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2018/2019 fcc catalog
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(a) Based on criteria developed and published
by the receiving public institution; and
(b) Made to provide fair and equal treatment
for native and transfer students.
(3) Courses taken at a public institution as part of a
recommended transfer program leading toward
a baccalaureate degree shall be applicable
to related programs at a receiving public
institution granting the baccalaureate degree.
C. Receiving Institution Program Responsibility.
(1) The faculty of a receiving public institution is
responsible for development and determination
of the program requirements in major fields
of study for a baccalaureate degree, including
courses in the major field of study taken in the
lower division.
(2) A receiving public institution may set program
requirements in major fields of study which
simultaneously fulfill general education
requirements.
(3) A receiving public institution, in developing
lower division course work, shall exchange
information with other public institutions
to facilitate the transfer of credits into its
programs.
.03 General Education Requirements
for Public Institutions.
A. While public institutions have the autonomy to
design their general education program to meet
their unique needs and mission, that program shall
conform to the definitions and common standards
in this chapter, and incorporate the general
education knowledge and skills required by the
Middle States Commission on Higher Education
Standards for Accreditation. No later than August
1, 2017, a public institution shall satisfy the general
education requirement by:
(1) Requiring each program leading to the A.A.
or A.S. degree to include not less than 28 and
not more than 36 semester hours, and each
baccalaureate degree program to include not
less than 38 and not more than 46 semester
hours of required core courses, with the core
requiring, at a minimum, course work in each of
the following five areas:
(a) Arts and humanities,
(b) Social and behavioral sciences,
(c) Biological and physical sciences,
(d) Mathematics, and
(e) English composition; or
(2) Conforming with COMAR 13B.02.02.16D(2)
(b)—(c).
B. Each core course used to satisfy the distribution
requirements of §A(1) of this regulation shall carry
at least 3 semester hours.
C. General education programs of public institutions
shall require at least:
(1) Two courses in arts and humanities;
(2) Two courses in social and behavioral sciences;
(3) Two science courses, at least one of which shall
be a laboratory course;
(4) One course in mathematics, having
performance expectations demonstrating a
level of mathematical maturity beyond the
Maryland College and Career Ready Standards
in Mathematics (including problem-solving
skills, and mathematical concepts and
techniques that can be applied in the student’s
program of study); and
(5) One course in English composition, completed
with a grade of C- or better.
D. Institution-Specific Requirements.
(1) In addition to the five required areas in §A of
this regulation, a public institution may include
up to 8 semester hours in course work outside
the five areas. These courses may be integrated
into other general education courses or may
be presented as separate courses. Examples
include, but are not limited to, Health, Diversity,
and Computer Literacy.
(2) Public institutions may not include the courses
in this section in a general education program
unless they provide academic content and
rigor equivalent to the areas in §A(1) of this
regulation.
E. General education programs leading to the A.A.S.
degree shall include at least 18 semester hours
from the same course list designated by the
sending institution for the A.A. and A.S. degrees.
The A.A.S. degree shall include at least one
3-semester-hour course from each of the five areas
listed in §A(1) of this regulation.
F. A course in a discipline listed in more than one of
the areas of general education may be applied only
to one area of general education.
G. A public institution may allow a speech
communication or foreign language course to be
part of the arts and humanities category.
H. Composition and literature courses may be placed
in the arts and humanities area if literature is
included as part of the content of the course.
I. Public institutions may not include physical
education skills courses as part of the general
education requirements.
J. General education courses shall reflect current
scholarship in the discipline and provide reference
to theoretical frameworks and methods of inquiry
appropriate to academic disciplines.
K. Courses that are theoretical may include
applications, but all applications courses shall
include theoretical components if they are to
be included as meeting general education
requirements.
L. Notwithstanding §A(1) of this regulation,
a public 4-year institution may require 48
semester hours of required core courses
if courses upon which the institution’s
curriculum is based carry 4 semester hours.
M. Public institutions shall develop systems to ensure
that courses approved for inclusion on the list
of general education courses are designed and
assessed to comply with the requirements of this
chapter.
.04 Transfer of General Education
Credit.
A. A student transferring to one public institution
from another public institution shall receive
general education credit for work completed at
the student’s sending institution as provided by
this chapter.
B. A completed general education program shall
transfer without further review or approval by the
receiving institution and without the need for a
course-by-course match.
C. Courses that are defined as general education by
one institution shall transfer as general education
even if the receiving institution does not have that
specific course or has not designated that course
as general education.
D. The receiving institution shall give lower-division
general education credits to a transferring student
who has taken any part of the lower-division
general education credits described in Regulation
.03 of this chapter at a public institution for any
general education courses successfully completed
at the sending institution.
E. Except as provided in Regulation .03M of this
chapter, a receiving institution may not require a
transfer student who has completed the requisite
number of general education credits at any
public college or university to take, as a condition
of graduation, more than 10-----16 additional
semester hours of general education and specific
courses required of all students at the receiving
institution, with the total number not to exceed
46 semester hours. This provision does not relieve
students of the obligation to complete specific
academic program requirements or course
prerequisites required by a receiving institution.
F. A sending institution shall designate on or with the
student transcript those courses that have met its
general education requirements, as well as indicate
whether the student has completed the general
education program.
G. A.A.S. Degrees.
(1) While there may be variance in
the numbers of hours of general
education required for A.A., A.S., and
A.A.S. degrees at a given institution,
the courses identified as meeting
general education requirements for
all degrees shall come from the same
general education course list and
exclude technical or career courses.