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Home \ Academics \ Degree Programs and Offerings \ Undergraduate Programs \ Core Curriculum

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Core Curriculum

Undergraduate students, regardless of major, complete a common core curriculum. This program is designed to equip students for further study in their major area and to distinguish graduates of Thomas University with the following characteristics:

1. Life-long learning
2. Communication and presentation skills
3. Critical thinking and reasoning skills
4. Cultural awareness
5. Ethics and values
6. Technology skills

The core curriculum is divided into six skill areas and the Critical Reading, Thinking and Writing Examination (CWRTE). Some of the skill areas offer options that the students can choose. However, specific degree programs may require one course or another. The student should consult other sections of this bulletin and his/her advisor for specific requirements of each major.

All students must take and pass the CWRTE before or during the first semester of their junior year. Successful completion of the CWRTE is required for graduation.

Students sometimes ask, "Why must I take art, health, literature, science, sociology, psychology, math, history, music, writing, speech, and computer classes?"

For a four-year college degree program, these courses make up your general education.  General education, called the Core Curriculum at Thomas University, helps educate you to be a professional.  For one thing, it teaches the skills, and concepts, knowledge, and approaches to learning that will make you more able to profit from professional program coursework.  Further, what you acquire through your general education helps to make the difference employers expecting critical thinking ability and communication skills when they grant you the responsibilities of a professional position.

All core classes at Thomas University give you the following (some courses emphasize particular categories more than others):

• Knowledge: Not trivia, but information that can be broadly applied to help you understand the knowledge, experiences, people and cultures, and local to international events.
• Ways of seeking new knowledge: analysis -- breaking new information down into parts to see how it is made; deductive reasoning -- applying general principles to particular situations; inductive reasoning -- arriving at general principles from individual situations and data (the empirical method).
• Ways of understanding: How individuals think, behave, and expressed themselves; how groups of people think, behave, and expressed themselves.
• Ways of communicating: Command of the English language, written and spoken; adept use of technology; means expressing your thoughts, imagination, and values.

Ten In-Demand Job Skills

As everyone who has held a job eventually learns, your future career prospects depend on the skills you have to offer an employer.  And those workers with skills that are in demand are the ones who get the job.  The skills you should develop depend upon your interest, abilities and aptitudes, resources, and career goals.  But with uncertain economic times ahead, it is important to look at the skills that will be useful in advancing your career.  Here are ten skills that the U.S. Department of Labor says are on employers' wish lists.

1. Problem solving skills
2. Vocational-technical skills
3. Human relations skills
4. Computer programming skills
5. Teaching-training skills
6. Science and math skills
7. Money management skills
8. Information management skills
9. Foreign language skills
10. Business management skills

The Core Curriculum is divided into five skill areas. Certain degree programs may require specific courses within each area.
Students should consult the catalog or their advisors for complete information.

*UNV 102, a two-hour course, is required for all developmental students in addition to UNV 101.

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