Dragon Academy General Education Program

Note: an individual course may carry a maximum of one Knowledge and Skill area attribute.

The learning outcomes for all 11 required knowledge and skills areas are available from SUNY’s General Education Framework website.

• Oral Communication (OCOM)
• Written Communication (WCOM)
• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Social Justice (DESJ)
• Quantitative Reasoning (MAT)
• Scientific Reasoning (NSCI)
• Humanities (HUMA)
• Social Sciences (SOSC)
• Arts (ARTS)
• U.S. History and Civic Engagement (UHCE)
• World History and Global Awareness (WHGA)
• World Languages (WLAN)*

*Students can demonstrate that they have met the learning outcomes for the World Language Requirement, and fulfill their WLAN General Education Requirement, in one of the following ways:

• earn a State Seal of Biliteracy in high school: students demonstrate competency in high school, including by completing a final world language project;
• earn a diploma from a non-English-speaking high school;
• test out on the Gen Ed Proficiency Exam (administered by SUNY Oneonta’s Foreign Languages and Literatures Department); or
• take a course with a World Languages (WLAN) designation.

The 4 core competencies are:

• Critical Thinking and Reasoning (CTR);
• Information Literacy (IL);
• Civic Discourse (CVD); and
• Global Literacy (GL).

Students may look online in the University Catalog under which they fall—or search in the Schedule of Classes—to see which Knowledge and Skill Area courses carry one or more of the competencies. Students must meet the four competencies by completing Knowledge and Skill Area courses that carry attributes for one or more of the competencies – “double dipping” is allowed.

Learning Outcomes for Critical Thinking and Reasoning (CTR) Courses

Students will:

• clearly articulate issue or problem;
• identify, analyze and evaluate ideas, data and arguments as they occur in their own or other’s work;
• acknowledge limitations such as perspective and bias; and
• develop well-reasoned (logical) arguments to form judgements and/or draw conclusions.

Learning Outcomes for Information Literacy (IL) Courses (Revised, Effective Fall 2026)

Students will:

• look at information effectively using tools appropriate to their needs and discipline;
• evaluate information from a variety of sources with an awareness of authority, validity bias, and origin; and
• demonstrate an understanding of the ethical dimensions of information use, creation and dissemination, whether from traditional sources or emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence.

Learning Outcomes for Civic Discourse (NEW, Effective Fall 2026)

Students will:

• demonstrate the discourse skills necessary to participate in civic life, including:
• the deliberation of ideas through reasoned inquiry that seeks new information and considers multiple viewpoints;
• and the ethical practice of advocacy, dissent, and dialogue that constructively attends to points of conflict.

Learning Outcomes for Global Literacy (GL) Courses

Students will:

• decipher the interdependencies, relationships and linkages (historical or contemporary) that exist between the Global North and the Global South;
• examine issues of sustainability;
• interrogate global relations in terms of questions of social justice; and
• be able to analyze the history and diversity of the U.S. and its relationship to the world.

Essential Learning Outcomes for All Oneonta Bachelor’s Degree Programs

Upon completion of any SUNY Oneonta undergraduate degree program, students will have demonstrated the following six “Essential Student Learning Outcomes”:

1. awareness of global connectedness, diverse human cultures and principles of inclusivity;
2. scientific and quantitative reasoning;
3. oral and written communication skills;
4. technological and information literacy;
5. critical and creative thinking; and
6. personal and social responsibility.

General Education areas met at one SUNY institution will meet the same General Education areas at SUNY Oneonta. It is possible that a General Education requirement may be met via exam and/or waiver. In such a case, credit is not earned, but the requirement is considered met. Waivers to requirements of SUNY Oneonta’s General Education Program, Dragon Academy, can be granted, when appropriate, to allow for seamless transfer between SUNY campuses.