2000-1-8 General Education

Policy

Program Requirements

1. All post-secondary programs at Lambton College will meet the requirements of and be consistent with the letter and the spirit of the Minister's Binding Policy Directive Framework for Programs of Instruction as it pertains to general education in post-secondary programs.
2. Certificate, diploma, and advanced diploma programs typically will include the following:
   1. Diploma - Three General Education Courses
   2. Advanced Diploma - Three General Education Courses
3. Students shall be exposed to at least one discipline outside their main field of study.
4. General Education courses must be offered as elective courses allowing a student to choose a specific course from a variety of general education courses approved by the College that meet the student's program general education requirement.
5. In those exceptional cases in which a general education course is mandated for a program, the course must be drawn from the list of courses approved as general education courses by the College.

Student Requirements

1. A general education course chosen by a student may not be listed on the Restricted Courses list for his/her program.

General Education Courses - Definition & Approval

1. A course is recognized as a General Education course only if it is recommended by the Dean responsible for General Education, and approved by the Director, Institutional Intelligence & College Registrar as a general education course and subsequently placed on the General Education Approved Course List.
2. A General Education course shall have learning outcomes that meet the requirements of one of the general education themes as set down in the Minister's Binding Directive Framework for Programs of Instruction.
3. Consistent with and in addition to the requirements of the Framework for Programs of Instruction, to be designated a General Education course, a course shall meet the following criteria:
   1. enable learners to effectively meet the societal challenges that face them as they take their place in community, family and working life;
   2. develop attitudes and skills that are conducive to critical thinking, self-expression and communication with others;
   3. be non-vocational (i.e. not profession-specific), contributing to learning that is distinct from specific program vocational skills/outcomes;
   4. not requires students to develop and demonstrate proficiency in specific applied skills;
   5. not overlap with core program courses (e.g. if a program requires core psychological concepts, students cannot use an introductory psychology course to satisfy program general education course requirements);
   6. be a discrete course designed to meet one of the five themes outlined in the MTCU guidelines;
   7. incorporate an academic rigour equivalent to other comparable Lambton College courses, including workload, course outcomes and evaluations that are consistent with the college expectations for a three credit-hour course;
   8. require neither a prerequisite course nor specialized knowledge beyond the basic aptitudes of a college student.
4. Courses identified as General Education may be restricted from use in meeting the general education requirements of some programs because of insufficient difference from core program material.
5. A list of the courses that qualify as General Education courses shall be published by the Office of the Registrar & Financial Aid Services and the programs in which the courses may not be used to meet program general education requirements will be identified as restricted.

Recognition of Transferred Courses as General Education Courses

1. General Education courses taken at Lambton College in one program may be recognized as General Education courses in a second program provided that the course(s) is consistent with the program requirements, stipulations or restrictions of the second program, e.g. minimum grade requirements, general education restricted list, etc.
2. A student seeking recognition (Transfer Credit - TC) for a course that is listed as a general education course at Lambton on the basis of a similar course completed at another institution must meet the requirements set out in the Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition - Internal & External (2000-1-10) policy.
   1. In particular, the course completed at the other institution must be "determined to be substantially similar to the Lambton College course" and
   2. ..."in order for a TC to be considered, the student must have completed the course at the other institution with a grade of C or a mark of 63% or better, ..."
   3. For further clarity, an external course being transferred into a Lambton College program as a general education course is not subject to a currency requirement, i.e. is not required to have been completed with the previous seven years.
3. Recognition of the course from another institution for a Transfer Credit for a Lambton course that is designated as a general education course in a particular program will also cause the transferred course to be recognized as meeting general education requirements in the particular program.
4. In some instances, the course from the other institution may appear to meet the requirements for recognition as a general education course at Lambton College, but may not be "substantially similar" to any existing Lambton College course. (e.g. the student may have completed an astronomy course from another institution, but Lambton offers no astronomy course) In this case, the course from the other institution will be reviewed by the Director, Institutional Intelligence & College Registrar to determine:
   1. if the course meets the requirements for recognition as a general education course (see above) and
   2. if there should be any associated program restrictions.
5. If the requirements for recognition as a general education course are met, and the grade received meets the threshold established in the Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition - Internal & External (2000-1-10) policy, than an AS grade will be awarded in the student's record with a generic course code, such as GED-1003.
6. A student who has successfully completed an Ontario degree or Ontario College diploma or advanced diploma will automatically receive three general education course transfer credits upon entering a Lambton College diploma or advanced diploma program, if the following conditions are met:
   1. The student graduated from the previous program with an overall average equal to or greater than 63% or C;
   2. the courses successfully completed as part of the previous diploma or degree include at least three courses that could be reasonably expected to broadly qualify as general education courses for the Lambton program that the student is entering; and,
   3. the school from which the student graduated is known and recognized by Lambton College as a legitimate, credible institution of equivalent academic rigour as Lambton College.

Appendix A

Procedures Concerning General Education Courses

1. All courses designated as General Education courses will be under the auspices of, scheduled and delivered by one School.
2. The dean of the school, hereafter referred to as the GED dean, will be responsible for:
   1. maintaining a full and varied inventory of current General Education courses,
   2. guiding the development of new General Education courses,
   3. suspending or cancelling individual General Education courses,
   4. planning, scheduling and delivering General Education courses,
   5. monitoring and ensuring the quality of the General Education courses and their delivery.

Development of General Education Courses

1. The development of a course for general education purposes, or the approval of an existing course as a general education course, may be initiated by the GED dean, by the dean of any other school, or by any faculty member with the prior approval of their dean.
2. As well as individual initiation as above, annually, in September, the GED dean will issue a formal College-wide call for proposals for new General Education courses.
   1. The call may identify a specific course to be developed, general education themes or topics to be addressed, or may be open.
   2. The call will identify the time frame and any requirements for approval, development and initial delivery.
   3. The call will identify the desired delivery format(s). i.e. in-class, hybrid, online
3. The GED dean may also choose to direct a specific request(s) to individual(s) for the development of a proposal for a course(s).
4. Faculty members submitting proposals, on their own initiative or in response to the call, must receive the prior approval of their dean to do so.
5. Proposals must be prepared and submitted to the GED dean by the specified deadline using the form: Proposal for a General Education Course.
6. The GED dean will determine which, of any, proposals will be accepted.
   1. The GED dean reserves the right to request changes to any proposed course.
   2. When accepting any proposal for the development of a general education course, the GED dean will specify all parameters for the development of the course including, but not limited to, the following:
      1. timelines
      2. course delivery format
      3. course deliverables (e.g. course outline, syllabus, reading list, etc.)
      4. College resources available.
7. The GED dean will determine when it is appropriate for a course under development to be submitted for approval as a general education course.
8. The course developer must ensure that the course and its documentation are consistent with:
   1. the Miniter's Binding Policy Directive Framework for Programs of Instruction; and,
   2. this Lambton College policy - General Education (2000-1-8)
   3. Lambton College Program Curriculum Development, Review, Revision & Documentation (2000-2-1) policy

Approval of General Education Courses

1. The GED Dean may recommend a course or proposed course for a general education designation to the Director, Institutional Intelligence & College Registrar who will then decide whether or not to approve the designation.
2. Courses recommended for a general education designation may be restricted from use as a general education in some programs. Any such restrictions should be part of the GED Dean's recommendation to the Director, Institutional Intelligence & College Registrar and will be subject to the approval of the Director, Institutional Intelligence & College Registrar.
3. Courses approved as General Education courses will be:
   1. listed on the Approved General Education Courses document, and
   2. published, along with any program restrictions, on the Office of the Registrar webpage.
4. Approval of a course as a General Education course does not, in any manner, guarantee, assure or imply its immediate or future offering or delivery.

Delivery of General Education Courses 

1. All courses designated as General Education courses will be under the auspices of, scheduled and delivery by one School.
2. The GED Dean will exercise all of the normal prerogatives of a School Dean in the oversight of the general education courses.
   1. The GED Dean will monitor, maintain and refresh the inventory of general education courses to ensure a current, active and appealing set of offerings.
   2. Courses may be removed from the inventory that
      1. have not been offered in three or more years or
      2. are not attracting sufficient enrolment or
      3. are deemed to be dated or in a state of disrepair.
   3. The GED dean will determine the specific General Education courses that will be offered to the College each term.
   4. The GED dean will arrange for the timetabling and staffing of the general education courses.
   5. The GED dean will maintain a two-year plan of the general education course offerings for each term to be published by the Office of the Registrar.
   6. The GED dean will ensure that the inventory of general education courses and the published two-year plan of general education offerings will include an appropriate mix of flexible courses.
   7. The GED dean will maintain a General Education web page that provides all general education information required by faculty and staff.
3. The Registrar will maintain and publish a web page for students containing all relevant information concerning general education courses including, but not limited to the following:
   1. An inventory of all current general education courses
   2. Any program restrictions associated with the use of a general education course
   3. The delivery format of the general education courses
   4. A two-year calendar of future general education course offerings
4. The Registrar will provide a current estimate of the number of students requiring a general education course, adjusted for the projected number of students who have transfer credits or previous completions of general education courses, for each term in the two-year plan of general education course offerings.
5. The Registrar should provide a list of students who have applied for a general education course transfer credit for which approval is pending in order to facilitate the management of general education course waiting lists by the school dean.
6. Registration is offered on a first-come, first-served basis to all students eligible to register (for example, no registration restrictions are on the account, fees are paid or a payment arrangement is in place) until the capacity of the course section is reached. In the case of a course that is offered concurrently as a core course in one program(s) and a general education elective in another program(s), registration priority will be given to the students in the program for which the course is a core course. Once students requiring the course as a core course are registered or have had a reasonable opportunity to register, then any remaining seats will be made available to students wishing to take the course for general education purposes. Students requiring the course as a core course who deviate from their program "block" timetable will not be guaranteed priority.