CORE CURRICULUM

The institutions of the University System share a common general mission in providing a Core Curriculum for all entering freshmen. The purpose is to aid and facilitate the educational progress of students as they pursue baccalaureate degrees within and among the units of the University System. It is designed to constitute the freshman and sophomore years of study and assure the transfer student that Core Curriculum courses successfully completed at one University System institution, or a fractional part thereof, will be accepted at another University System unit and apply toward a baccalaureate degree. The Core also provides for the preservation of the maximum possible amount of institutional autonomy.

The Core Curriculum is composed of 90 quarter credit hours of study divided among four areas of which 60 hours are in general education and 30 in a major area of study.

The result has been that fewer transfer students lose credit, and institutions, particularly two-year colleges, are no longer placed in the difficult position of attempting to provide excessive curricular offerings to satisfy lower division requirements in various baccalaureate degree programs offered at all four-year institutions. Each institution has developed its Core Curriculum within the broad context of the above plan. The list is maintained in the Core Curriculum Handbook and is updated periodically as changes are recommended.

Sources: Core Curriculum Handbook; Office of Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

COUNCIL FOR INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

The University System is committed to achieving world-class status by empowering its institutions to enable their faculty, students, and staff to participate effectively in a global society. Strategic alliances, partnerships and other collaborative initiatives will link the University System with other parts of the world and bring other parts of the world to Georgia. The synergy thus achieved will provide the international perspective and cross-cultural competence required for Georgians to participate fully and effectively as leaders in a global society.

In March 1995, the Board of Regents approved a policy direction which included the following goals:

• To provide international development opportunities for two percent of University System faculty annually by 1997;
• To design and implement a comprehensive strategy for internationalizing the University System and its institutions by the end of 1997, with special emphasis on international elements being integrated into the curriculum;
• To have two percent of University System students annually participating in study abroad programs by the year 2000;
• To implement a global communications network by 1996;
• To have at least five new international initiatives with Georgia businesses or industries in design or under way by 1998;
• To have established a well-integrated institutional base, statewide scope of responsibility, and System organizational support for the ongoing exercise of these and related functions by the end of 1997.

To accomplish these goals a Council for International Education (CIE) was appointed in the spring of 1995. The CIE includes representatives from the business community and leadership from the institutions and international education. The Council's role is to develop a vision and strategic plan for implementing the goals identified in the International Policy approved by the Board of Regents.

Source: Council for International Education