GE Program Guidelines

Fall 2022 General Education Guidelines [pdf] were passed by the Academic Senate in May 2022 and are effective through Summer 2025. Beginning Fall 2025, the General Education Guidelines passed by the Senate in fall 2024 [pdf] go into effect. Departments are asked to update their GE syllabi according to the new Guidelines after spring 2024.

GE Syllabus Review Process

When departments submit their academic program planning reports, they are also required to submit materials for any General  Education courses taught in their programs. These materials are reviewed by members of the General Education Advisory Committee, which makes recommendations for recertification of GE courses to the Academic Planning committee. 

For each GE course, departments submit a master or representative course syllabus, sample assignment prompts for each GE Area Learning Outcome, and one two-page summary that describes how the department a) supports students in meeting the pertinent ALOs, b) ensures reasonable similarity across different sections of the course, and c) uses course assessment data to review and enhance GE courses offered in the program.

GE Program Learning Outcomes

At the time of program planning, departments are asked to demonstrate that they have participated in the assessment of GE Program Learning Outcomes for the GE courses they teach. SJSU has developed a Canvas-based system that allows faculty to embed GE PLOs in course assignment rubrics. The data entered by faculty is automatically pulled into Nuventive, SJSU's assessment platform, which produces summary reports suitable for submitting to Academic Planning. For more information, please see our internal GE assessment webpage.