Advising Home
First-Year Registration
New Course Information
Degree Requirements >>
Majors, Minors
   & Concentrations

First-Year Experience
   & Advising

Advising Notes
Experiential Education
Academic Success
   & Campus Resources

A "K" College Liberal
   Arts Education


ACADEMIC ADVISING : DETAILED DEGREE REQUIREMENTS

 

August 15, 2006
38 Units with 24 units at C- or better
  A student must have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.00.
       
First-Year Seminar (WRIT 130) 1 unit
  Every first-year student selects a seminar, which must be taken during the fall quarter. The Seminars, offered in many departments, explore from a variety of perspectives themes or issues of interest to students. The Seminar emphasizes and addresses fundamental academic skills in writing, oral communication, collaboration, and research.
    This course may not satisfy Area of Study, Cultures, major, minor, or concentration requirements. It is only available during the fall quarter of the first enrollment year and the requirement must be satisfied before beginning the sophomore year.
     
Quantitative Reasoning 1 unit
  This requirement asks students to understand the use of quantitative techniques to clarify ordinary experience and how statistical ideas are used to shape public policy and human sciences.
    NEW: 8-06 - A course satisfying this requirement may also satisfy Area of Study requirements in Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science. It may also satisfy major, minor, or concentration requirements. (Please note: This change is not included in the 2006-07 Academic Catalogue due to the change being made after the printing of the catalogue)
Second Language Proficiency Up to 3 units
  To prepare one to "live successfully within a richly diverse and increasingly complex world," students are required to achieve proficiency in a second language equivalent to the intermediate level (201). A required placement test score determines the starting placement of the given language.
    Students who have completed three or more years of foreign language in high school may not receive credit for the same language at the 101 level and must begin the language at the 102 level or higher. Academic credit is not awarded for foreign language placement.
     
Cultures 3 units
  To continue the preparation to "live successfully within a richly diverse and increasingly complex world," students are required to take at least one course that focuses on the cultural traditions that help make up the complex and many-sided nature of the United States as well as two courses focusing on the cultural complexities of two different areas of the world (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East). Courses must be selected from an approved list of cultures courses.
  • Students must select one unit of U.S. culture
  • Students must select 2 units of cultures in countries from two different regions: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, Middle East, Mediterranean, or one comparative and one regional.
    A cultures course may also satisfy Area of Study, major, minor, or concentration requirements. Transfer courses may not satisfy this requirement. One unit from study abroad may be used.
     
Areas of Study 10 units
  The following disciplinary areas represent the development and shape of academic knowledge. Students are introduced to different areas of focus and academic inquiry, acquiring the tools to locate themselves in their environments and histories as well as the means to understand and manage the methodologies that shape objects of study in these disciplines.
    Courses taken in the Area of Study may also satisfy Cultures, major, minor, or concentration requirements. Study abroad credits may be used to satisfy Area of Study requirements.
     
Literature, Fine Arts, Creative Expression, and History 3 units
  • Students must select one unit of literature in any language or from the following courses: CLAS 210, CLAS 220, CLAS 230, CLAS 240, CLAS 255, CLAS 270, CHIN 225, CHIN 235, GERM 135, JAPN 235, or PHIL 213.
  • Students must select one unit of creative expression courses.
  • Students must select one unit of history, art history, music history, or theatre history.
     
Natural Science, Mathematics, and Computer Science 2 units
  • Students must select one unit from Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Math or Physics.
  • One unit must be from the natural sciences (Biology, Chemistry, Physics).
    The following courses may not be used to satisfy this requirement: BIOL 200, MATH 105, and MATH 110.
     
Philosophy and Religion 2 units
  Students may select courses from either department or from the same department.
       
Social Science 3 units
  Students must select courses from at least two of the following departments:
  Anthropology, Economics, Education, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, and Sociology/Anthropology.
    The following courses may not be used to satisfy this requirement: ECON 210, EDUC 370, EDUC 490, EDUC 594, and ENVS 490.
     
Major Area of Study 8 - 12 units
  Study in one discipline encourages the student to understand one area in greater depth and to gain a firm foundation of knowledge within that discipline. The requirements for each major are outlined here.
    Each required course within a major, including cognate courses must earn a grade of C- or better. A major may include a maximum of two departmentally approved units from study abroad (IAS allows only one). The same course may not count for both a major and a minor.
   
Physical Education 1 unit
  Participation in physical education courses or intercollegiate athletics brings balance to one's life and encourages development of health and fitness and skill in a sport that can be continued throughout one's life. Each student must successfully complete five physical education activities for which they will be awarded a total of one unit of credit.
    PE activities are graded CR/NC. Only one unit of PE may be counted toward graduation requirements. The unit of credit is awarded the quarter after the completion of the five activities courses. Only two activities in any one area may count toward completion of this requirement. PE 101, which counts as two activities, may not be repeated. Intercollegiate sports may be counted as many times as they are successfully completed.
   
Senior Individualized Project 1 - 2 units
  This independent project caps the liberal arts education. Working closely with a faculty advisor, students dig more deeply into an area of particular interest. This work manifests itself in varied ways according to the goals of students. Some students create fine arts works; some engage in lab or field research; others teach, write a thesis, take special courses, or complete an internship. Each project culminates in a written report.
    One may not register for a spring quarter SIP. SIPs are graded CR, NC, or Honors and are not included in the cumulative GPA calculation. The SIP must be submitted on the first day of the quarter following the SIP enrollment.
   
Liberal Arts Colloquium Credit (LACC) 1 unit
  College Forum events provide a special dimension to the total liberal arts experience. Lectures, performances, concerts, etc. enhance and supplement this broad-based tradition of learning. Students must participate in 25 LACC-designated events over the four-year period (by Friday of 8th week of the senior year). The requirement for transfer students is prorated at entry.
    Credit is awarded after the quarter of completion of the requirement.
   
Comprehensive Exam in the Major Department 0 unit
  The purpose of the comprehensive exam is to test students' knowledge of the material, skill, and methods made familiar in courses completed in the major field. They may take the form of a written departmental examination, an oral examination, a performance in the field, or any combination of these.
    Exams are graded "pass with distinction," "pass," or "fail." The exam must be repeated if a grade of "fail" is received. The comprehensive exam is only recorded on the academic transcript if passed with distinction.
    Residency Requirement  
  Each student (transfer and first-year student) must be enrolled for a minimum of six full-time quarters on the Kalamazoo College campus, the last three of which must be in the senior year. A minimum of 18 units, exclusive of the LACC and Physical Education activity unit, must be earned on campus.
   

Study Abroad programs and GLCA programs are not included in the required six quarters on campus. Students participating in the 3/2 engineering program or early professional school admission are exempt from the requirement to spend their senior year on campus, but they must complete the six full-time quarters on campus. Students completing secondary teaching certification are exempt from one of the required senior quarters if they are student teaching during their senior year, but must still meet the six full-time quarters on campus.