Units may need to review courses for Gen Ed eligibility for a variety of reasons. The most common are transfer and study abroad courses. This page provides guidelines and criteria for units evaluating courses for Gen Ed which fall outside of the Gen Ed Board review. Please contact gen-ed@illinois.edu with any questions about course eligibility and review, or if you need to discuss a course that falls outside of these three types of special Gen Ed course reviews.
Study Abroad Courses
Students follow the Education Abroad: Course Approvals process to have courses articulated, and part of the articulation process within the department/college/school where the course resides is evaluation for Gen Ed credit. Colleges/schools/units should use the below section on Evaluating Courses for Gen Ed Credit to determine if courses should be approved. Courses taken through ILLINOIS study abroad programs are listed in a course database and the articulations are set for all students, so it is important to evaluate these courses carefully. There is also a process for submitting campus Gen Ed Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad/Away Programs.
Transfer Courses
Students follow the Transfer Credits to Illinois process and courses are sent to the associated department/unit for evaluation, and part of the articulation process within the department/college/school where the course resides is evaluation for Gen Ed credit. Colleges/schools/units should use the below section on Evaluating Courses for Gen Ed Credit to determine if courses should be approved. Courses taken within the US are listed in Transferology and the articulations are set for all Illinois students across campus, so it is important to evaluate these courses carefully.
Proficiency Credit (AP, A Level, IB, Departmental Exams)
Students may receive credit from pre-college or campus proficiency exams and Gen Ed credit is only awarded for Direct Course Articulation equivalents with on-campus Gen Ed status (e.g., If a student receives AP Credit for ECON 102, the course credit will also be a Gen Ed in Social & Behavioral Sciences: Social Science). To read more about this credit, visit the Placement & Proficiency Information website. Proficiency Credit awarding Indirect Course Articulations are not evaluated or provided special approval for Gen Ed credit.
Campus Honors Program (CHP) Courses
The Campus Honors Program (CHP) coordinates with faculty to offer special courses for students in the program, some of which are special topics and receive special Gen Ed approval. The CHP staff coordinate with the instructors to gather information and required materials about the course, and these courses are reviewed by the CHP Faculty Advisory Committee. Since these courses are offered on this campus and by current faculty, the review process and criteria is similar to the Gen Ed Board. CHP course sections provided special approval for Gen Ed are updated by the Office of the Registrar in Banner for the approved semester and the specific section, so all students registered for the CHP section will receive the corresponding Gen Ed(s) for that semester. There may be other non-CHP sections of the course and those sections will not be provided the special Gen Ed approval.
Direct Course Articulations
Courses with direct course articulations (example: “ECON 102”) must always follow the current course attributes listed on the ILLINOIS course for the semester taken. No new/special Gen Ed attributes should be added to direct articulations and the course should not be evaluated for special Gen Ed credit or substituted into a Gen Ed. This ensures that all course equivalents taken through study abroad or transfer coursework follow the approved ILLINOIS course attributes. If the ILLINOIS course has the Gen Ed certification(s) removed, the course taken off-campus articulated as the course will no longer carry the Gen Ed attribute.
Indirect Course Articulations
Transfer and Study Abroad courses with indirect course articulations (example: “ECON 1–“) may be evaluated for Gen Ed credit only if there is a strong case the course aligns very closely with campus Gen Ed criteria. Most courses taken off campus with indirect articulations will not be approved as Gen Ed, but students will receive credit hours and the course may count towards other requirements. If indirect course articulations are granted Gen Ed approval, it will be for all Illinois students across campus who take the course off-campus. Typically courses taken off-campus with approved articulations are not re-evaluated, so these courses carry the articulations and any associated Gen Ed approvals for a long period of time without review. For this reason it is important units use caution when approving indirect articulations for Gen Ed credit and ensure the course is consistent with Gen Ed criteria where students gain similar learning outcomes as they would taking a campus approved Gen Ed course. Proficiency Credit with an indirect course articulation should not be evaluated for Gen Ed.
Special Approvals
While infrequent, in some cases a course taken off-campus (Transfer and Study Abroad) counting as an Indirect Course Articulations may be reviewed and provided special Gen Ed approval by the student’s home college/school on a case-by-case basis or semester-by-semester basis rather than approved to be added to the study abroad or transfer database as a Gen Ed. This is typically the case for a topics course or a course that is taught in different formats where the instruction, content, and/or format of the course is not consistent enough to offer Gen Ed approval to be added to the transfer or study abroad database, but the course directly aligns with Gen Ed criteria. In these cases students may be asked to submit additional materials to the student’s home college/school for review following the Evaluating Courses for Gen Ed Credit process, and if approved, the college/school may substitute the course into the approved Gen Ed category for that student or all students within the college/school for that semester. In addition, the college/school may wish to share the special approval with the colleges/schools of other students completing the course that semester. Please note that any special approvals provided to an individual student will not automatically follow them to another college/school or receive the same special approval in the other college in the case of an intercollegiate transfer, dual-degree, or minor.
Limitations
Please note Gen Ed certification on a course does vary semester-to-semester, so it is very important to reference the particular semester to determine if Gen Ed credit should be awarded on a course. Each Gen Ed category has an ‘Effective Term‘ and it may be different for each of the categories on the course (if more than one) and there are some courses that have a lapse in Gen Ed approval. The student’s Degree Audit should automatically reflect Gen Ed credit correctly for any courses taken on campus (only exception is if the Degree Audit is set-up incorrectly where only certain courses pull into the Gen Ed requirements, rather than all Gen Eds). On-campus courses have active dates which correspond with the Gen Ed review approval and the Gen Ed course remaining in active Gen Ed status. Gen Ed Approval History should be used, as well as the Course Explorer for the corresponding term. Special Approvals should never be provided for courses taken on-campus during terms the course was not an active Gen Ed.
Please contact the Gen Ed Office gen-ed@illinois.edu if you have any questions.
Evaluating Indirect Course Articulations for Gen Ed Credit
This process is only used for evaluating Transfer and Study Abroad courses with Indirect Course Articulations for General Education credit. The process aligns with the Review Criteria set by the Gen Ed Board to ensure all approved courses meet minimum standards to keep our campus Gen Ed Program a curriculum shared equitably by all students across campus and following the mission, vision, and goals outlined in the Gen Ed Policy.
Transfer/Study Abroad courses and Proficiency credit counting as Direct Course Articulations should follow the process outlined above. Proficiency credit counting as Indirect Course Articulations should not be evaluated for Gen Ed. Courses taken on-campus must be sent through the Gen Ed Certification process or the Gen Ed Faculty-Led Short-Term Study Abroad/Away Process.
Oversight
The department/unit associated with the course subject should make a recommendation for a Transfer or Study Abroad course to be reviewed for Gen Ed credit during the articulation process, but the college/school of the subject may also determine if a course should count as Gen Ed and the college/school will make the final determination on approval as a Gen Ed. For example, a course taken for study abroad in History will be directed to the Department of History for evaluation, HIST will articulate the course (“HIST 1–“) and may make a recommendation the course should count as one or more Gen Ed Categories (i.e., Humanities & the Arts: Historical & Philosophical Perspectives). The course will then go to the college (i.e., LAS) and they will review the course for Gen Ed following the below process and make a determination for approval.
Consideration
Departments/units and Colleges/Schools should consider if they would seek Gen Ed certification for the course if it was taught by their unit on campus and is a good representative of their Gen Ed offerings within the Subject/College. They should consider if this is a course that will consistently be taught to the standards maintained by the Department and the Gen Ed Program, and there is enough information about the course to consider it as a Gen Ed. Will this course truly be a good replacement for a student to take instead of a course on-campus in the Gen Ed Category and as part of the Gen Ed Program aimed at building intellectual foundations, identity development, and informed engagement.
Course Materials Required
Courses evaluated for Gen Ed must have a full syllabus that provides enough information about the course to review for Basic Gen Ed Requirements and Category Specific Requirements.
Gen Ed Criteria
Use the criteria for All General Education Courses and the Category Specific Criteria listed on the Gen Ed Course Details & Category Criteria page. Pay specific attention to the bullet points listing the criteria as this is what is used to evaluated courses on-campus, using the Gen Ed feedback forms (you may want to use the feedback form for your review).
Request for Gen Ed Review
If a transfer/study abroad course with an indirect course articulation was not previously provided Gen Ed credit, a college/school/department may reach out to the college/school associated with the subject and request a review of the course for Gen Ed credit. If the associated college/school review results in an approval, they should reach out to the appropriate contact for Transfer or Study Abroad courses to make the update in the system so the course will count for all students on campus.