with courses in the major or serve as additional General Education hours.

Other Considerations

General Education courses must be at least 3 credit hours and address at least one of the university’s four general learning outcomes. Laboratory or practicum courses of less than 3 semester hours should be tied to a general education course in order to be counted in the 60 hours of general education credits. New general education courses will be approved by Academic Standards and Curriculum using a standard set of criteria. Courses in the general education inventory can meet multiple components. For instance, a single course, if so designed, can address Problem Solving (Student Learning Outcome), Natural Science (Area of Knowledge), and Sustainability (Curricular Theme).

Academic majors cannot prescribe general education hours other than to state the pre-requisites courses for the major courses. Pre-requisite courses for major courses (generally at the 1000 and 2000 level) that have been approved as general education courses can be used to meet general education requirements. Approved general education courses do not need to be counted in the 60 hours of major credits even if the course ID is the same. For example, BIO 1313 - General Biology I is one of the suggested general education course that biology majors should take. It is in the general education inventory and thus available to all students and can be counted as a general education course for biology majors and not a required biology major course.