Click on a link to be taken to the entry below.
Missouri 42-Hour General Education Block
|
^TOP |
Truman State University is a signatory for the Missouri 42-Hour General Education Block. Students who complete the General Education Block at one Missouri college or university and who later transfer to another Missouri college or university will satisfy the general education requirements of the college or university to which they transfer, provided that school is also a signatory.
To complete the General Education Block at Truman, a student must complete the Essential Skills, the Modes of Inquiry, the Intercultural and Truman Week requirements of the Liberal Studies Program, as well as the Missouri Statute requirement and electives to total 42 hours. Likewise, students who transfer to Truman from another Missouri institution with completion of the General Education Block noted on their transcripts will have fulfilled the Essential Skills, the Modes of Inquiry, the Intercultural and Truman Week requirements of the Liberal Studies Program, as well as the Missouri Statute requirement.
Students who have completed the requirements of the Missouri 42-Hour General Education Block and who are transferring from Truman to another Missouri college or university may request to have completion of the General Education Block noted on their transcripts. To make this request, students must submit a current copy of their degree worksheet to the Registrar’s Office during their last semester at Truman. If a review finds that the student has met all of the requirements for the General Education Block, the Registrar will add this notation to the student’s transcript after the posting of final grades for the semester.
PRE-APPROVAL OF TRANSFER CREDIT FOR ENROLLED STUDENTS
Currently enrolled undergraduate degree-seeking students who wish to transfer courses to Truman from another accredited institution must complete a “Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit” form. This form must be approved through the Registrar’s Office. The “Pre-Approval of Transfer Credit” form should be submitted for approval prior to enrolling in courses at another institution. The University reserves the right to deny transfer of any coursework that has not been previously approved.
Students may not transfer courses during the last 28 hours prior to graduation without special permission from the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Currently enrolled students are required to have official transcripts sent from all colleges and universities through which credit has been attempted immediately upon completion of the course(s). These transcripts must be sent directly to the Registrar’s Office.
TRANSFER CREDIT EVALUATION
Students who have completed an Associate of Arts (AA) degree, a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree (Applied Science degree not included), or the Missouri 42- Hour General Education Block from an accredited college or university will fulfill the Essential Skills, the Modes of Inquiry, and the Intercultural and Truman Week requirements of Truman’s Liberal Studies Program. In addition, students who have completed the Associate’s degree from a public institution in the State of Missouri, or who have completed the Missouri 42-Hour General Education Block, will also fulfill the Missouri Statute requirement.
Coursework for transfer students who have not completed the Associate of Arts degree, a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree, or the Missouri 42-Hour General Education Block will be evaluated on a course-by-course basis.
Transfer students are granted class standing appropriate to the number of credit hours accepted by Truman. Students who have completed the Associate of Arts degree, or a Truman-approved Associate of Science degree, are granted junior status.
All transfer students must complete the same requirements for degree completion as native students, including prerequisites for later coursework.
ADVANCED COLLEGE PLACEMENT/ CREDIT PROGRAMS
The University accepts a wide variety of proficiency and placement examinations to award credit and/or to place students into courses. Advanced college credit programs recognized by Truman include: Advanced Placement Program (AP) examinations; College Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations; Dual Credit and Prior College Credit Programs; International Baccalaureate (IB) examinations; military experience; and Truman State University designed examinations. Information regarding Truman credit awarded for these programs is available on the Registrar’s Office website, or by contacting the Registrar’s Office.
All test-out procedures are subject to change. Please see the appropriate department office for updates.
Placement or Test-Out for Essential Skills Public Speaking Requirement
The Communication Competency Examination tests student knowledge of and skill in public speaking. Students entering the University as Communication majors are required to take the examination prior to enrolling for their first semester. Any student who took a formal course in speech or forensics and received a grade of “B” or better as verified by transcripts meets eligibility requirements. In addition, students with extensive debate or forensics activity experience also qualify.
The exam consists of both a written and oral component, which must be taken before completing thirty (30) semester hours or two semesters of coursework at Truman State University. A student may re-take the written exam one time in the same semester. There is no re-take option for the oral exam.
To be eligible for the oral component of the exam, a student must score at or above 70 percent on the written part of the Communication Competency Examination. A student who scores at or above 70 percent on both the written and oral exam has met the speech requirement of the Liberal Studies Program. A student who does NOT score at or above 70 percent on the written or oral exam will need to take one of the six upper-division communication courses listed below to meet the speech requirement (but will NOT need to take COMM 170):
COMM 270 Advanced Public Speaking
COMM 272 Speech Communication Activities***
COMM 273 Oral Interpretation*
COMM 274 Parliamentary Procedure**
COMM 276 Oral Advocacy and Debate
COMM 278 Business and Professional Communication
*Not acceptable for majors in Business Administration and Accountancy
**Not acceptable for majors in Business Administration, Accountancy, Communication Disorders, and pre-MAE
***Not acceptable for majors in Communication Disorders and pre-MAE majors
Requirements for the Oral Exam:
To register for the oral exam, a student should sign up for a time on the schedule posted on the Basic Speech Course Coordinator’s office door. Students must take the oral exam during the academic year in which they passed the written exam. The oral exam consists of the delivery of a prepared speech by the student. Candidates should report to the oral exam thoroughly prepared to present an extemporaneous persuasive speech 7-9 minutes in length. The citation of at least five sources and a visual aid must be included in the speech. The speech topic, which is chosen by the candidate, should be appropriate for a college-age audience. Candidates will discuss their planned speech with the Basic Speech Course Coordinator before their scheduled exam time.
Each candidate will be required to prepare a full sentence outline of his or her speech, including a bibliography and purpose statement. The outline should be typed and should follow an accepted outline format. The bibliography should conform to an accepted citation format (i.e., APA or MLA). The candidate must bring two copies of the outline and bibliography to the oral exam session and give them to the Basic Speech Course Coordinator prior to presenting the speech. Sources must be current. Only two sources may be from the Internet. All sources must be included in the bibliography.
Each candidate will present his or her speech to the Basic Speech Course Coordinator. The speech will be audio- or videotaped. The candidate may use brief notes or index cards during the presentation. The speech may not be read or presented from a manuscript. The candidate may use charts, posters, slides, transparencies, or PowerPoint as visual aids. An overhead projector and TV/VCR will be provided for the candidate’s use. The candidate is responsible for seeing that visual aids are appropriate and professional.
At the conclusion of the candidate’s presentation, he or she may be asked questions regarding the content of the speech, asked to clarify a particular point, or asked questions regarding the reasons he or she chose one particular rhetorical device over another. The speaker should also be prepared to give specific information regarding the sources used in researching the topic.
To pass the oral exam, she or he must receive a 70 percent or better.
Waiver of ENG 190 Writing as Critical Thinking
First-year students with extensive writing experience in a variety of discourses and with the ability to meet the needs of varied audiences may elect to challenge the requirement of ENG 190 Writing as Critical Thinking. Applicants must apply to the ENG 190 Waiver Coordinator, who will advise students about procedures to waive ENG 190 and about producing a portfolio of university-level writings for evaluation. This portfolio must be submitted to the ENG 190 Waiver Coordinator before a student has completed thirty semester hours or the first two semesters of coursework at Truman State University. The portfolios will be evaluated by the writing faculty for waiver of ENG 190. Any student who succeeds in challenging Writing as Critical Thinking must then take a designated writing-enhanced course instead of ENG 190 in order to satisfy the first unit of the LSP writing requirement.
Foreign Language Requirements
All students who seek the Bachelor’s degree at Truman must satisfy the foreign language requirement of elementary proficiency, as specified in the Liberal Studies Program. Satisfaction of this requirement is defined as successful completion of the second semester of the foreign language or equivalent proficiency as demonstrated on waiver exams in one of the foreign languages offered at Truman. Candidates for the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Fine Arts, Bachelor of Music, and Bachelor of Science in Linguistics degrees must achieve intermediate proficiency in one of the foreign languages offered through the intermediate level at Truman. Students should check their degree program to determine if there are additional degree requirements in a foreign language. Intermediate proficiency is defined as successful completion of the fourth semester of the foreign language or equivalent proficiency as demonstrated on waiver exams. Ideally, the foreign language requirement should be completed by the end of the sophomore year.
International students who are candidates for a degree that requires intermediate proficiency in a foreign language should consult the International Student Admission Requirements and Policies section found in the Admission pages of this General Catalog. NOTE: For languages not taught at Truman contact the Dean of Arts and Sciences.
Foreign Language Waiver
Students placing into a foreign language at a level higher than that required by their degree program may fulfill their foreign language requirement in any of the following ways: 1) take the course in which they are placed even though it is at a higher level than required, and by successfully completing this course fulfill the foreign language requirement; 2) take the appropriate waiver examination in those languages which offer an on-campus exam, and by passing this examination fulfill the foreign language requirement, but no credit will be granted; 3) take the CLEP exam for French, German, or Spanish, and if an appropriate score is earned, the student may waive the foreign language requirement. For French and German no credit is granted for such a waiver; for Spanish, University credit will be granted, depending on the score earned by the student.
Mathematics Requirements
All students who seek the Bachelor’s degree at Truman must successfully complete the Essential Skills requirement in Elementary Functions and the Mode of Inquiry requirement in Mathematics, as specified in the Liberal Studies Program.
The Elementary Functions requirement may be satisfied by a) successfully completing Elementary Functions (MATH 186), b) successfully completing both College Algebra (MATH 156) and Plane Trigonometry (MATH 157), or c) sufficient performance on the Elementary Functions Essential Skills Place-Out Examination (not to be confused with the self-administered placement test sent to incoming students). The Elementary Functions Place-Out Examination is administered by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department in the first week of the Fall Semester and at other times as need indicates. Please contact the Mathematics and Computer Science Department Office (VH 2100, x4547) to arrange a time to take the Place-Out test. Students who have been placed by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department into a calculus course will satisfy the Elementary Functions requirement by d) successful completion of that course.
The Mode of Inquiry requirement in Mathematics may be satisfied by successfully completing any of Truman’s calculus courses: Essentials of Calculus (MATH 192), Liberal Arts and Sciences Calculus (MATH 194), or Analytic Geometry and Calculus I (MATH 198). One of these courses may be specifically required for a certain degree program. For example, MATH 198 is required for majors in Mathematics, Science, and Computer Science and for the BS in Economics, whereas Business majors and the BA in Economics students may choose either MATH 198 or MATH 192. The goals and approaches of these courses differ. For example, MATH 194 may be highly conceptual, MATH 198 may be more algebraic, MATH 192 may have a stronger emphasis on modeling. The most appropriate course will depend on the individual student. One should not conclude that any single course is “harder” or “easier” for all students.
Note that a calculus course is only available to students who have a) demonstrated sufficient performance in the classes meeting the Essential Skills requirement in Mathematics, b) demonstrated sufficient performance on the Elementary Functions Essential Skills Place-Out Examination, or c) been placed into that course by the Mathematics and Computer Science Department according to the procedure outlined below. Students cannot “waive” the prerequisites to the calculus courses.
Mathematics Placement
The Mathematics and Computer Science Department determines what mathematics courses may or may not be appropriate for incoming students on the basis of a variety of factors, including the courses taken in high school, the level of success in those courses, the two scores on the mathematics placement exam, and the scores and sub scores on the ACT. A student who feels that he or she was under placed can demonstrate achievement using the Elementary Functions Place-Out test. |
