General Education
The Construction Management faculty strongly believes that the construction education program must be a balance between profession-specific courses and those that prepare the CM graduate to be a well-educated member of society. General education requirements are divided into six categories or Areas. As you can see from the list on the right, these categories are Area A Communications, Area B Science & Math, Area C Arts & Humanities, Area D/E Society/Individual, and Area F Technology. Each Area is further divided into sub-areas, each with their own unit requirements. The university catalog provides a list of courses you can choose from for each of the sub-areas. Go to www.ge.calpoly.edu/
When building your schedule keep in mind that general education courses can be taken in any order providing all the course prerequisites have been completed. The university catalog provides a description, including prerequisites, for each course.
Finally, with regard to general education courses, there are a couple of critical points to which you must pay attention. First, you must complete your Area A, sub-area A1 Expository Writing requirement (ENGL 134) during your first year of study. If you fail to successfully complete this course you will be asked to leave the university until such time as you can present evidence that you have done so at another institution. Second, prior to graduation you must complete your U.S. Cultural Pluralism (USCP) requirement. In many instances, the USCP requirement can be completed by taking a course that satisfies one of the GE sub-areas. Check the university catalog in the course description section. Courses satisfying the USCP requirement are identified. Similarly, you must satisfy the Graduate Writing Requirement before graduation. This requirement is frequently satisfied by taking a course that includes a writing component where the GWR exam is given as part of the class assignment. One last note about the general education requirements that is particularly important to the Transfer Student: There is a requirement that 12 general education units must be upper division (300-400 level) and that 12 general education units must be taken while enrolled as a Cal Poly student. If you are a transfer student and come to Cal Poly with GE certification, you are still required to take 12 upper division GE units.
The College of Architecture and Environmental Design (of which the Construction Management Department is a part) has an advising center located in Bulldog 05 – Room 221. Ellen Notermann, Director of the CAED Advising Center, is available to help with questions on general education. In addition, each student is assigned a faculty advisor. Students should check in with their faculty advisor each quarter prior to registration. Please check with the office for the faculty assigned to you.
GE 2009-2011 Requirements
Courses are to be selected in accordance with the general education and breadth requirements. Refer to the 2009-2011 University Catalog.
72 Total GE units required
56 units required in addition to support courses
* = Support Courses that Satisfy General Education Requirement
Minimum 12 units required at the 300-400 level
GE Units Taken in Residence 12
GE Upper Division Units Required 12
Area A Communication 12
_____A1 Expository Writing (4 units)
_____A2 Oral Communication (4 units)
_____A3 Reasoning, Argumentation, & Writing (4 units)
Area B Science & Math 16
_____B1 Mathematics/Stat. (8 units in support courses*)
_____B2 Life Science (4 units)
_____B3 Physical Science (4 units in support courses*)
_____B4 One lab taken with B2 or B3 course
Area C Arts & Humanities 20
_____C1 Literature (4 units)
_____C2 Philosophy (4 units)
_____C3 Fine and Performing Arts (4 units)
_____C4 Upper-division elective (4 units)
_____Area C Elective (Choose one from Cl-C4)
Area D/E Society/Individual 20*
_____D1 The American Experience (4 units)
_____D2 Political Economy (4 units in support courses*)
_____D3 Comparative Social Inst. (4 units)
_____D4 Self Development (4 units)
_____D5 Upper-division elective (4 units)
Area F Technology (upper-division) 4
_____ Elective (4 units)
Other Graduation Requirements
Students must complete the University U.S. Pluralism requirement and the Graduate Writing Requirement to be eligible for graduation.
_____USCP (Cultural Pluralism)
_____GWR (Graduate Writing Requirement
