CORE CURRICULUM

Achieving these goals requires a combination of factors. These factors include learning to use language effectively, developing the ability to handle quantitative data, understanding our cultural and political history, developing an understanding of a culture and/or a language other than our own, acquiring an appreciation for the creative arts, and understanding the differences between individual and communal needs.

Core requirements, as they are delineated below, will be completed by all undergraduate students. Modified Core requirements for transfer students apply to students with 45 or more transfer credits, and students with Associate degrees approved for Core-to-Core Transfer. Highly motivated students, who seek especially challenging courses, may wish to apply for admission to the University Honors Program, which offers special honors courses that meet Core requirements.

The University Core Curriculum is divided into the areas described below. Each area has a list of courses approved as satisfying the requirements for that area. Course descriptions are available in a separate publication that is issued each Spring before the registration period for Summer and Fall courses, and in the web version of this Bulletin (http://www.temple/edu/bulletin/). Because all approved courses are not offered every semester, students should consult the current Directory of Classes for available Core courses.

45+ Transfer Core

Transfer students admitted to Temple for the fall 1997 and subsequent semesters with 45 or more credits for courses taken elsewhere (and without an Associate's degree approved for Core-to-Core Transfer) will complete the requirements of the 45+ TRANSFER CORE version of Temple's Core Curriculum. All of these requirements may be met either with equivalent transfer courses or with Core courses taken at Temple, with the exception of the two Writing-Intensive courses, which must be taken at Temple. (NOTE: An Intellectual Heritage course taken at Temple to satisfy the 45+ requirement for one Intellectual Heritage course cannot be used as one of the two writing-Intensive courses at Temple. However, a second IH at Temple may be used as one of those WI courses.)

• Library Skills Workbook and Test (0 credits)
• College Composition (Temple's English C050, C051, R050, or equivalent - 1 course, 3 credits)
• 2 Writing-Intensive courses, not including Intellectual Heritage, taken at Temple (6 credits)
• 1 Core Intellectual Heritage course (Temple's IH X051, X052, or equivalent - 3 credits)
• 1 Core International Studies course (either regular or "Non-Western/Third World") or a language to the second semester (52 or equivalent) level (3-4 credits)
• 1 Mathematics or Statistics course (a Core-level course in one of those departments - 3-4 credits)
• 1 course in the natural sciences with a laboratory component (Biology, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Physics, or interdisciplinary science; or a direct transfer equivalent of a Temple Core "Science/Technology A" course; or, if taken at Temple, a Core "SA" course with a lab) (3-4 credits)
• 1 Core Studies in Race course (3 credits)
• 1 course each in 2 of these Core areas: American Culture, Arts, or Individual and Society (6 credits)

Transfer Credits: The 45+ Transfer Core is designed for students who have taken significant numbers of courses elsewhere before entering Temple. All college-level courses considered transferable by the Temple Office of Undergraduate Admissions, including those for which evaluation is not complete until after the student begins at Temple, will be counted toward the 45 credit minimum, when they meet either of the following sets of conditions.

1) For students new to Temple: The courses have been taken elsewhere before the student matriculates at Temple.

2) For readmitted students: 45 or more transferable credits have been taken elsewhere since the student's last date of enrollment at Temple and before the date of the student's return to Temple. In both cases, courses taken at Temple as a non-matriculated student do not count as transfer courses, and courses taken elsewhere by students once they are at Temple, with the permission of the student's Temple school or college, receive transfer credit but are not counted toward the 45+ Transfer Core.

45+ Transfer Core Policies:

Transfer students should be aware that this Core policy relates only to University Core requirements. All the requirements of Temple's schools and colleges and major programs of study remain in force and are not affected by this policy, including any that involve Core courses but differ from the University Core Curriculum requirements. Students should consult the appropriate sections of this Bulletin, and their academic advisers, about school/college and major requirements.

Regular Temple Core policies apply to these requirements and the courses they involve unless otherwise stipulated above. For example, it is still the case that:

• The College Composition requirement may be met by placing out of Temple's College Composition through a placement test.
• One of the Writing-intensive courses taken at Temple will be the capstone course in the student's major.
• The International Studies requirement also may be met by placing above the 52 or equivalent level of a language through a placement test or by participating in an approved Study Abroad program.
• Some Studies in Race and Writing-intensive courses also fulfill another Core requirement.
• Initial evaluation of transfer credits will be made in the Temple Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Re-evaluation of credits will be done by the Temple Admissions Office and academic advisers, in consultation with the Director of Core and Transfer when necessary, according to standard Temple policies and procedures.
• The dean or dean's designee of a student's Temple school or college has final authority over interpretations and decisions regarding these requirements, in consultation with the Director of Core and Transfer.

Core-to-Core Transfer

Core-to-Core Transfer agreements with local community colleges accept the general education included in approved Associate degrees in place of Temple’s Core Curriculum. Students entering Temple with an approved degree have met all of the Core requirements except two Writing-Intensive courses to be taken at Temple (one of which is normally the advanced writing capstone in the major). Such students are identified upon admission to or enrollment in the University and their fulfillment of the Core by Core-to-Core Transfer is noted on pertinent student records. Eligible students should be sure that a final transcript, indicating receipt of the Associate degree, is available to their Temple advisers at their first advising appointment. Advisers can then make sure that Core-to-Core status is noted in the students' records.

Please take note of the effective dates for these Associate degrees approved for Core-to-Core Transfer:

Bucks County Community College: Student enters Temple in January 1998 or after, with any Associate of Art degree received in a program the student entered in Fall 1994 or after.

Delaware County Community College: Student enters Temple in January 1998 or after, with one of the following degrees received after 1970: Associate of Arts in Behavioral Science, Communication Arts, Education, Liberal Arts; Associate of Science in Business Administration, Natural Science. Students with the Associate of Science in Science for Health Professions are eligible for Core-to-Core Transfer if and only if they are certified to Temple’s Director of Core and Transfer by the Community College’s Career and Transfer Office. Associate of Science in Computer Science or Engineering and Associate in Applied Science degrees are not approved for Core-to-Core Transfer.

Montgomery County Community College: Student enters Temple in January 1998 or after, with any Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree received in or after 1990. Earlier A.A. or A.S. degrees can be considered for inclusion on appeal. Associate in Applied Science and Associate in General Studies degrees are not approved for Core-to-Core Transfer.

Community College of Philadelphia: Student enters Temple in January 1999 or after, with any Associate of Arts or Associate in Science degree received in a program the student entered in Fall 1996 or after. Associate of Applied Science degrees are not approved for Core-to-Core Transfer.

Important Core Policies for All Students

• Students must complete the Core Library Orientation in order to retain library borrowing privileges. The requirement consists of completing the library skills workbook available on the Universtiy Libraries website.
• All Core courses must be completed with a grade of C- or higher to satisfy a Core requirement.
• Students may not complete requirements in more than two Core areas with courses in their major fields.
• The three semester sequence of Composition, Intellectual Heritage I and II is intended to serve as the foundation of general education at Temple, and to provide students with the skills and knowledge necessary for successful completion of other Core requirements. These courses should be taken as soon as possible after entering Temple, immediately after one another, and in order.
• In two Core areas, 1) Quantitative Reasoning and 2) Science and Technology, students should not take a second-level (B) course until they have completed an appropriate prerequisite first-level (A) course with a grade of C- or higher. Students should check with their advisers for the A-B sequences appropriate for their program of study. The policy on transfer of Core science courses applies to all students with transfer credits in science. (See Science and Technology)
• Students who are candidates for the Bachelor of Arts degree in the College of Arts and Sciences are required by the College of Arts and Sciences to complete both the foreign language and the International Studies components of the Core. (See Language or International Studies.)

Core Course Numbering

The course number provides important information about a course, including whether or not it receives Core credit and, in some cases, which Core requirement it meets. Because some courses exist in several Core versions, or in Core and non-Core versions, students should pay careful attention to course numbers and to which version of a course they take.

Numbers for courses that meet Core requirements begin with the letters "C," "R," "W," or "X." Those prefixes, along with the two-letter Required Course Indicator (RCI), provide information on the Core area a given course will meet.

Core Areas

• Composition and Writing
• Intellectual Heritage
• American Culture
• The Arts
• Individual and Society
• Language or International Studies
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Science and Technology
• Studies in Race
• Writing-Intensive Courses