General Education

Baccalaureate Degrees and Associate of Arts and Associate of Science Degrees*

*Foreign language courses are an additional requirement for the Associate of Arts (A.A.) and Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degrees. The B.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of two years of college-level work. The A.A. degree requires proficiency in a foreign language equivalent to completion of one year of college-level work.

**Six (6) hours of English Composition and three (3) hours in English oral presentational communication are required.

***Students who plan to transfer to most Tennessee public universities should take six (6) hours of United States History (three (3) hours of Tennessee History may substitute). Students who plan to transfer to University of Tennessee System universities or to out-of-state or private universities should check requirements and take the appropriate courses.

Although the courses designated by Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) institutions to fulfill the requirements of the general education subject categories vary, transfer of the courses is assured through the following means:

• Upon completion of an A.A or A.S. degree, the requirements of the lower-division general education core will be complete and accepted by most Tennessee public universities in the transfer process.
• If an A.A. or A.S. is not obtained, transfer of general education courses will be based upon fulfillment of complete subject categories. (Example: If all eight (8) hours in the category of Natural Science are complete, then this “block” of the general education core is complete.) When a subject category is incomplete, course-by-course evaluation will be conducted. The provision of block fulfillment pertains also to students who transfer among most Tennessee public universities.
• Institutional/departmental requirements of the grade of “C” will be honored. Even if credit is granted for a course, any specific requirements for the grade of “C” by the receiving institution will be enforced.
• In certain majors, specific courses must be taken also in general education. It is important that students and advisors be aware of any major requirements that must be fulfilled under lower-division general education.

Courses designated to fulfill general education by Motlow College are published on the following pages of this catalog and are identified in the Course Descriptions section with a •. A complete listing of the courses fulfilling general education requirements for all system institutions is available on the TBR website (www.tbr.edu) under Transfer and Articulation Information.

Through the structure of its general educational curriculum, Motlow State Community College seeks to provide experiences designed to prepare students for responsible citizenship; for productive, wholesome, and creative participation in life activities; and for intelligent decision making. After completing the General Education program (University Parallel major) at Motlow, students will be able to

• Achieve specific purposes via written and/or oral presentations and projects with attention to proper diction, grammar, formatting, and awareness of audience needs.
• Use data, graphs, and tables to analyze and represent statistical reasoning.
• Use mathematics to solve problems and test the logic of solutions.
• Distinguish between scientific and non-scientific explanations via basic scientific language and processes and use scientific experimentation, hypothesis, and analysis to solve problems or address issues of a scientific nature.
• Appreciate, explain, and evaluate the ways in which humanistic and artistic expression throughout the ages expresses the diverse culture(s) and value(s) of its respective time and place.
• Critically recognize and articulate how individuals are influenced by political, geographical, economic, cultural, psychological, and familial institutions in their own and other diverse cultures.
• Remember, compare, and evaluate the historical diversity of human experiences across time periods from political, geographic, economic, social, cultural, religious, and intellectual perspectives. 

THE FOLLOWING COURSES HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED BY THE TENNESSEE BOARD OF REGENTS AS MEETING THE GENERAL EDUCATION CORE REQUIREMENTS

DEGREES NOT DESIGNED FOR TRANSFER

The Tennessee Board of Regents has determined that the following associate degree requirements be regarded as the minimum acceptable requirements for career programs not designed for transfer.

1. All components of requirements for associate degrees designed primarily for immediate employment should be outcome oriented.
2. The degree major for associate degree career programs shall require a minimum of 60 semester credit hours.
3. The technical specialty component of the career degree major shall consist of a minimum of 44-45 semester credit hours.
4. The requirements for a basic core of general education courses for career degrees shall consist of 15-16 semester credit hours including a minimum of one course in each of the following areas:

Specific courses satisfying these requirements must be the same courses that satisfy the general education requirement for the Associate (A.A./A.S./A.S.T.) and Baccalaureate degrees.

5. Although open admission to the institution for all adults is a cardinal characteristic of TBR community colleges, the institution may set minimum admission requirements for career degree programs.
6. Credit hours earned in basic developmental studies courses cannot be used to satisfy the minimum sixty (60) semester credit hour requirement.