Author: Lisa Cordoba

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on November 7, 2025

The Council on General Education met on November 7, 2025. The meeting minutes for October 17, 2025, were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of the Agenda for November 7, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for October 17, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. New Course & Experience Proposals (Peter)
    1. ANTH 3345 (Introduction to Ethnographic Methods)-SBS
    2. SOCI 2377 (Introduction to Markets and Culture)- SBS
    3. ANTH 3326 (Regulating Reproduction: Morality, Politics, and (In)justice)-PREI
    4. MUAS 1111 (Healing Through Song: Introduction to Therapeutic Music Entertainment)- PREX-CE
    5. PERB 2213 (World Rhythms and Cultures I)-PREX-CE
    6. ARHS 3308 (Seven Wonders of the World) – PREX-CIE
    7. CEE 1301 (Environment and Technology: Ecology and Ethics) – PREX-CIE
    8. CS 3377 (Ethical Issues in Computing) – PREX-CIE
    9. APSM 4380 (Technology and Sport) – TAS
    10. HIST 3308 (Technologies and Our Societies) – TAS
    11. APSM 4311 (Principles of Exercise is Medicine) – PREX-QA
    12. WL 3341/HRTS 3341 (Failure of Humanity in Rwanda) – LAI
    13. UNIV 3308 (Advanced Trial Advocacy) – LAI, PREX-OC
    14. UHP 3304 (Great Books) – LAI, PREX-W
    15. ALEC – PREX-OC (Activity)
    16. ARHS 1305 (Introduction to African Arts) – CA
    17. ARHS 3308 (Seven Wonders of the World) – HC, PREX-GPS
    18. WL 3382 (Texas-Mexico Borderlands) – PREX-GPS
    19. MDVL 3351 (The Pilgrimage: Medieval) – PREX-GPS
    20. SOCI 3345 (Chinese Markets and Culture) – PREX-GPS
    21. MUHI 1302 (Intro to Music in World Societies) – PREX-GPS
  4. Office Updates
    1. Updated Course Proposal Templates (Dustin)

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on October 17, 2025

The Council on General Education met on October 17, 2025. The meeting minutes for September 26, 2025, were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of the Agenda for October 17, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for September 26, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Rubric Updates (Dayna)
    1. Academic Writing (AW)
    2. Historical Contexts (HC)
    3. Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry (PREI)
  4. Ethics Tool Project (Dustin)
    1. Course Outreach List
  5. Simple Syllabi SACSCOC Outreach (Dustin)
    1. Summary Table
    2. Course Outreach List
  6. Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Place-Based Community-Based Symposium
      1. Registration deadline-10/24
    2. Transfer Summit- Save the Date 2/13/2025
    3. CC Assessment Calendar Cycle
      1. Tags being reviewed 2025-2026
        1. Exploring Science (ES)
        2. Global Perspectives (GPS)
        3. Human Diversity (HD)
        4. Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)
        5. Technological Advances and Society (TAS)
      2. Rater Sign-up
    4. Tag Removal Course
      1. PLSC 3347-PREX-HD
        1. Effective Spring 2026
    5. Transfer Credit Evaluation Process Update
      1. GT forms
  7. Executive Vice President and Provost Rachel Mersey
    1. 1:15 pm – 1:30 pm

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 26, 2025

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The Council on General Education met on September, 26, 2025. The meeting minutes for September 5, 2025, were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of the Agenda for September 26, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for September 5, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Course & Experience Proposals
    1. Revised Proposals
      1. HIST 1333 (Ethical and Political Thought in Ancient China)-HC, PREX-CIE, PREX-GPS
    2. New Proposals
      1. FILM 3335 (Film Exhibition and Distribution) – TAS
      2. UNIV 2302 (Mixed Media Technology Applications)-TAS
      3. HIST 2316 (Flight Culture in Global History)-TAS
      4. ANTH 4325 (Introduction to Comparative Osteology)-PREX-QA
      5. UHP 3301 (Cities in Mind: Dublin)- LAI & PREX-W
      6. UHP 3304 (Great Books)- LAI & PREX-W
      7. FILM 1301 (Art of Film & Media)- LAI
      8. ARHS 3313 (Pompeii: Art and Life in a Roman City)- CA
      9. UNIV 3307 (Change Makers: Exploring Social Justice in Civic Leadership)- PREX-GPS
      10. HIST 2316 (Flight Culture in Global History)- PREX-GPS
      11. UNIV 3307 (Change Makers: Exploring Social Justice in Civic Leadership)- PREX-CE & PREX-CIE
      12. UNIV 1103 (Building Bridges: The Ethics of Service)- PREX-CE
      13. Alternative Breaks- PREX-CIE (Activity)
      14. Fraternity & Sorority Life Greek Council Leadership-PREX-CE (Activity)
  1. Office Updates
    1. Writing Board: Triauna Carey (Chair)
    2. SAES Blog Newsletter (blog.smu.edu/saes)
    3. Common Curriculum Assessment Design Assistant

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education Student Academic Engagement & Success

Office of General Education and Maguire Ethics Center utilized AI to identify and solicit ethics-related course proposals

The Office of General Education, in partnership with the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics and Public Responsibility, is embracing innovation to help students complete their Common Curriculum (CC) requirements more efficiently, by using artificial intelligence to analyze 6,807 active SMU courses and identify those that may align with the Philosophical, Religious, and Ethical Inquiry (PREI) or Civic and Individual Ethics (CIE) requirements.

Using the National Ethics Project’s Ethics Course ID Tool, we uploaded SMU’s course catalog data, which included titles and descriptions.

As described on their website, “The Ethics Course ID Tool is a valuable resource for colleges and universities seeking to identify ethics-related courses. With just a simple upload of course catalogs, users receive scored outputs that indicate the likelihood of a course being ethics-related. Developed through a combination of expert knowledge and advanced natural language processing techniques, the ECIT has been rigorously validated through empirical studies involving experts in ethics education. By utilizing the ECIT, institutions interested in enhancing ethics education can facilitate integration of ethics across the curriculum.”

This AI tool generated applicability scores, helping us pinpoint 80 SMU courses that naturally fit these areas but don’t yet carry a CC designation.

Our Course Outreach list indicates which course instructors and departments we have reached out to. Academic departments can find detailed instructions on our Course & Experience Proposal webpage. Please refer to the Council on General Education website for any upcoming proposal deadlines.

Together, we can make it easier for students to meet general education requirements while recognizing the excellent learning experiences already taking place in SMU courses.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

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Office of General Education

Office of General Education encourages Common Curriculum Course Proposals in recent outreach effort

SMU administration, executive board and guests attend the SMU Ignited Campaign Kickoff Ceremony and Picnic on the Main Quadrangle in front of Dallas Hall, Friday, September 17, 2021 on the SMU Campus.

The Office of General Education recently completed a review of student petitions for Common Curriculum (CC) Proficiency and Experiences (P&E) credit. The results showed that 27 SMU courses are frequently petitioned by students as individual activities but do not currently convey CC P&E credit.

Students clearly saw strong connections between these courses and some Common Curriculum P&E learning outcomes. To make things easier for both students and instructors, the General Education office reached out to instructors and department chairs to encourage them to submit course proposals so these requirements will automatically be conveyed to students who achieve a successful course grade.

Our Course Outreach list indicates which course instructors and departments we have reached out to. Academic departments can find detailed instructions on our Course & Experience Proposal webpage. Please refer to the Council on General Education website for any upcoming proposal deadlines.

Together, we can make it easier for students to meet graduation requirements while recognizing the excellent learning experiences already taking place in SMU courses.

For any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our office.

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 5, 2025

The Council on General Education met on September 5, 2025. The meeting minutes for April 25, 2025, were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of the Agenda for September 5, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for April 25, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Welcome and Introductions
  4. CC Human Diversity Requirement Task Force Update
  5. Graduating Students Community Engagement Update
  6. Simple Syllabi and SACSCOC Audit
  7. Course and Experience Outreach Campaign
  8. General Education Updates
    1. Place-based Symposium 11/5-11/6
    2. Common Curriculum Reading
      1. Fall Book-Infectious Generosity
    3. Archived University Curriculum (UC)
    4. Course Removals
    5. Course Proposals-Summer
    6. Writing Board Update
    7. CoGE 2025-2026 Meeting Dates
    8. New CoGE Member Training Scheduling

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on April 25, 2025

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The Council on General Education met on April 25, 2025. The meeting minutes for April 4, 2025, were approved at this meeting. Below is the agenda, and the meeting minutes have now been posted on the General Education website.

  1. Approval of the Agenda for April 25, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the April 4, 2025, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Course & Experience Proposals
    1. Revised Proposals
      1. CEE 4380 (Civil and Enviro Engr Design I)-PREX-CIE
      2. Student Senate -PREX-CIE
      3. HIST 1333 (Ethical and Political Thought in Ancient China) – HC
    2. New Proposals
      1. HIST 1333 (Ethical and Political Thought in Ancient China) – PREX-CIE, PREX-GPS
      2. BL 3335 (Business Law) – PREX-CIE
  4. CC HD Requirement Task Force Recommendation and Discussion
  5. TCCNs CC Proposed Tags Table
  6. Writing Board Annual Report
  7. Member Recognition of Service/Update
  8. 2025-2026 CoGE meeting dates

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education

The Office of General Education archives the University Curriculum website and petitions

The Office of General Education will archive the University Curriculum (UC) website and petitions on July 18, 2025.

The UC applies to students who entered (matriculation into) SMU between Fall 2012 through Spring 2020.

Currently, only 17 undergraduate students are active on this curriculum, with only 8 students enrolled for fall 2025.

A copy of the archived site will be available online. University Curriculum-related petitions in DocuSign may be accessed by emailing theuc@smu.edu. Please refer to the students’ catalog, the archived website, and the Office of General Education for any other assistance.

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Office of General Education

Council on General Education 2025-2026 meeting schedule and proposal deadlines posted

The Office of General Education has announced the Council on General Education’s 2025- 2026 meeting dates. Meetings will be held from 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm on the following dates:

Fall 2025

  • September 5, 2025 (in-person; Blanton 110/112)
  • September 26, 2025 (proposal meeting)
    • Submit course proposals by 9/5 
  • October 17, 2025
  • November 7, 2025 (proposal meeting)
    • Submit course proposals by 10/17
  • December 5, 2025

Spring 2026

  • January 30, 2026
  • February 20, 2026 (proposal meeting)
    • Submit course proposals by 1/30
  • March 13, 2026
  • April 10, 2026 (proposal meeting)
    • Submit course proposals by 3/20
  • May 1, 2026 (in-person; Blanton 110/112)

Please contact the Office of General Education for questions or proposal development support.

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Office of General Education

Common Curriculum Course Search updated on May 27, 2025

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The Office of General Education has updated the Common Curriculum course search with added breadth and graduation requirement tags.

The May 27, 2025, update reflects the following tag additions and removals:

Added:

ARHS 1380 – Creativity & Aesthetics: Analysis (CAA) ARHS 3310 – Oral Communication (OC) ASAG 1310 – Creativity & Aesthetics: Creation (CAC)
BIOL 1303 – Exploring Science (ES) BIOL 4133 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE) BL 3335 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE)
CEE 4380 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE) ECO 4330 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE) ENGL 2303 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE)
FILM 2363 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE) FILM 3352 – Historical Contexts (HC) HRTS 3320 – Oral Communication (OC)
JOUR 3314 – Community Engagement (CE) JOUR 3380 – Global Perspectives (GPS) PHIL 3385 – Philosophical, Religious & Ethical Inquiry (PREI)
PSYC 2351 – Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS) PSYC 3372 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE) SPAN 2421 – Global Perspectives (GPS)
SPAN 2421 – Literary Analysis & Interpretation (LAI) UNIV 1270 – Quantitative Applications (QA) UNIV 2303 – Technological Advances and Society (TAS)
WL 3308 – Civic & Individual Ethics (CIE)

Removed:

CS 5351 – Oral Communication (OC) DSIN 5303 – Community Engagement (CE) EDU 5348 – Human Diversity (HD)
FILM 2362 – Historical Contexts (HC) FILM 3304 – Oral Communication (OC) PSYC 4380 – Historical Contexts (HC)

Any questions or concerns about the Common Curriculum course search can be directed to the Office of General Education.