Degree Requirements

Requirements for All Degrees

A. Earn no fewer than 124 credit hours. No more than eight hours may be earned in activity courses⁽¹⁾. The last 30 credit hours required for graduation must be taken in residence. At least 60 credit hours must be taken at Centenary.

B. Earn at least thirty hours numbered 300 or above.

C. Earn a minimum of 20 hours of electives that are not used to satisfy Core requirements and that cannot be used to satisfy requirements for a major (including all concentrations within a major), supportive courses, prerequisite courses or courses listed in the major department. These 20 hours may not include cross-listed courses which could count toward a major. 

D. Meet the basic requirements for the degree to be earned.

E. Meet all requirements for a major field of study.

F. Maintain a grade point average of 2.0 or higher in all work taken at Centenary.

G. Maintain a grade point average of 2.0 in all Centenary College courses within the major. If a student takes a course that can contribute to the major, excluding supportive courses, then the grade for that course is included in the GPA calculation.

H. Discharge all financial obligations to the College.

I. Meet the requirements of a catalogue published in one year of attendance and within five years of the proposed graduation date.

J. Submit to the Registrar an approved degree plan and an application for graduation candidacy by the deadlines printed in the catalogue under “Graduation Candidacy.”

K. Be approved for graduation candidacy by the Centenary faculty and Board of Trustees.

L. Be present at the Commencement exercises to receive the degree conferred, unless an exception is approved by the Provost’s office.

 

The Centenary Core Curriculum (General Education)

The Centenary Core Curriculum serves as a set of experiences in which all students engage, regardless of major, and includes specific learning goals for all students. Centenary's model of a liberal arts education incorporates two components:

• Liberal Arts Explorations, in which students develop understanding and appreciation for the kinds of questions addressed in various disciplines and the methods employed to answer them. Through these experiences, Centenary students develop a broad set of skills and knowledge to help them excel in their personal development, their careers, and their communities.
• Trek, in which students develop skills in inquiry, communication, research, service, cultural understanding, and career exploration.

Liberal Arts Explorations (29­–32 hours):

Centenary aspires for students to become liberally educated individuals who are broadly familiar with a ranger of subjects, who know something of the approaches that students of these subjects have found valuable, and who can apply this knowledge to their understanding of the world. The College divides these subjects into categories while acknowledging that they inform and overlap one another. As students explore the liberal arts, they should begin to make connections across disciplines and bring a broad interdisciplinary understanding to solving problems and developing their own beliefs and actions.

As part part of a Centenary core curriculum, students should be able to:

• Critically analyze and evaluate human creations and their production (Humanities: 12 hours).
  Through engaging deeply with art, artifacts, beliefs, values, and ideas, students develop skills in critical analysis and an understanding of human artistic and cultural accomplishments. Engaging in the process of creation and production deepens students' understanding and awareness of at and artifacts, so students may (and are encouraged to) take up to four hours in fulfillment of this requirement in courses that teach aesthetic appreciation through performance and production.
• Develop a facility in and appreciation for symbolic reasoning (Symbolic Reasoning: 3­–4 hours).
  Some types of problems in the world are best solved through symbolic representation and manipulation. Students will develop their abilities to understand symbolic representations and to use those representations to solve problems.
• Understand human behavior, interactions, and institutions through systematic analysis of data (Social Sciences: 6­–8 hours).
  Human behavior, interactions, and institutions are shaped by many forces and can be studied through systematic analysis of qualitative and quantitative data. Students will consider how information based on human data may be used to solve problems facing individuals and society. 
• Understand scientific approaches to the material world (Natural Sciences: 8 hours with 2 laboratories).
  The natural world can be understood trough the systematic analysis of data obtained through the scientific method and by interpreting results using scientific models. Through exploring scientific concepts, students will learn how scientific findings can be used to explain the natural world and solve problems.

Trek (0­–11 hours):

Trek combines the best traditions of the liberal arts with the real-world knowledge and skills required of leaders in the 21^st century. By connecting the theoretical with the practical, the domestic with the international, the scholarly with the professional, Trek encourages a lifelong dedication not only to learning but also to serving others.

Trek incorporates into Centenary’s required curriculum distinctive, experience-based programs for students to enhance their self-knowledge and social awareness through career and graduate school preparation, intercultural engagement, and civic involvement.  

• Centenary in Paris (2­–4 hours)
  Centenary in Paris provides an interactive learning experience that develops intercultural competence through study abroad and promotes student success through the development of strong bonds with classmates, professors, and the College. This August Term course, designed primarily for first year students, explores an academic topic through immersion in the cultural offerings of Paris, France.
• First-Year Trek Course: Credo (4 hours)
  This course, available to students in the fall or spring of their first year, is designed to cultivate the habits of mind characteristic of a person educated in the Liberal Arts, including intellectual curiosity, critical inquiry, thoughtful and orderly communication, team-work, problem solving, and respectful engagement with others. Credo, which means “I believe,” allows students to explore their values and beliefs, particularly in the context of their academic ambitions. Credo provides an exploration of self and society and ample opportunities to develop the fundamental skills and insights—the intellectual tools—that will best prepare students for the adventures ahead. Credo is a required course for first-year students; transfer students may be required to complete the course.
  
  This course follows a ABC/NC/XF grading system. This means that an A, B, or C is considered a passing grade and counts towards your GPA. In consultation with his or her instructor, a student may opt to earn No Credit (NC) for the course, which will not impact GPA but does require the student to reattempt the course in the following semester. A grade of XF, which is assigned to students who stop attending class and have class absences in excess of three times the number of weekly meetings, will be factored into your GPA and will also require that the course be repeated for credit. 
• Experiential Learning through Trek (0­–3 hours)
  The experiential learning opportunities gathered under Trek are required graduation components for all students and serve as an interface between students’ academic lives and their lives beyond Centenary as working citizens, as contributors to their own communities, and as members of a global community. Courses, internships, and research opportunities designated as “experiential” offer personal, meaningful, and distinct experiences that connect classroom learning to practical living.
  • Community (0­–1 hours). Membership in a thriving community is essential to happiness. At Centenary, students learn the important role they play, as responsible citizens, in maintaining and improving the communities in which they live and work through the COMMUNITY component of Trek.
  • Career (0­–2 hours). Through the CAREER component of Trek, students develop critical career related skills, but also undertake systematic inquiry into and analysis of graduate programs or professions that they may pursue. Through this program, students gain critical self-knowledge, social awareness, and professional acumen.
  • Culture (0 hours). The CULTURE component of Trek provides opportunities for students to gain personal and intellectual insights through direct interaction with participants of a different culture. These experiences enable students to understand how their own culture’s values, beliefs, heritage and history shape their views of those they encounter whether in the United States or abroad. 

Additional Graduation Requirements:

• Bachelor of Arts (BA): proficiency in a language other than English equivalent to the first year

• Bachelor of Science (BS): proficiency in mathematics equivalent to a course in calculus and a second course in calculus or one course in statistics

⁽¹⁾ WAC 101-102; DANC 101, 123-124, 201, 301