Core Implementation Policy Common Core Requirements Common Core of Studies

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Core Implementation Policy

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Effective Fall 2024, WSU will be rolling out a new General Education model to replace the Common Core of studies. Current students will complete the Common Core, while incoming First Year students of Fall 2024 will be enrolled in General Education. Please refer to the General Education: WISE  page for more information. 

The purpose of this policy is to establish guidelines to accept coursework into the University’s revised Common Core. Its provisions are consistent with the terms of the MassTransfer Policy and with policies for transferring general education coursework between the state’s four-year colleges.

General Education Requirements completed at another institution:

1. Students transferring to Westfield State University after completing all the general education requirements at another Massachusetts state college will be deemed to have satisfied Westfield State’s general education requirements.
2. Students enrolled in the Second Bachelor’s Program through the Department of Graduate and Continuing Education, and who have completed a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree at an accredited college, will be deemed to have completed the Westfield State core.
3. In all other cases, the evaluation of courses will be done on a course-by-course basis by the admission officer and/or academic advisor evaluating the transcript at the time of application. The evaluator will move to the next step only if the outcome of the previous step is not satisfactory to the student:
   1. Award credit if, based on guidelines established by the appropriate department chair, the course is determined to be equivalent to a Westfield core course.
   2. Award credit if the course fulfilled a comparable general education requirement at the school where it was taken.
   3. Award credit if, after consultation with the appropriate department chair, the course is determined to meet the Westfield State University standards for the core area.
4. The results of the evaluation of core courses must be reported in writing to the Registrar.
5. Students not satisfied with the results of the core determination may appeal to the appropriate Dean.

Note: The wording of the above policy has been modified to provide students with information about how the policy is applied and/or procedures to follow when applying the policy. The exact wording of the original policy may be found in the Westfield State University Policies and Procedures Manual.

General Education coursework completed at Westfield:

1. Courses that are approved for the new core may count in the appropriate category for students completing the old core. Note: Courses that appear ONLY in the Diversity section of the new core do not fulfill requirements under the old core.
2. Courses approved for the core will become applicable for core credit in the next semester that they are offered. Students will not be granted core credit retroactively.
3. Students not satisfied with the results of the core determination may appeal to the appropriate Dean.

Note: The wording of the above policy has been modified to provide students with information about how the policy is applied and/or procedures to follow when applying the policy. The exact wording of the original policy may be found in the Westfield State University Policies and Procedures Manual.

Common Core Requirements

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All students must complete a core of studies, distributed among the different academic areas as follows:

• Humanities (10 credits)
  • English Composition (4 credits)
  • Literary and Philosophical Analysis (3 credits)
  • Appreciation of the Arts (3 credits)
• Social Science (9 credits)
  • United States History and Government (3 credits)
  • Social Understanding (6 credits)
• Mathematics/Applied Analytical Reasoning (6-8 credits)
  • Traditional Mathematics (3-4 credits)
  • Applied Analytical Reasoning (3-4 credits)
• Science (7-8 credits)
  • Laboratory Science (4 credits)
  • Allied Science (3-4 credits)
• Diversity (6 credits)
  • Global Diversity (3 credits)
  • United States Diversity (3 credits)

Because courses may satisfy more than one distribution area, the total number of credits a student will need to satisfy the Core will vary, according to the specific courses chosen. For example, a single course may satisfy both a Literary and Philosophical Analysis requirement and an Upper-Level requirement; or a course may be designed to satisfy both a Social Understanding and a Diversity requirement.

In keeping with the University’s mission to assist its students to develop intellectually and to use their knowledge to improve the conditions of their communities, the Core has been designed to introduce students to a variety of academic disciplines and social issues.

A set of goals has been established for each area of the Core, offering students an opportunity to develop the critical skills needed to deal effectively with a variety of academic disciplines and concepts. The foundations of the Common Core are disciplinary forms, within which students select specific courses. One of the goals of the Common Core is to introduce students to areas of study which are seen as necessary ingredients for a cultivated, humane life.

In meeting the requirements of the Common Core, Westfield students acquire:

1. The capacity to communicate clearly in one or more natural languages.
2. The capacity to understand literary and philosophical responses to fundamental questions of the human condition.
3. An appreciation for creative expression and aesthetic issues through study of the arts.
4. An understanding of United States government, history and the processes of democratic citizenship.
5. The capacity to understand the workings of society and its institutions.
6. An ability to use mathematics to solve problems and to reason logically and analytically.
7. An understanding of scientific theory and methodology as well as an appreciation of physical and natural processes.
8. An understanding of the social and conceptual foundations among people, such as race, class, gender, or ethnicity.
9. An opportunity to extend their understanding of a subject beyond the introductory level and to appreciate the value of multi-disciplinary approaches to areas of inquiry.

The Core is a work in progress. Academic departments are still in the process of reviewing their curricula for courses that meet current core standards, and are also developing new courses for core inclusion.

Composition Component of Core

All full-time students must complete ENGL 0101  during their first year (or Honors equivalent). This course is a pre-requisite for 0200-level core English courses, as well as other writing courses within different subjects.

Common Core of Studies

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The Common Core of Studies is divided into 5 sections (Humanities, Social Science, Mathematics/Applied Analytical Reasoning, Science, and Diversity) each of which have their own sub-categories.