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Kansas State University

UGE Curriculum

 

In accordance with UGE guidelines, the College of Business established an 18 hour UGE program that required students to take courses in economics, humanities, social science and natural science. These courses could overlay with the general studies requirements in business. At least one third of the classes had to be at the 300 level or higher.

The curricula in the College of Business require students to take courses in communication, humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences irrespective of the UGE requirements. These apply to both the first two years of study and to the specific majors in which students may enroll. Our accrediting agency, the Association to Advance College Schools of Business (AACSB) requires that at least 50% of the courses our students take be non-business courses. Thus the breadth requirement of UGE has long been met in the College of Business.

An assessment of our original UGE program uncovered some problems that we needed to address:

  • Students who seek minors outside the College of Business often had to complete more than 18 hours of UGE courses but some of the courses didn't meet the strict guidelines of our program. Thus students either had to take additional courses or apply for a waiver from the policy. While the Provost gave the colleges permission to grant waivers in the early stages of the UGE program, that authority is due to sunset in a year or so.

  • There has always been a shortage of 300 level UGE courses. This results in students being forced to take courses that are of little interest to them.

  • We also noted that programs in other colleges allowed coursework in as many as four areas and allowed students to take more than one course in a specific area of interest to them. We felt it was appropriate to bring our program more in line with those other colleges because of the large number of students who change curriculum into the College of Business.

Because of these factors, our faculty approved a change of curriculum proposal in April of this year. Under the new program, we still require six hours of economics. The remaining 12 hours can be in humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, or communications. The requirement for at least six hours 300 or higher level courses remains.

We will continue to monitor our UGE program to assure that it meets the spirit and intent of the university UGE program while simultaneously providing the best possible UGE experience for our students.