|
The Area of Study (AOS) Guidelines have been created by the Empire State College faculty to help students plan their degree programs. There are other sources of help: advice from professionals in the field and from mentors, catalogs of other colleges, students’ own research into their areas of interest, and more extensive resource materials, generally in handbook format, developed by some individual areas of study. The guidelines deserve special attention because they spell out what the academic world and many employers understand a particular concentration to mean. For example, a concentration titled business administration that does not include economics is misleading: the guidelines guarantee “truth in packaging.”
The guidelines have authority but they are not a fixed set of course requirements. They are open to interpretation; many of the studies they list can be undertaken in a wide variety of ways, and they encourage concentrations which differ from traditional majors. The principle which governs degree program planning in general (and, therefore, the use of the guidelines) is individualization: Empire State students design programs which, within very broad parameters, meet their own needs and interests. Many students’ needs and interests are best met by concentration in one of the conventional academic disciplines, and they follow the guidelines carefully; others use the guidelines as a point of departure in defining their own distinctive approach to their studies.
As you begin planning your degree, your mentor will explain the AOS guidelines to you and help you interpret them. When your program is submitted to the Assessment Committee, they will use the guidelines as part of the basis for their review of your proposal. When you write your rationale, you should address College’s expectations for the academic content of concentrations within your area of study. Several areas of study have provided specific concentration title guidelines, in addition to the broader, general guidelines. For example, in Business, Management and Economics there is a specific title for business administration which lists topics to be included in a disciplinary degree with that designation. If you do not include a specific concentration expectation in a degree program, a rationale must be provided sufficient to satisfy the Assessment Committee. If you wish to depart from the guidelines, a different concentration title or organizing framework might be chosen; this option provides flexibility in designing your degree. For example, if you choose to design a degree in business without including several of the topics listed in the concentration guideline, you might select another framework and develop a title that better describes your degree plan.
The College offers students the opportunity to select one of five organizing frameworks for designing concentrations within the areas of study. This allows maximum flexibility in curriculum design and ensures that students’ academic plans serve their needs and, simultaneously, communicate to the outside world a coherent record of accomplishment.
These organizing frameworks are:
Disciplinary -- a program of study guided by the existing framework of a discipline.
Interdisciplinary -- the simultaneous and interrelated study of two or more disciplines.
Thematic -- a program of study focusing on a particular theme or set of ideas.
Problem Oriented -- a program of study organized around a problem.
Professional/Vocational -- a study which focuses on acquiring knowledge and skills needed for specific career performance and applications. It also entails inquiry into the conceptual foundations of the profession, the role of the professional in that career, and the relations between the profession and society-at-large.
All students at Empire State College are expected to develop their skills in reading, speaking and writing, so that they may communicate clearly, correctly and effectively. The College also expects students to acquire mathematical, technical, language or other skills that may be essential to their particular programs of study. In addition, students are expected to develop skills in analysis, synthesis and evaluation.
A student who successfully completes a degree program at Empire State College should become an independent, self-sufficient learner. We expect an educated person to have developed many different perspectives, e.g. on international, gender-related, multicultural, historical, literary, aesthetic and scientific questions. Both the overall program and the concentration should have breadth, coherence, and progression.
The College policy on individualized program design in this handbook provides detailed additional information which you should consider when planning your degree and writing your rationale. Your rationale should reflect this consultation.
Approved: February, 1993 |