| Compliance Document > Comprehensive Standards > 3.5.1 College-level Competencies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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3.5.1 College-level Competencies The institution identifies college-level competencies within the general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained those competencies.
X Compliance ___Partial Compliance ___Non-Compliance
Narrative
St. Petersburg College is in compliance with this comprehensive standard 3.5.1 because it has identified college-level competencies for the general education program and these competencies are assessed by various internally and externally validated methods. The College-Level General Education Competencies St. Petersburg College (SPC) defines general education requirements for the Associate in Arts degree and the Associate in Science degree in Board of Trustees (BOT) rule 6Hx23-4.32. The general education competencies are defined in the SPC’s Mission and Goal Statement as follows: 1. Communicate effectively by demonstrating the ability to speak, listen, read and write in an organized and analytical manner. (Communication) 2. Demonstrate effective mathematical skills emphasizing practical problem solving and data interpretation. (Mathematical Skills) 3. Utilize the scientific method as it applies to understanding scientific and social phenomena. (Scientific Method) 4. Recognize basic scientific principles underlying human influence upon the earth and its inhabitants. (Human Influence) 5. Implement appropriate forms of existing and evolving technology for personal, educational, and professional purposes. (Technology) 6. Demonstrate the ability to work effectively with others in a variety of settings. (Teamwork) 7. Demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of the humanities and fine arts including participating in cultural activities featuring art, music, literature, dance and/or theater. (Humanities/Art Appreciation) 8. Participate as informed and responsible citizens in solving social, economic and political problems in a multicultural and global society. (Informed Citizen) 9. Recognize ethical issues and dilemmas in the personal, business and social areas of their lives and apply ethical principles and logical problem-solving skills when making ethical decisions. (Ethics) 10. Think logically, critically, and creatively to solve problems and make decisions. (Critical Thinking) 11. Recognize the importance of lifelong learning process in the pursuit of personal, intellectual, and career development. (Life-long Learning) The College’s Mission and Goals are formally revised every five years with the latest revision completed in the 2004-2005 academic year by a committee representing Faculty, administrators, students, community leaders and members of the District Board of Trustees.
Relationship of General Education areas to General Education competencies
The college-level General Education competencies are associated with the General Education areas and courses as follows:
Justification and level of General Education competencies
The General Education program at the College introduces all students to the fundamental knowledge, skills, and abilities that are essential to further study in the major, to the pursuit of life-long learning, to the development of educated members of the community and the world, provides the foundation for becoming an informed, independent thinker who can comprehend, evaluate, and address the issues that human beings face in their personal lives, in their careers, and in community and public affairs.
The Board of Trustees has approved the Faculty-recommended General Education Requirements for the AA degree, the AS degree, the AAS degree, the BAS degree, and the BS degree. These general education requirements comply with Section 1007.25, Florida Statutes as well as Florida Board of Education Administrative Rules and include coursework in the areas of Communications, Humanities/Fine Arts, Mathematics-Logic, Natural Sciences, Social/Behavioral Sciences, and Computer Competency. The Board of Trustees does have the authority to specify additional requirements, as long as the total General Education credits do not exceed 36 hours and has expanded the general education requirements to include Critical Thinking, Working Effectively with Others, and Ethics based on Faculty recommendations.
Although not mandated by the State, Critical Thinking has been a goal at SPC for many years, following national trends in General Education. In the comprehensive review of general education, a committee composed of faculty and program directors, added Working effectively with Others to the General Education competencies because of input provided by advisory committees from the local business community that this objective was critical to their businesses.
The Board, faculty, and staff thought it imperative to add a focus on Ethics in the general education core curriculum. Twenty years ago, SPC was among the first public institutions in the country to include the teaching of ethics as part of the required curriculum. A substantial amount of information from books, newspapers, and periodicals was accumulated which supported the conclusion that ethics and values instruction would have a significant place in the College curriculum. SPC conducted a study on ethics education, which concluded, in part, that the course to be implemented must contain moral indoctrination. At the same time, the study concluded the course should include more than ethical theory. The final recommendation was a course with a highly practical orientation, where students are confronted with issues and dilemmas they are likely to encounter in their personal and professional lives, as well as the opportunity for students to study and apply virtues and basic American ideals such as justice, truthfulness, and freedom.
Faculty experts either individually or collectively develop courses according to established curricular guidelines. The College publishes a complete list of general education requirements in the College Catalog. These general education requirements are designed to provide the student with a broad concept of the world and a foundation to understand concepts in communication, science, math, and humanities; and their relationship to other cultures. This curriculum builds to a complete program of study that provides the students with the skills necessary to become active and responsible members of our complex world as determined by the College’s mission.
Sequence Map for General Education
The College has a systemic method of introducing, enhancing, and reinforcing all the general education competencies, through a general education program sequence map that identifies where the general education competencies are introduced, enhanced, and reinforced within general education areas. This general education program sequence map is shown on the next page. For each major general education area, the sequence map identifies the course or courses where a competency is either introduced, enhanced, or reviewed, using the following legend:
I = Introduces the competency E = Enhances the competency, i.e., adds new or deeper content R = Reviews or reinforces the competency
Each AS and AAS program is required to establish specific, measurable, student major learning outcomes to assist in providing program focus and a means for evaluating the performance of the program. Major learning outcomes are used to develop a program’s course sequence map and ensure that each student has been exposed to an adequate amount of the curriculum in order to achieve the program’s major learning objectives (MLOs). To ensure that the general education competencies are addressed in this AS and AAS MLO process, general education competencies are aligned to the program’s major learning objectives (MLOs). To provide an example of this alignment, the eight major learning outcomes for the lower division paralegal program are listed below: 1. The student will demonstrate the ability to analyze a problem; identify and evaluate alternative solutions; formulate logical solutions to problems; construct logical arguments in support of specific positions; evaluate solutions and arguments; and determine which areas of law are relevant to a particular situation. (Critical Thinking) 2. The student will demonstrate the ability to organize and manage information effectively and the ability to manage time efficiently.(Organizational) 3. The student will demonstrate the ability to interact effectively, in person, by telephone and in written correspondence with lawyers, clients, witnesses, court personnel, co-workers, and other business professionals. (Communication) 4. The student will demonstrate the ability to competently use the tools of research available in a standard law library, "cite check" the legal sources, run a computer assisted legal research program, and incorporate the results of the research into a proper memorandum format. (Legal Research) 5. The student will demonstrate the ability to write various types of documents, correspondence, pleadings, memoranda, and briefs. (Legal Writing) 6. The student will demonstrate the ability to deal with a basic word processing program, a spreadsheet program, and a database as well as presentation software; the student will apply these to solving organizational and management issues in the office setting. (Computer and Law Office Management) 7. The student will demonstrate basic interview and investigating skills including identifying and locating witnesses, potential parties to a suit and experts; preparing for and conducting effective interviews, locating information and obtaining records and using the Internet to obtain relevant and reliable information pertaining to a given situation.(Interview and Investigation) 8. The student will demonstrate knowledge of the types of work paralegals/legal assistants perform, the nature of supervision that must be present , the manner in which their conduct is directed by the ethical guidelines of the American Bar Association, the Florida Bar, and the ethical guidelines for paralegal/legal assistants. (Professionalism and Ethics)
Note that the general education competencies of critical thinking, communication, and ethics are directly linked to MLOs #1, #3, and #8 respectively. The MLOs also contain indirect linkages to data interpretation and technology. The following table contains the Paralegal program sequence map. For each MLO, the sequence map identifies the course or courses where a competency is either introduced, enhanced, or reviewed, using the following legend:
Paralegal Program Sequencing Map
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