Relationship of the Core curriculum and major curriculum

 

What is at the CORE (Curriculum) of MSU?

The Core Curriculum model of general education at MSU was developed by an ad hoc faculty committee and approved by Faculty Senate.  The curriculum is maintained, reviewed, revised, and assessed annually by faculty and staff on the Core Curriculum Committee. 

 The MSU Core Curriculum consists of selected courses designed to develop qualities of communication skills, thinking and problem-solving abilities, and orientations toward local and global citizenship. All students gain knowledge and experience with these qualities from a breadth of perspectives in the natural, social and mathematical sciences, the arts, and the humanities, as well as interdisciplinary experiences around diversity, research, and university seminar. While university education develops expertise in various disciplines, every student is broadly educated through the Core Curriculum. 

The Core qualities are the Institutional Learning Outcomes for every student and represent a promise that our students are effective communicators, thinkers and problem solvers, and local and global citizens upon graduation. Core qualities are introduced in the Core Perspective classes, at the heart of students’ early years at MSU.   Core qualities are further developed and reinforced throughout the major curriculum.

The connection between the Core Curriculum and the accreditation process is a close one.  At the heart of accreditation standards is the value that education prepares the student to find success in a future that is ever changing and unpredictable.  In addition to knowledge and skills that educate students in various fields of study, the students must be able to learn, lead, and adapt to habits of the mind needed to address future opportunities and challenges.  The Core curriculum prepares students to continue to discover, communicate with the world, and support local and global issues and communities, which are at the heart of accreditation standards.