UNSW Handbook General Education

General Education

Objectives

Objectives of the General Education Program
The following objectives were approved by the Council of the University in December 1994 and with some minor changes in 2005:

To provide a learning environment in which students acquire, develop, and deploy skills of rational thought and critical analysis.
To enable students to evaluate arguments and information.
To empower students to systematically challenge received traditions of knowledge, beliefs and values.
To enable students to acquire skills and competencies, including appropriate written and spoken communication skills.
To ensure that students examine the purposes and consequences of their education and experience at University, and to foster acceptance of professional and ethical action and the social responsibility of graduates.
To foster among students the competence and the confidence to contribute creatively and responsibly to the development of their society.
To provide structured opportunities for students from disparate disciplines to interact cooperatively within a learning situation.
To provide opportunities for students to explore discipline and paradigm bases other than those of their professional or major disciplinary specialisation through non-specialist courses offered in those other areas.
To provide an environment in which students are able to experience the benefits of moving beyond the knowledge boundaries of a single discipline and explore cross and interdisciplinary connections, and cross-cultural contexts.
To provide a learning environment and teaching methodology in which students can bring the approaches of a number of disciplines to bear on a complex problem or issue.

General Education Requirements

The University's basic requirements are the same for students in all single degree programs. Students must:
(a) satisfactorily complete a minimum of 12 units of credit in General Education courses or their equivalent (unless otherwise entitled to exemption - see below). Combined undergraduate degrees offered with another faculty and leading to the award of two degrees satisfy the first requirement (12 units of credit in General Education) within the program.
(b) undertake additionally 56 hours of study which examines the purposes and consequences of their university education and which fosters socially, ethically and professionally responsible behaviour. The extent to which individual programs meet this requirement varies from program to program. In the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, for example, this requirement is satisfied in the BA degree through an ARTS3000 course.
In some other degrees of the Faculty of Arts, it is distributed throughout the program. Most programs in the Faculty of the Built Environment fulfill the latter requirement as part of the normal program curriculum. However, in the case of both the BBCM and BSc(Arch) programs, students are required to take BENV1382, Social Responsibility and Professional Ethics.

Restrictions and students' choices
In order to ensure that students have the maximum amount of choice possible in the courses that can be taken to fulfill the General Education requirement, all programs have agreed to allow students to select either:

courses that were developed especially for the General Education Program (these courses are listed at the back of this Handbook and have a course identifier that begins GEN);
a limited number of 'mainstream' courses that are offered in the degree programs of other faculties.

However, certain restrictions apply to students' choices:
Students may undertake a maximum of three units of credit from approved General Education courses within the faculty which is the program authority for the program in which that student is enrolled.
* Further General Education courses may be drawn from any other faculties with a maximum of six units of credit to be drawn from any one faculty, other than the faculty that has the authority for the program in which the student is enrolled.
* The Faculty of Commerce and Economics has not approved GE courses offered by FCE to be available to students enrolled in FCE degree programs.

The following rules will apply:
(a) Where students have been granted advanced standing in any program, any remaining General Education requirements in those programs must be met from courses offered in a faculty other than the faculty which is the program authority for the program in which the student is enrolled.
(b) In programs that have a partial exemption from General Education, the remaining General Education courses must be taken in faculties other than the faculty that is the program authority for the program in which the student is enrolled.
Faculties must identify any of their mainstream courses which overlap substantially with the General Education courses offered within that faculty and must stipulate that students who have completed or are completing these mainstream overlapping courses are excluded from enrolment in the related General Education course.
Additionally:

the program requirements for each faculty which relate to the undergraduate degree programs offered by that faculty, may in some cases limit the number or type of 'mainstream' courses a student may include in the total number of courses necessary to complete their General Education requirement (in any case 'mainstream' courses may substitute for a maximum of 50% of the General Education requirement for a course), and
students' first choices cannot be guaranteed, as students in later program stages will be given preference over those in earlier stages; quotas may be set for different faculties and courses. Courses with insufficient enrolments will be cancelled by 31 January (for Session 1 courses) and 27 June (for Session 2 courses). Staff leave means that not all courses are necessarily offered each session or year.

Exemption from Part or All of the General Education Program

There will be no general exemptions for students enrolled in single degree programs.

Students enrolling in combined programs
As a general rule, students enrolled in combined undergraduate programs leading to the award of two degrees, each in a different faculty, meet their General Education requirements.
Variation to the General Education requirement in some combined programs may have been approved. Students enrolled in combined programs should check their General Education requirements with their faculty or program office.

Special student exemptions
Students transferring from one faculty to another at UNSW, or from another higher education/tertiary institution, who believe that their prior learning and/or qualification satisfies the University's General Education objectives are eligible to seek exemption from all, or part of the UNSW General Education requirements (4 courses or 12 units of credit).
Applicants for exemption must supply full written justification for their request, plus appropriate documentation, showing how they have satisfied the GE objectives (see above). Applications will be considered on a case by case, and course by course basis by the faculty, which will make a determination and notify the student accordingly. The faculty's yardsticks will be:

the extent to which the courses nominated for exemption satisfy sufficient GE objectives (i.e. cooperative interaction with students in other disciplines, most importantly; skills/competencies complementary to the major discipline area; social and ethical responsibility and development; empowerment to challenge traditional knowledge/paradigms);
the extent to which the previous program is different in paradigm and content to that in which the student is presently enrolled;
the length of previous study undertaken, where, in principle, 1 year might qualify for exemption from one GE course (3 units of credit), 2 years for 6 UOC, 3 years for 9 UOC and 4 years for 12 UOC.

In all cases, the onus is on the student to present a written justification.
Note: Life experience and/or mature age entry are not grounds for exemption.
Practical experience/industry placement is not grounds for exemption.

Substitution
Students may apply to their faculty for approval to substitute any course(s) from other faculties for General Education courses up to a total maximum of 6 units of credit (or 50%) of General Education. Substitution requests must be submitted in writing and approved prior to enrolment and state how the proposed courses will satisfy the GE objectives in their program, together with the remainder of the student's GE program. The faculty will approve the request if satisfied that the substitution(s) will indeed allow this to occur.
Students may substitute the study of Language Other Than English (LOTE) within their General Education program. English (and other languages) as offered by the Institute of Languages or Learning Centre are excluded. Only languages offered by academic units are acceptable; a maximum of 50% of General Education can be substituted with language courses.

Irrespective of the amount of units of credit associated with a mainstream course, students can only count 6 UOC towards the General Education requirement.
Students should ensure that the substitute course has a seminar component. It is unlikely that the Faculty will accept it otherwise.

Co-requisites and exclusions
The Committee on Education will determine co-requisites and exclusions as and when necessary.

Faculty General Education Requirements

Each faculty has the responsibility for deciding what courses are not able to be counted towards the General Education requirement for their students. This may mean that courses offered by the faculty in which a student is enrolled, or courses which are a required part of a program even though offered by another faculty, are not able to be counted toward the General Education requirement.
Information concerning the substitution of other university courses or exemption from some General Education courses on the basis of previous formal study at tertiary level is available from the faculty or program office.

Student Involvement in the General Education Program

An important feature of the General Education Program is that student representation on committees that make decisions about General Education is assured. There are two student members on the Academic Board's Committee on Education. All General Education courses are required to be regularly evaluated by students and the results of the evaluations made known to the members of all faculties whose students are taking those courses.

URL for this page:

© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.