Policy Statement - 10-04 Liberal Arts, BA in

Policy Statement
10-04
March 01, 2010

Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts (COLABA02)

This new self-support degree was recommended by the Academic Senate on May 14, 2009,
 approved by the President on May 22, 2009,
 and approved by the Chancellor's Office on March 1, 2010.

The B.A. in Liberal Arts is a degree completion program designed to provide working adults who have accrued some college credits with an alternative delivery format that is more conducive to their personal and professional lives, thereby providing a stronger possibility of graduation. The program is designed in a cohort format which provides students opportunities for networking as well as an environment where students’ shared interests, knowledge and skills enhance the learning experience for all. The degree will be in the Liberal Arts, an area that is general enough to support a wide variety of transferable units as well as support students with wide-ranging career interests.

This program is designed for the convenience and ease of access for the working adult. The majority of the classes will be taught face-to-face on the CSULB campus on Wednesdays and Saturdays. The basic core of courses will occasionally be coupled with a class being offered partially or entirely online. The online courses will be drawn

exclusively from the list of those courses previously approved through the normal University curriculum review process.  It is generally recognized today that the multiple purposes of collegiate instruction is accompanied and advanced by newly developed ways of learning.  Computer technology, with its capacities for calculation, simulation, and its ability to facilitate communication both in real time and at the convenience of the correspondents, is a highly desirable institutional delivery tool.

Admission Requirements

  • Current transfer requirements for non-impacted majors (Minimum GPA of 2.0 in all transferable units attempted and good standing at last college attended.
  • Complete with a “C” or better by the end of the prior Spring term for Fall admission or by the end of the prior Summer term for Spring admission the CSU GE requirements in Written Communication, Oral Communication, Critical Thinking, and Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning.
  • Complete a minimum of 30 semester units, or 45 quarter units, of C or better in courses approved to meet CSU General Education requirements, or be GE Certified for all Lower Division General Education requirements of the University
  • Minimum of 78 units and at least 8 units from a four-year school.
  • Maximum of 90 units to be counted toward the degree, at least 20 units from a four-year school, and at least 10 UD units.
  • Essay of at least 1000 words on why the student wants to major in the Liberal Arts and what the student hopes to achieve by completing the degree. The essay should explicitly address what the student hopes to achieve in terms of the goals for student learning outcomes of the curriculum (as detailed in #4, below). This essay is the first element of the assessment plan for the degree program, and each essay will be reviewed by members of the Advisory Board and the Program Director.

Program Requirements

  • A minimum of 24 upper-division units, with at least two courses (6 units) in each of the Three Areas below.
  • Three (3) units in CLA 499: Directed Studies: Professional Portfolio.
  • Remaining units (3) selected from any of the three areas below.

Area I: Oral and Written Communication

  • COMM 334: Business and Professional Communication
  • COMM 439: Communication and Popular Culture
  • ENGL 300: Advanced Composition
  • ENGL 317: Technical Communication

Area II: Global Citizenship and Cross-Disciplinary Knowledge

  • ANTH 307I: Modernization in Global Perspective
  • ANTH 412I: Culture and Communication
  • CWL 350: Global Literature in American Culture
  • CWL 415I: Ethnic Literature and Culture in America
  • ECON 300: Fundamentals of Economics
  • GEOG/IST319I: International Development
  • GEOG 470: Political Geography
  • POSC 321: The Media and American Politics
  • POSC 326: California Government in Comparative Perspective
  • PSY 384: Workplace Diversity: Barriers and Strategies
  • PSY 381: Introduction to Industrial-Organizational Psychology

Area III: Cultures, Values and Beliefs AFRS/AIS/CHLS/WST/ASAM

  • 319: U.S. Ethnic Experience PHIL/CBA
  • 400I: Business Ethics
  • RST 302I: Religious and Social Ethical Dimensions of American Diversity
  • SOC 346: Race, Gender and Class

EFFECTIVE: Fall 2010
Campus Code: (COLABA02)
College: 28
Career: UGCSU
Code: 49017
CIP Code: 24.0101