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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

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

Common Curriculum Course Search updated on May 27, 2025

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.

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Student Academic Engagement & Success

Guidance for academic advisors: Temporary pause of the Common Curriculum Human Diversity graduation requirement

Post updated September 2, 2025:

On August 29, 2025, the temporary pause for the Common Curriculum Human Diversity was extended to include Fall 2025 graduates to permit additional time for a final curricular governance recommendation. Please read the update from Assistant Provost Dustin Grabsch, which was posted on the SMU Federal Updates SharePoint website.

Guidance for academic advisors remains the same as outlined below, but undergraduate students with expected graduation terms of Spring 2026 and beyond should be advised to complete the requirement.

For Fall 2025, expected graduates who were missing the Human Diversity requirement and were not currently enrolled in an HD-tagged course for the term have had their requirement waived on their Degree Progress Report. The Office of General Education will review records following the Withdrawal deadline and again following grade posting, should any additional Fall 2025 students need a waiver.

—–

In light of the February 14, 2025, Dear Colleague Letter from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, the University has decided to temporarily pause the undergraduate Human Diversity (HD) requirement in the SMU Common Curriculum for students graduating between May 2025 and August 2025. This pause is intended to provide time to thoroughly review the requirement and evaluate whether revisions are necessary.

Undergraduate students whose expected graduation terms were between May 2025 and August 2025 as of Friday, February 28, who had not or were not expected to have the requirement satisfied by the end of May 2025 have been waived.

Students who meet the HD requirement via course or individual will be documented as having satisfied the condition on their Degree Progress Report (DPR). For instance, if a HD individual activity or an HD-tagged course was completed successfully, it will be reflected.

If HD is incomplete by the end of Spring 2025 and the student is expected to graduate during the pause, it will appear waived for graduation. A sample DPR below shows the explanatory text for the waived requirement.

DPR HD requirement line

These DPR updates went live on my.SMU on Wednesday, March 5, 2025. Students will be notified via email on Monday, March 10, 2025. If faculty and academic advisors discover errors with an affected student’s DPR, please submit a DPR Issues/Requests to the Office of the Registrar.

It is important to note that this is not a permanent change. No modifications to the Human Diversity requirement will be made without appropriate faculty approval. The pause is being enacted to ensure that faculty have the necessary time and space to deliberate on the matter fully. Therefore, academic advisors are encouraged not to modify advisement practices for students graduating after August 2025 at this time.

Should you have any questions about this guidance or student’s expected graduation has been updated to be within the pause period, please contact the Office of General Education.

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Office of General Education

Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 27, 2024

The Council on General Education met on September 27, 2024. The meeting minutes for September 6, 2024 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 Agenda for September 27, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the September 6, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Coherent Rationale Discussion
    1. 1000- and 2000-level Pre-requisites
  4. Course & Activity Proposals
    1. Revised Proposals
      1. BUSE 2311 (Perspectives on American Business Through the Lens of the Automobile Industry) – TAS
      2. UNIV 1270 (Personal Finance and Branding) – PREX-QA
    2. New Proposals
      1. Activity Proposals
        1. Dennis Simon Civil Rights Pilgrimage – PREX-HD
      2. Course Proposals
        1. UNIV 1301 (Information Systems and Society) – PREX-W
        2. HIST 1328 (Votes for Women) – HC; PREX-HD; PREX-W
        3. ARHS 3305 (Arts of the American Southwest) – PREX-HD (course currently tagged for CA, CIE, OC, W)
        4. ARHS 3382 (Culture Shock: Museums as Sites of Protest) – HC; PREX-CIE
        5. SOCI 3322 (Nonprofits at Work in the Community) – SBS; PREX-CIE; PREX-HD
  5. General Education Office Updates
    1. SMU-in-Four Year Three Progress Presentation (October 17th  at 3 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 April 5, 2024

The Council on General Education met on April 5, 2024. The meeting minutes for March 8, 2024, 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 Agenda for April 5, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the March 8, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. External Test Credit Review (AP, IB, CLEP) Working Group (Melina)
    1. Field specialists have been reviewing External Test Credit for AP, IB, and CLEP exams. They reviewed exam syllabi, compared them to SMU’s Common Curriculum rubrics, and assigned/maintained tags where applicable. This is still an ongoing review, and we are currently seeking volunteers to assist in reviewing the remaining exams.
    2. Recommendations and Vote (see below after agenda)
  4. Rubric Review (Dayna)
    1. Global Perspectives-Update
    2. SL- American Sign Language
  5. CC Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. MUHI 1313 (Introduction to Critical Music Studies)- Critical Reasoning
      2. ASCE 1310 (Ceramic Technology)- Technological Advances & Society (revised)
      3. BUSE 2311 (Perspectives of Business: Automobile)- Technological Advances & Society
      4. ARHS 3376 (Latin American Art)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      5. ASAG 1310 (Word and Image: 1900-present)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      6. ASAG 1350 (On Beauty)- Creativity & Aesthetics
      7. FM 1300 (Fashion Communication)- Social & Behavioral Sciences
      8. PHIL 3384 (Capitalism and Its Critics)- Philosophical, Religious, & Ethical Inquiry
      9. RELI 3392 (World Films, World Religions)-Philosophical, Religious, & Ethical Inquiry and Global Perspectives
      10. WL 3307 (Perspectives on French Identity)- Global Perspectives and Civics & Individual Ethics
      11. UNIV 1270 (Personal Finance and Branding)- Quantitative Applications
      12. FM 1350 (Fashion & Diversity)- Human Diversity
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Lavender Leaders- Human Diversity
      2. CORE- Human Diversity
      3. Dr. Dennis Simon Civil Rights Pilgrimage- Civics & Individual Ethics
  6. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Catalog Updates Finalized
    2. Peruna Passport Updated
    3. Degree Planner Pre-Approved and Individual Activities in the Co-curricular
    4. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements Vote Results

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 March 8, 2024

The Council on General Education met on March 8, 2024. The meeting minutes for February 23, 2024, 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 Agenda for March 8, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the February 23, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. CC Tag Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research) REVISED-Civics and Individual Ethics; Human Diversity; Global Perspectives
      2. AMAE 3387 (Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship) – REVISED-Oral Communication
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Honor Council – Civics and Individual Ethics
      2. SMU Outdoor Adventures – Community Engagement; Oral Communication
  4. CC Rubric Update (Dayna)
    1. Approved pending revisions.
      1. Social and Behavioral Sciences
      2. Technological Advances and Society
    2. Tabled
      1. Exploring Science
      2. Global Perspectives
  5. Student Progress Toward Degree and Throughout (Sheri)
    1. Role of the Schools in satisfying CIE/CE
  6. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements
      1. CR proposals-voting ballot will be sent out with a 3/21 deadline.
      2. In Development – WIM to W Progress; Modification to Course Content Criteria (4000-level)
  7. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Catalog Review

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 February 23, 2024

The Council on General Education met on February 23, 2024. The meeting minutes for February 2, 2024, 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 Agenda for February 23, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the February 2, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Course Proposals
      1. ARHS 3398 (Introduction to Museum Studies) – Creativity & Aesthetics
      2. BIOL 1310 (Aquatic Biology of the American Southwest)- Exploring Science
      3. PHYS 1320 (Music & Physics) – Quantitative Applications
      4. AMAE 3387 (Principles of Creative Entrepreneurship) – Technological Advances & Society; Oral Communication
      5. ARHS 3326 (How It’s Made: Approaches to the Art Object) – Technological Advances & Society
      6. JOUR 2303 (Media Literacy and Democracy) – Literary Analysis & Interpretation; Civics and Individual Ethics
      7. ANTH 3313 (South America: Culture, Environment, History) – Historical Contexts; Global Perspectives
      8. HIST 3381 (The First World War and Its Impact)- Global Perspectives
      9. RELI 1304 (Intro to Western Religions)- Human Diversity
      10. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research) REVISED-Civics and Individual Ethics; Human Diversity; Global Perspectives
    2. Activity Proposals
      1. Honor Council – Civics and Individual Ethics
      2. SMU Outdoor Adventures – Community Engagement; Oral Communication
  4. Student Progress Toward Degree and Throughout (Sheri)
    1. Role of the Schools in satisfying CIE/CE
  5. Proposals (Peter)
    1. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Requirements
    2. In Development – WIM to W Progress; Modification to Course Content Criteria (4000-level)
  6. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. CC Overview workshop attendance
    2. CC Course Proposal workshop attendance
    3. Catalog review
    4. Success Fest 2/28/24
    5. Undergraduate Degree Planner deadline 3/1/24

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 February 2, 2024

The Council on General Education met on February 2, 2024. The meeting minutes for December 1, 2023, 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 Agenda for February 2, 2024, Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the December 1, 2023, Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Update on Spring 2024 Meeting Schedule (Peter)
    1. 2/2/24
    2. 2/23/24-proposals due 2/12
    3. 3/8/24
    4. 4/5/24-proposals due 3/25
    5. 4/26/24 (EOY sendoff)
  4. Welcome new/returning members (Peter)
    1. Elena Borzova 2024-2027 (replacing Scott Douglas)
    2. Karisa Cloward returning from Fall 2023 leave (Luigi Manzetti only served Fall 2023)
  5. Rubric Updates (Dayna)
    1. Exploring Science
    2. Social and Behavioral Sciences
    3. Technological Advances and Society
    4. Global Perspectives
    5. Human Diversity
  6. Critical Reasoning Redesign Update (Sheri/Dustin)
    1. Fulfillment Requirement
    2. Grade Repeat
    3. Course Registration
  7. CoGE Working Group Timelines (Dustin/Melina)
    1. Re-Evaluation of Transfer Credit on Texas Common Course Numbering System
      1. Volunteer Members: Chris Logan, Stephanie Amsel, Dayna Oscherwitz
    2. External Test Credit Review (AP, IB, CLEP)
      1. Volunteer Members: Dayna Oscherwitz
  8. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. Communications shared related to Fall CoGE business
      1. Council on General Education approved updates to the Common Curriculum Critical Reasoning rubric
      2. New External Breadth Swap Petition now available for Common Curriculum students on the Fall 2023 Catalog or later
      3. The Council on General Education approves changes to Common Curriculum Critical Reasoning fulfillment requirements
      4. Modifications made to Common Curriculum Global Perspectives rubric, permitting all SMU Abroad programs to satisfy
      5. The Office of General Education archives General Education Curriculum website
      6. Council on General Education – Spring 2024 Meetings
      7. Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 01, 2023
      8. Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on September 29, 2023
      9. Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on October 20, 2023
      10. Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on November 10, 2023
      11. Approved meeting minutes from the Council on General Education on December 1, 2023

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 December 1, 2023

The Council on General Education met on December 1, 2023. The meeting minutes for November 10, 2023 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 Agenda for the December 1, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  2. Approval of Minutes for the November 10, 2023 Council on General Education meeting.
  3. Common Curriculum Assessment Results (Yan)
    1. CC Components Assessed
  4. Proposals
    1. Revisions submitted
      1. APSM 3360 (Nutrition and Population Health) – PREX-CE
    2. Courses approved that are still pending a meeting with the assessment office
      1. FILM 3352 (American Film History) – HC
      2. PSYC 3362 (Psychology & the Challenges of Life) – SBS, PREX-HD
      3. WL 3379 (Modern German Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present) -PREX-GPS
      4. GERM 3379 (Modern German Culture from the Enlightenment to the Present) – PREX-GPS
    3. Courses that were tabled pending revisions
      1. FILM 2351 (International Film History) – PREX-GPS
      2. ASCE 1310 (Ceramic Technology) – TAS
      3. HRTS 4399 (Human Rights Research) – PREX-CIE, PREX-HD, PREX-GPS
  5. Critical Reasoning Fulfillment Discussion
  6. General Education Office Updates (Dustin)
    1. CoGE Working Group Timelines
      1. Re-Evaluation of Transfer Credit on Texas Common Course Numbering System
      2. External Test Credit Review (AP, IB, CLEP)
    2. CoGE Spring meeting dates
      1. 2/2/24
      2. 2/23/24-proposals due 2/12
      3. 3/8/24
      4. 4/5/24-proposals due 3/25
      5. 4/26/24 (EOY sendoff)
    3. Members leaving
      1. Luigi Manzetti served only Fall 2023
      2. Scott Douglas served from 2017-2023
    4. New/returning members
      1. Elena Borzova 2024-2027 (replacing Scott)
      2. Karisa Cloward returning from leave

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