Integrative General Studies BGS

Program Mission Statement

The mission of the Bachelor in Integrative General Studies will be to provide students with an individualized and multidisciplinary curriculum in the College of Arts and Sciences. Working with their advisors, students will create an individualized program of study in one of several concentration areas: humanities and arts, social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, and education studies. The concentration-based competencies will prepare students to become critical thinkers, effective communicators and have the discipline-specific knowledge and skills to allow them to engage in a broad range of careers and graduate school.

Student Learning Outcomes

Graduates will be able:

Content/Discipline-Specific Knowledge/Skills

• Students will demonstrate integrative thinking through synthesizing ideas and methods across disciplinary contexts.

Critical Thinking

• Students will demonstrate the ability to think critically and analytically.

Communication

• Students will demonstrate effective communication skills in writing.

Assessment Approaches

Student learning in the BGS program is assessed by an integrative essay. At their end of their undergraduate experience, students will compose an integrative essay where they connect relevant academic knowledge and experience drawn from the disciplines and curricular areas they used to compose their program of study. Essays will be assessed by a committee of at least two faculty members using the AAC&U VALUE rubric on Integrative Learning. Students will explain the benefits of approaching their degree experience from more than one discipline and will cite specific examples from their coursework. The goal of the essay is for students to recognize and actively form connections across disciplines and disciplinary perspectives. All three outcomes (discipline-specific knowledge and skills, critical thinking, and communication) will be assessed in this culminating essay.