Gen Ed Program Template

To create more consistency to the General Education program across campus and make it easier for students, advisors, and others to navigate our Academic Catalog Programs of Study pages, we have developed a Gen Ed Program Template (examples may be found in CIM-P under key 1240) to be used by units in all undergraduate major programs. This template follows the campus General Education requirements and includes headings and language for Graduation Requirements, University Requirements, and General Education Requirements to copy and paste into your programs.

Please discuss the Gen Ed Template with the “CIM Colleague” representative from your College/School as they will provide additional information and assistance updating the template, and/or gen-ed@illinois.edu.

See Exemplary Language section below for ways to list major courses counting towards Gen Eds

Gen Ed Program Template: General Format 

Graduation Requirements 

Minimum hours required for graduation: (#) hours. 

[Optional to include any information about major hour requirements, supporting coursework, hours inside/outside college limitations, minimum GPA, etc.] 

University Requirements 

Minimum of 40 hours of upper-division coursework, generally at the 300- or 400-level. These hours can be drawn from all elements of the degree. Students should consult their academic advisor for additional guidance in fulfilling this requirement. 

The university and residency requirements can be found in the Student Code (§ 3-801) and in the Academic Catalog. 

General Education Requirements 

Follows the campus General Education (Gen Ed) requirements. Some Gen Ed requirements may be met by courses required and/or electives in the program. 

 
Major Requirements 

Additional Information & Exemplary Language for Gen Ed Table

How to Add Gen Ed Template

Only those in your unit with editing access to the CIM-P system are able to make revisions. Additional information on New/Revised Programs may be found on the Provost Website. The CIM-P Gen Ed template (key 1240) provides examples and the template to copy/paste, outlined in the steps below.

We highly recommend reaching out to gen-ed@illinois.edu to discuss adding/adjusting the table.

1. Go to the CIM-P system, search for your program (either by entering the key or the title, such as *Food Science*), and Click the ‘Edit Program’ button (a new window will pop-up)
2. Update any of the items at the top as needed, specifically the red boxes and the items below:
   • Select ‘Effective Catalog Term’ (if only adding the Gen Ed table you may select the same term, but if making other changes select a future term)
   • Enter the Proposal Title: Revise the Bachelor of [Science/Arts] in [Program Name] in the [College/School]
   • Under ‘Program Justification Brief description’ enter: “The formatting of the POS and additional text (e.g., graduation requirements, university requirements, and general education requirements) has been modified to adhere to the campus General Education Template.” 
   • Under ‘Program Justification Why are these changes necessary’, enter: “Per Office of the Provost General Education initiative for transparency and accessibility.” 
3. Copy/Paste Gen Ed Template into your program in CIM-P
   • In a separate tab or window open the CIM-P system and go to Key 1240 and click ‘Edit Program’ (you are not going to make any changes to this program, but you will use this to copy the Gen Ed table, which must be done in edit mode) 
   • Copy the text in the Key 1240 Edit window starting with “Graduation Requirements…” through “…electives in the program.” (only copy the text above the Gen Ed table; you are unable to copy text and a table at the same time)
   • Go to Your Program edit window, and Paste this text at the very top of your program of study table, so the first text is “Graduation Requirements”
   • Go back to the Key 1240 Edit window and copy the table
   • Go to Your Program edit window, and Paste the table under the text you just pasted
   • Close out of Key 1240 Edit window (do not save!!!) 
4. If Applicable: In Your Program Edit window, make any changes to program requirements first (if you are only adding the Gen Ed Table and it does not impact your program requirements, you may skip this step)
   • Removing courses not in your unit (such as RHET, CMN, etc.): Include information under ‘Program Justification’ and under ‘Instructional Resources’ “Does the program include other courses/subjects outside of the sponsoring department impacted by the creation/revision of this program? If Yes is selected, indicate the appropriate courses and attach the letter of support/acknowledgement” select “Yes” and attach letters of support/acknowledgement. Follow normal revision procedures (New/Revised Programs may be found on the Provost Website).
   • If your program previously listed additional requirements in the Gen Ed table that were not also listed in the major, move these into the major requirements (unless removing)
     • Example 1: CMN 101 or CMN 111 & CMN 112 are listed in the Gen Ed requirements for some programs, but this is not a campus Gen Ed requirement – if keeping these courses as a requirement they should be listed in the major requirements (possibly under a header such as “Communication Requirements) and left out of the Gen Ed table; if removing, proper justification and documentation is required
     • Example 2: Some programs listed specific courses (such as PSYC 100) in the Gen Ed table, but it was not listed as a requirement in the major – this should be added to the major requirements and then may be listed in the table (if removing, follow the steps for revising a program and removing a course)
   • If you have RHET 101, 102, and/or 105 listed in your previous requirements or previous Gen Ed table, these should be removed and the justification and instructional resources should be updated. You may upload the RHET letter of acknowledgment (reach out to gen-ed@illinois.edu if you need this letter and you are unable to access using the link provided after signing in to your university account).
5. In Your Program Edit tab, add in your program specific Gen Ed information 
   • Update the hours required for your program in “Minimum hours required for graduation: XX hours.”
   • Go through all courses listed in major requirements and identify those fulfilling Gen Ed(s)
     • Quick Look-up Tip: In your program in CIM-P (non-edit window which should still be open to the side) you can click on each of the courses listed in your program which should be underlined, and a box will appear with information about the course, including text (at the bottom) “This course satisfies the General Education Criteria for: XX” if the course is a Gen Ed
   • Add all Required Gen Ed courses to your Gen Ed Table, using the proper format “fulfilled by…”
     • Only include courses for ‘select from’ or ‘may substitute’ if all courses listed fulfill the same Gen Ed category, or they must take at least one of the courses fulfilling that category (if the student could complete the major requirement without gaining Gen Ed credit, do not list the courses)
     • Major electives not specifically required in the major should not be included in the Gen Ed table (such as “18 hours of IS Electives”) even if some of the courses are Gen Eds (this may be included on advising plans or discussed with students)
     • All required courses that meet the Gen Ed category should be listed (even if they exceed the number or hours or courses required in that category), but do not change the number of hours or courses required in that category 
       • Example: Natural Sciences & Technology “fulfilled by CHEM 102, CHEM 104, MCB 150, PHYS 211, PHYS 212” and hours listed in the table should stay 6 
     • Do not make any changes to the Gen Ed Template hours listed (such as “6-10”) or the number of courses required (such as “(1 course)”)
       • Exception: Language Requirement for those requiring 4^th level (please make sure text and hours are updated)
6. Delete any previous Gen Ed Table or Gen Ed language that you have in your program (only the new Gen Ed Table and text at the top should be included)

Additional Notes:

• All courses listed in Gen Ed table must also be listed in the Major Requirements
• Composition I should never have courses listed in table as students will follow their proper placement
  • Some programs specifically list RHET 105, 101, 102 or other Composition I courses – please make sure these are removed and you only use the main category of “Composition I” (advisors should direct students to the proper placement information on the CITL/PNP website and provide direction) 
• If students may ‘select from’ more than one course, or if another course is listed as an option or substitution in the major – all course options must fulfill the same Gen Ed category in order to be listed in the Gen Ed table (listed as ‘or’)
• Refrain from naming major requirement headings the same as Gen Ed headings whenever possible to avoid confusion. Instead of “Quantitative Reasoning” in the major requirements, determine if you could omit the heading for that subsection and just listing them all as major requirements or call it something such as “Statistics Requirement”. 
• Speech/Communication should not be listed in the Gen Ed requirements, it should only be in the major requirements. If you are removing CMN 101, 111, 112 (or any other course) from the entire curriculum, then you need a letter of support from that department. If you are just moving these courses from the Gen Ed Requirements to the Major Requirements, you do not need a letter. See the last page in this document for an example of how to rearrange these sections. 
• The template includes text and links so more information may be found about the different categories rather than listing all options in this area.
• If a Gen Ed course is decertified, the units with the course listed in their catalog will be contacted to notify them of the change and need for the CIM-P record(s) to be updated. It is very important to update your CIM-P record and double-check all Gen Eds for continual certification. 
• Major Requirements should be a new section under the Gen Ed table (not part of the same table), identified as a header and then a new table with all of the requirements (see examples below and also in the CIM-P example of the header and table. 
• University 40 hour upper-division statement is required for new programs, but optional for existing programs; Future guidance on the 40 upper-division hours for programs will be provided by the Senate Education Policy Committee (EPC). In Spring 2024, Senate EPC provided Interim Guidance Regarding Implementation of the Illinois Board of Higher Education 40 Upper-Division Hour Criterion. 
• Required concentration coursework that fulfills the same general education category across all concentrations within the major but includes different specific courses across the concentrations should be listed as ‘fulfilled by concentration coursework’ in the appropriate gen ed section within the major. In each concentration CIM P record, in the Gen Ed section, instead of ‘concentration coursework’, it should be replaced by the specific coursework. If that category is not fulfilled within all concentrations do not include this under the section in the main major Gen Eds, but this may be noted above the table (just under the ‘General Education Requirements’ header): Follows the campus General Education (Gen Ed) requirements. “Some Gen Ed requirements may be met by courses required in the concentration and/or electives in the program.” 
  • Example: “fulfilled by concentration course and any other course approved as Natural Sciences & Technology” 

Subcategories

Some of the Gen Ed categories have subcategories. Courses are listed in the Course Explorer by the subcategory, but with the exception of Quantitative Reasoning I and II, there is no campus requirement for students to take courses in the subcategories. It is recommended that students take one course in each of the subcategories, but this is open for student choice if not designated within the major requirements. Programs may encourage students to select one from each of the subcategories by integrating within the curriculum as required courses or “select from” lists, or through advising.

• Humanities & the Arts (HUM): Literature & the Arts (LA); Historical & Philosophical Perspectives (HP)
  • Only list the main category Humanities & the Arts in the Gen Ed Table
• Natural Sciences & Technology (NAT): Physical Sciences (PS); Life Sciences (LS)
  • Only list the main category Natural Sciences & Technology in the Gen Ed Table
• Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS): Behavioral Sciences (BSC); Social Sciences (SS)
  • Only list the main category Social & Behavioral Sciences in the Gen Ed Table
• Quantitative Reasoning (QR): Quantitative Reasoning I (QRI); Quantitative Reasoning II (QRII)
  • Reference in the table: “at least one course must be Quantitative Reasoning I”

Exemplary Language

Following the CIM-P Gen Ed template (key 1240) and included example tables, we recommend using language that is very clear and ensuring it is consistent across programs (especially for majors and related concentrations). Below are some examples from the tables that provide guidance on how different courses may be listed.

• fulfilled by UP 312
• fulfilled by ECON 102 or ACE 100; and AAS 100, AFRO 100, AIS 102, GGIS 101, GGIS 104, LLS 100, SOC 100
  • fulfilled by ECON 102 or ACE 100; and AAS 100 or AFRO 100 or AIS 102 or GGIS 101 or GGIS 104 or LLS 100 or SOC 100
• fulfilled by UP 116 or STAT 100; and UP 316
  • fulfilled by UP 116 or STAT 100; UP 316
• fulfilled by CHEM 102, CHEM 104, MCB 150, PHYS 211, PHYS 212
  • fulfilled by CHEM 102, CHEM 104, MCB 150, PHYS 211, and PHYS 212
• fulfilled by MATH 220 or MATH 221; and MATH 231, MATH 241, MATH 285, PHYS 211, PHYS 212; and CS 101 or CS 124
  • fulfilled by MATH 220 or MATH 221; MATH 231, MATH 241, MATH 285, PHYS 211, PHYS 212; CS 101 or CS 124
• fulfilled by concentration course and any other course approved as Natural Sciences & Technology
• fulfilled by MATH 220 or MATH 221; and any other course approved as Quantitative Reasoning I or II