University of Hawaii at Hilo Catalog 2011-2012

General Education Basic, Area, and Integrative Requirements

Home » Undergraduate Education » General Education Basic, Area, and Integrative Requirements

In Fall 2011, a new set of General Education Core and Integrative requirements goes into effect. In brief, they are:

  • Core:
    • Basic Requirements
      • Composition (3 cr)
      • Language Arts (3 cr)
      • Quantitative Reasoning (6 cr)
      • World Cultures (6 cr)
    • Area Requirements
      • Humanities (6 cr in two different disciplines)
      • Social Sciences (6 cr in two different disciplines)
      • Natural Sciences (7 cr, including two lecture courses in different disciplines and one laboratory course associated with one of these)
  • Integrative Requirements:
    • Writing Intensive (3 courses, at least one at the upper-division level)
    • Hawaii Pan-Pacific (3 cr)
    • Global and Community Citizenship (3 cr)

Courses currently certified for these categories are listed at hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/gened/.

Students may satisfy the General Education requirements in force in the year they entered UH Hilo or any of the UH campuses, as long as they have maintained continuous enrollment. The Catalog Choice and Retroactivity policy is located at http://hilo.hawaii.edu/academics/gened/documents/Catalog_copy_and_retroactivity.pdf and the Catalog Declaration form for students to fill out is located at http://hilo.hawaii.edu/registrar/documents/Catalogdeclaration.pdf. Please see your advisor if you wish to know more about this option.

To earn the baccalaureate degree, students must also complete the requirements for their major; these are found in the Undergraduate Education section of the catalog

In addition, students must complete the following graduation requirements:

  • Complete at least 120 semester college credits. This minimum is higher for some baccalaureate degrees.
  • Earn at least a 2.0 cumulative UH Hilo GPA as well as a 2.0 GPA in courses required for the major (a higher GPA may be required for some degrees) and minor (if any)
  • Earn a minimum of 30 semester hours in the college from which a degree is sought.
  • Be a classified student with a declared major
  • Meet all requirements of their respective colleges and departments.

In addition, students may take a number of elective courses, which are not used to fulfill any particular requirement but make up the 120+ semester credits needed to graduate. These electives may be chosen from any undergraduate course offered at UH Hilo. When choosing electives, student may wish to consult their advisors to select courses that enhance learning in their major or expand options for careers or graduate study.

All degree requirements must be met within the special limitations imposed upon directed reading/directed studies, "credit/no credit" and special topics courses, and the credit by examination policy. Students should consult the appropriate sections of this Catalog and speak with their faculty advisors or college deans for more details on these limitations.

With the approval of his or her academic advisor, a student may petition the University for a waiver or modification of academic requirements. If the request involves a requirement for a major or minor, the petition goes to the chair of the department. If it involves a General Education or graduation requirement, the petition goes to the dean of the college. The petition should include clear and convincing justification for the action requested as well as appropriate documentation, such as syllabi or catalog course descriptions of the courses in question.

It is extremely important that each student meet with an academic advisor regularly to ensure timely progress toward a degree. Students who have not declared a major should consult with the Advising Center staff, (808) 974-7688. Declared majors will be assigned a faculty advisor in their discipline.