Degree Requirements

1. 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 thirty credit hours required for graduation must be taken in residence. At least sixty credit hours must be taken at Centenary.

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

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

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

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

F. 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.

G. Discharge all financial obligations to the College.

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

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

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

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

 

The General Education Program

Grounded in the liberal arts, our academic program embraces courses in the arts and humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. At the same time, we recognize the shifting landscape of our changing world, and so we provide our students with the practical tools to navigate the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead.

2. The Trek

By connecting the theoretical with the practical, the domestic with the international, the scholarly with the social, Trek encourages a lifelong dedication not only to learning but also to serving others. Our mission is to incorporate 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. For detailed descriptions, see the Trek pages of the course catalogue.

A. Credo
B. Challenge
C. Community
D. Career
E. Culture

3. Liberal Arts Explorations

The core experience at Centenary College includes an integrative introduction to the challenges that confront humankind in the early 21st century, the development of foundational critical thinking and expression skills, with an emphasis on human artistic and cultural accomplishments, an appreciation for symbolic reasoning, the nature of the material universe, and an exploration of human behavior.

The traditions of a liberal arts education help people develop the habits of well-ordered thought. A grounding in the foundations of the liberal arts will allow students to pivot to face the 21st century challenges as they evolve and to derive approaches to new challenges as yet unidentified. Therefore, students are required to take 8 courses (32 hours) distributed across the following disciplines chosen from the list of approved courses.

• Humanities
  (courses in which students critically analyze and evaluate human artistic and cultural accomplishments. Students may – and are encouraged to – take up to four hours in fulfillment of this requirements in courses that teach aesthetic appreciation through performance or production)
  3 courses (12 hours)
• Natural Sciences
  (courses through which students explore the nature of the material universe)
  2 courses that include one laboratory course (8 hours)
• Social Sciences
  (courses through which students examine human behavior through systematic analysis of data)
  2 courses (8 hours)
• Symbolic Reasoning
  (a course in which students develop a facility in and appreciation for symbolic reasoning)
  1 course (4 hours)

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

4. Proficiency Requirements

A. Take at least one course that is described as a W (writing) course. The W (writing) courses offered at the 300 level require a minimum of 12 typed pages of graded writing. The 12 pages may be small papers or one major paper. The focus is on quality of writing in the discipline, using the College style sheet or the acceptable style within that discipline. A vital part of the experience is intervention on the part of the faculty member to assist the student to reach a point of proficiency in writing.

B. Take at least one course that is described as a S (speech) course. The oral presentation for a course fulfilling the requirements for a S (speech) course should consist of at least 45 minutes of total graded speaking time per student. The presentation(s) should be critiqued and graded on content and speech delivery. The speech(es) should contain prepared as well as spontaneous interaction to questions. Evaluation sheets will be completed for each presentation. Students with problems in speech presentation should have an opportunity to review critiques and make a second presentation. The emphasis is to improve oral communication skills in English.

C. The S and W requirements are two distinct requirements and can only be fulfilled by taking two distinct courses. These courses do not necessarily have to be 4-hour courses. The professor will notify the Registrar of any students who fail to satisfy the S or W requirement. No transferred courses will be considered for satisfying the S or W requirement of the College.

(1) WAC 101-102; DANC 101, 123-124, 201, 301; MUS 133; 151 through 160.