4-Wins

Proposal
The proposal is known as the 4-Wins Proposal because it is uniquely designed to be a win-win-win-win
proposal. All AS/AA Students win, Gen Ed wins, Pre-Majors win, and General Studies wins. These
stakeholders benefit in this proposal without negative impacts. We also believe that the proposal has
great potential to be a win for Advising and Financial Aid as well.
This proposal is consistent with the Board of Regents R470 Policy document which governs General
Education at all USHE Institutions. Each proposal addresses one or more of the Goals listed below and
cites consistency with R470:
1. Morph all of the courses in the (ID) designation into 4-5 newly created Gen Ed Designations
and make these new Designations a Major Requirement for the General Studies AS/AA
Degrees. This proposal addresses Goals 3, 4, and 5. All General Studies Students will now have
major course requirements (perhaps 15 credit hours) to help guide their studies and encourage
them to choose a Pre-Major area of study earlier in their academic career. All (ID) courses will
continue to exist in a more specific Gen Ed Designation with a targeted audience who does not
have a chosen Pre-Major.
Degrees awarded in General Studies Programs were 72% of all AS and AA degrees according to
the 13-14 Fact Book. Degrees awarded in Pre-Major Programs were 28% of all AS and AA
degrees according to the 13-14 Fact Book. This proposal would likely result in a net increase in
the total number of registrations for Gen Ed courses (See the Numbers at the end of the
document).

General Studies AS/AA

Global
Awareness
(GA)
3

Gen Ed
31

Major
Require
ments
15
Any
1000
Level or
>
15

Gen Ed
31

Career
Prep (CP)
3

Any 1000
Level or >
15

Divide Major Requirements (15 hours) into ALL (ID) Courses, organized into 4-5 new required
Gen Ed Designations.
2. Decrease the number of Gen Ed credit hours from 34 to 31. This proposal addresses Goal 1.
R470 indicates the Minimum General Education Credits is 30. Because (ID) has been morphed
into Major Requirements for General Studies Students (See Item 1 above), (ID) no longer
appears as a Gen Ed Distribution Requirement. This has the effect of keeping the Gen Ed
requirements consistent with R470 and allows Pre-Major Programs to add a major required
course, or decrease the total number of PCO credit hours by 3.

Pre-Major AS/AA Degrees

Gen Ed
34

Pre-major
Reqs
27

Gen Ed
31

Pre-major
Reqs
30

The following is a summary of R470 and a mapping to SLCC Gen Ed for AS/AA Transfer Degrees.
R470 AS/AA Gen Ed Requirements

SLCC AS/AA Gen Ed Requirements

Core Requirements (12 Hours):

Composition -6
Quantitative Literacy -3
American Institutions -3

Core Skills (12-13 hours):

Composition (EN) -6
Quantitative Literacy (QL) -3-4
American Institutions (AI) -3

Breadth Requirements (18 Hours):

Fine Arts-3
Humanities-3
Social and Behavioral Sciences-3
Life Sciences-3
Physical Sciences-3

Distribution Areas (18-21 hours):

Fine Arts (FA) -3
Humanities (HU) -3
Social Sciences (SS) -3
Biological Sciences (BS) -3
Physical Sciences (PS) -3
Interdisciplinary (ID) -3

Unique to the Institution-3

Institutional Requirements (4 hours):

Lifelong Wellness (LW) -1
Student Choice (IN) or Depth -3

The last R470 category (Unique to the Institution) is described in R470 as Outside the Core
requirements, USHE institutions are encouraged to establish unique course requirements which
reflect emphases of the institutions, strengths of faculties, and the varying interests of
students. Assuming (ID) is a Distribution Area, this proposal recommends no change to the
Institutional Requirements and remains as (LW) and Student Choice of (IN) or Depth.

4-Wins Proposal Recommendations

While not specifically Gen Ed Reforms, the following recommendations are connected to the
above proposals. We hope that General Education can endorse these recommendations to the
Curriculum Committee.

Recommendation 1: For newly matriculated students, provide Undeclared as the default major
or area of study rather than General Studies. Proposal 1 increases the importance of Gen Ed in the
General Studies Programs. Self-advising students and Degree Works may guide new students to
take courses that will not meet their educational goals and needs if they default to General
Studies. We recommend Undeclared or some other approach to allow Degree Works to guide
students to Advising, or encourage students to declare their degree choice and area of study (which
includes General Studies) as early as possible.
Recommendation 2: Create a Sub-Committee of the Curriculum Committee to include faculty
administration for the General Studies Programs. This proposal addresses Goals 3 and 5. The
General Studies Programs will include 31 hours of Gen Ed requirements, 15 hours of major course
requirements selected from specific Gen Ed designations, and a 15 hours of any course level 1000 or
greater. Guiding the students major course requirements and choice hours is critical to the success
of these students as they prepare to transfer to a major program of study at a 4-year institution. A
faculty-led subcommittee that works closely with Administration, General Education, Advising, and
Financial Aid, could help administrate this effort which has a significant impact on the future
education of 72% of our students who seek a Transfer Degree.
Recommendation 3: To help faculty with AAS and CC Programs develop their Gen Ed
requirements, provide policies and procedures to acknowledge the difference between the Gen
Ed requirements for AAS and CC degrees versus Transfer Degrees and look for overlap between
the requirements for the different degree programs. This recommendation addresses Goals 2 and
4. R470 does not address the Gen Ed requirements for an AAS or CC degree. General Education has
already created designations such as QS to recognize the unique Gen Ed requirements in AAS or CC
degrees. There have also been some exceptional courses which have embedded Gen Ed criteria
within them. Individual accrediting agencies may also have unique Gen Ed requirements that must
be accommodated. This proposal recommends that a clear policy and procedure for AAS Gen Ed
requirements be adopted so that the faculty is aware of how to design curriculum specific to their
AAS or CC degrees with respect to the Gen Ed requirements.
Recommendation 4: Use terminology that is consistent with R470. For example, identify the Gen
Ed Core Skills as Core Requirements, and Distribution Areas as Breadth Requirements,
Biological Sciences (BS) as Life Sciences (LS), and Social Sciences (SS) as Social and Behavioral
Sciences (SBS).

Goals of the 4-Wins Proposal

General Education Reform provides the college faculty with the unique opportunity to address a number
of institutional concerns. The above proposals attempt to find balance among competing interests at
the college and the needs of our students by recognizing and addressing the following Goals:
1. Reduce the competing interests between the Pre-Major Programs and those of General
Education. Providing Gen Ed core and breadth of knowledge means that credit hours devoted
to this effort directly competes with the credit hours devoted to the depth of knowledge and
articulations that Pre-Major Programs provide. Currently, in a 61 credit hour Transfer Degree,
34 hours are devoted to Gen Ed and 27 hours are devoted to the students major area of study.
2. Address the unique differences between General Education within Transfer Degrees versus
General Education within a AAS or CC degrees.
3. Seek to balance the disproportionate number of students who choose General Studies
Programs versus Pre-Major Transfer Programs. Students (even if they already know the major
area in which they want to study at the university) are often unaware of the benefits of
declaring a Pre-Major Program such as departmental scholarships and articulated courses.
General Studies is the default major.
4. Provide more opportunity for interested faculty in all departments to create and teach Gen Ed
courses. Gen Ed is a very important part of all Transfer, AAS and CC degrees and R470
encourages the institution to create Gen Ed opportunities that are unique to the institution.
Creating Gen Ed Designations which include the curriculum from all interested schools and
departments is in the interest of our students, departments, and the college. This goal is
consistent with Clear Pathways.
5. Provide interested faculty and General Education the continuing opportunity to improve the
General Studies Programs.

Advantages of the 4-Wins Proposal

A. Pre-Major Programs have 3 additional hours in which to either add an additional required
course; or in programs with 63 or more hours, possibly reduce the programs length by 3 hours.
B. General Studies Programs will be a major program of study with significantly more structure and
guidance for students who choose that major.
C. The ratio of Pre-Majors to General Studies Majors may increase, providing students more
opportunities for articulation and cost-saving transfer to a University.
D. All courses formerly designated as ID will be able to retain a Gen Ed designation and the ability
to fit the course to the designation will be more specific because of the existence of 4 -5 new
designations.
E. Students are encouraged to choose a major earlier in their studies.
F. The opportunity for the Gen Ed Committee and the General Studies Programs to be innovative
(perhaps groundbreaking) will exist without conflicting with the needs of Pre-Major Programs.
G. The opportunity for new courses to receive a Gen Ed designation may increase because of the
new Gen Ed designations and criteria.

Disadvantages of the 4-Wins Proposal

A. The opportunity for new courses to receive a Gen Ed designation may increase because of the
new Gen Ed designations and criteria.
B. The work load for the Gen Ed Committee will increase (although on a one-time basis) because
criteria and rubrics for the new designations must be written.
C. PCOs for all AS/AA degrees will need to be modified to account for the change in credit hours in
Gen Ed.

The Numbers
In the last Fact Book (13-14 Year), There were 1940 General Studies AS/AA Degrees and 766 Pre-Major
AS/AA Degrees awarded.
In the current Gen Ed Organization, General Studies has 34 Gen Ed credit hours, and Pre-Major
Programs have 34 Gen Ed credit hours.
(1940 * 34) + (766 * 34) = 92,004 Gen Ed Credit Hour Registrations
The 4-Wins Proposal shifts 3 credit hours out of Gen Ed and moves it into General Studies Major
Requirements, requiring General Studies students to take 15 hours of Gen Ed courses. Therefore the
calculation becomes:
(1940 * 31) + (766 * 31) + (1940 * 15) = 112,986 Gen Ed Credit Hour Registrations
The 4-Wins Proposal would provide a 23% increase in Gen Ed Registrations. An additional benefit is
that General Studies students would now be receive 50% more guidance in their program than they
currently have. Finally, if the line between General Studies and Pre-Majors degrees shifts to increase
the number of Pre-Major degrees, the break-even point for Gen Ed Registrations is:
Pre-Majors:
766

2165

General Studies:
1940

541

Definitions
General Education: This refers to the Gen Ed Standing Sub-committee of the Curriculum Committee
whose work is guided by the Board of Regents R470 Policy and our accrediting agencies.

Gen Ed: This refers to the General Education course requirements in all AS/AA Transfer Degrees.
Pre-Major Programs: These are all AS and AA transfer degrees whose home is located within a
department at the college such as Engineering AS, Nursing AS, Visual Art and Design AS, etc. (This term
does not include the General Studies AS and AA degrees.)
General Studies Programs: These are the General Studies AS and AA degrees.