General Education Faculty Resources

Our Commitment to General Education

The general education curriculum is central to South Dakota State University’s mission to help students develop the competencies, principles, and modes of thinking crucial for advanced study in their major and for meeting the obligations of an informed and engaged citizenship. These foundational courses promote scientific inquiry; quantitative reasoning; written and oral communication; an awareness of the historical, psychological, social, economic, and political structures that inform our present moment; and an understanding of the contributions diverse cultures make to our common humanity.

General Education Faculty and Staff Resources

Department or Landing Page
General Education
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Biology Lab with students and teacher
Guide to General Education Requirements
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SDBOR General Education Curriculum Requirements
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General Education for Transfer Students
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Short interviews with faculty teaching within each SGR to gain perspectives on what occurs with each goal and with faculty from some of SDSU's professional programs on how the general education core brings value to their programs.
General Education Interviews and Testimonials
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All required elements from SDSU Policy 2:3 must be included in the course syllabus. In addition, faculty teaching general education courses must include the SGR goal and associated student learning outcomes in the course syllabus to help students make connections between the course content and the six general education goals.
Course Syllabus Requirements
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The Degree Audit: General Education (SGRs) Substitution Form may be used to request to substitute a general education requirement on a student's degree audit. A substitution may be approved if the course completed at another institution meets the intent of a SGR Goal and the student learning outcomes. To submit this request students are required to provide:
1. A syllabus with the student learning outcomes for the course they are requesting to serve as a substitution
2. Proof of completion of the course
3. Instructor information
Degree Audit/General Education Substitution Petitions

General Education Course Review and Assessment Process

The General Education Sub-Committee is charged with managing the general education curriculum and review process at SDSU. This group is a sub-committee of the SDSU Academic Affairs Committee. In order to support the assessment rotation, the General Education Sub-committee has developed a plan for peer-review of all general education courses, to be carried out in a rotation so that each SGR course is peer-reviewed the year before the planned assessment for that SGR.

Course Review Rotation

SGR #Year of Course Peer ReviewYear of Assessment Review
#3 and #62023-20242024-2025
#2 and #42024-20252025-2026
#1 and #52025-20262023-2024; 2026-2027

General Education Course Review and Assessment Process

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General Education Course Approval Process
To ensure clearly defined educational pathways for students a “limited” set of General Education courses will be maintained in system Academic Affairs Council guidelines. Department Heads, School Directors, and/or Associate Deans should contact the Office of Academic Affairs if their department, school, or college has a course they want to propose for inclusion on the approved course list. All proposed General Education curriculum requests must be routed to the Office of Academic Affairs with college level approval no later than August 1 for potential implementation during the following academic year.