FAQ

You can find a master list of all approved General Education courses on the UCLA Registrar’s website .

General Education requirements are divided into three fundamental areas, namely Foundation Areas. The three Foundation Areas are 1) Arts and Humanities, 2) Society and Culture, and 3) Scientific Inquiry. Each Foundation Area has particular subcategories as follows:

Foundation of Arts and Humanities:

• Literary Cultural Analysis
• Philosophic and Linguistic Analysis
• Visual and Performance Arts Analysis and Practice

Foundation of Society and Culture:

• Social Analysis
• Historical Analysis

Foundation of Scientific Inquiry:

• Life Science with or without Lab
• Physical Science with or without Lab

Please refer to the Foundation Area GE Credit Learning Goals and Guidelines listed on the GE Submission Guidelines page to determine which Foundation Area would be the best fit for your course.

Please refer to the Campuswide GE Requirements Overview on the UCLA Registrar’s website to see GE course requirements for the College and Schools.

It is recommended that you submit your course one full quarter in advance of when it will be offered. If enrollment for your course is dependent on the course satisfying the GE requirement, we strongly recommend applying at least two quarters in advance of when the course will be offered.

For each course you plan to submit, you will need to upload the following to the Course and Curriculum Management System (CMS) :

• A completed course information sheet
• A syllabus that abides by the guidelines mentioned on our GE Submission Guidelines page (See FAQ question: What needs to be on my syllabus?)
• An optional cover memo if there is anything that you would like to address for the committee that is not covered in the other parts of the submission

For more information on these three parts of a GE submission, please refer to FAQ questions: What is a course information sheet? and What needs to be on my syllabus? or to the guidelines on our GE Submission Guidelines page

Information sheets provide instructors with an opportunity to describe in more detail the components of the course that may not be readily apparent in the syllabus, like the ways in which assessments are linked to learning outcomes, as well as logistics of the course in terms of hours and enrollments.  Even if you are applying to multiple foundation areas, you only need to submit one information sheet.

In general, a comprehensive syllabus should include the following components:

• A 1-2 paragraph course description
• Student learning outcomes
• An outline of proposed weekly lecture topics and, if applicable, field trips, labs or other experiential activities
• A reading list that includes films, if applicable
• A description of student assignments as well as a description of the nature of the assignment and its page length for writing assignments
• A description of the grading policy and how each percentage component determines the student’s overall grade. If participation is a part of the grading rubric, please explain how participation will be graded.

As of Winter 2024, the Course Information Management System (CIMS) is no longer available. Please use the Course and Curriculum Management System (CMS) .

In general, the committee approves courses on the basis of their alignment with the learning goals of the chosen Foundation Area, the appropriate fit to the requested subcategory, and the overall suitability to the General Education curriculum. For more details regarding the committee’s expectations, please refer to the guidelines on our GE Submission Guidelines page.

Please take a moment to read through the Foundation Area GE Credit Learning Goals and Guidelines listed on the GE Submission Guidelines page to determine which Foundation Area and subcategory would be the best fit for your course.

If your course is not approved for credit across all the subcategories for which you applied, please feel free to reach out to Jen Hirashiki for feedback. She can help you navigate the committee’s feedback to determine any next steps. Please note that it is rare for courses to satisfy more than two GE subcategories.

Please request the subcategories across the Foundation Areas that you think are appropriate to your course. We recommend requesting no more than two or three subcategories. Please also note that regardless of the number of subcategories you choose, it rare for courses to satisfy more than two GE subcategories.

Once your course has been submitted to the General Education Governance Committee via the Course and Curriculum Management system (CMS) , it will be reviewed at the subsequent GEGC meeting. If approved by GEGC, the course will be recommended for GE credit to the Undergraduate Council (UgC). Once reviewed and officially approved by UgC, the Schedule of Classes will be updated and it can be advertised as a GE course.

If your course cannot be approved for GE credit at the time of review, we will be in touch with detailed feedback to help you revise your syllabus and resubmit for approval. If requested, we are happy to put you in touch with the relevant resource support people on GEGC to help you with revisions. Please keep in mind if enrollment for your course is based on the course satisfying the GE requirement, we strongly recommend applying at least two quarters in advance to when the course will be offered.

To receive feedback prior to submission, please reach out to Alice Lee or Jen Hirashiki.

One unit represents three hours of work per week per term by the student, including both class attendance and preparation For instance, a 5-unit GE course should entail 15 hours of in-class and out-of-class work/week for a total of 150 hours over the 10 weeks.

Please note that if you’re teaching a summer course, the number of weekly hours will depend on the duration of the course. For instance, your 5-unit GE course over a 6-week session should entail 25 hours of in-class and out-of-class work/week for a total of 150 hours over the 6 weeks.