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University Faculty Senate
University Faculty Senate

150-00 University Requirements

Every baccalaureate student completes three additional University requirements within the courses in the major, general education, or elective credits:

  • 3 credits of United States Cultures and 3 credits of International Cultures
  • 3 credits of Writing Across the Curriculum course work
  • at least 1 credit of First-Year Seminars

150–20 United States Cultures (US) and International Cultures (IL) Courses

Requirements. Baccalaureate students complete a 3-credit course designated as United States Cultures (US) and a 3-credit course designated as International Cultures (IL), and/or a course that meets both the United States and International Cultures (US;IL) requirement. Since 6 credits are required, a single 3-credit course may not fulfil both requirements.

These requirements–United States Cultures (3 credits) and International Cultures (3 credits)–may be fulfilled by double-counting with other General Education courses, courses in the major or minor, electives, or such approved three-credit options such as Study Abroad, internships, etc., to the extent permitted by the student’s college, major, or degree program.

150-40 Writing Across the Curriculum

Students are required to complete at least 3 credits of writing-intensive courses selected from a selection of courses approved with the writing suffix/ attribute offered within a major or college of enrollment. (Senate Agenda Appendix E, 3/19/91)

150-60 First-Year Seminars/Engagement Plans

Each University Park academic college, each of the 19 Commonwealth campuses, and the Division of Undergraduate Studies (DUS) shall submit a First-Year Engagement Plan for achieving the goals and objectives of first-year engagement for all first-year baccalaureate students. All University Park academic colleges will, and other units may, include within their FYE plan a seminar course for undergraduates during their first academic year for a minimum of one credit. These First-Year Seminars are expected to be taught in small sections.

All First-Year Seminar courses must possess the following characteristics:

  1. They will have academic content and be offered for academic credit.
  2. They will be the responsibility of the colleges, but once taken, all other colleges will accept them.
  3. They will be taught in small classes, with an expected maximum enrollment of 25.
  4. They are expected to be taught by full-time, Penn State instructors.
  5. They should be taken during the student’s first academic year.

Revised; 9/13/22

150-65 Goals and Objectives of the Penn State First-Year Seminar/Engagement Plan

The goals of the Penn State First-Year Seminar/Engagement Plans are:

  • To engage students in learning and orient them to the scholarly community from the outset of their undergraduate studies in a way that will bridge to later experiences in their chosen majors.
  • To facilitate students’ adjustment to the high expectations, demanding workload, increased liberties, and other aspects of the transition to college life.

The objectives of the Penn State First-Year Seminar/Engagement Plan are:

  • To introduce students to university study.
  • To introduce students to Penn State as an academic community, including fields of study and areas of interest available to students.
  • To acquaint students with the learning tools and resources available at Penn State.
  • To provide an opportunity for students to develop relationships with full-time instructors and other students in an academic area of interest to them.
  • To introduce students to their responsibilities as part of the University community.

Revised: 9/13/22

150-68 Review of FYE

FYE will be reviewed every five years.

Revised 9/13/22

Policies & Rules for Undergraduate Instruction and Curriculum