General Education Program

​​​​​​​​​​​​​Overview

The General Education Program (GEP) at Effat University committedly embraces the liberal arts education (LAE) philosophy in its endeavor to providing a holistic education experience through a challenging and broad-based academic curriculum. It seeks to address the intellectual, physical, emotional and social aspects of student development in order to produce well-rounded, responsible, resourceful and ethical global citizens with a diverse and integrated set of personal, social and professional skills. The LAE pedagogy embedded in the Program allows for an interdisciplinary concept of instruction invoking a competitive spirit among the students towards academic accomplishment and community service participation.

Program Structure

The GEP caters to the entire undergraduate population of the University by helping them to gain insight into varied critical learning skills, investigate the traditional branches of knowledge, and develop a broad perspective that allows them to appreciate diversity and change across time, culture, and national boundaries. Critical learning skills include proficiency in the use of language, mathematics and quantitative methods as tools for acquiring, renewing, creating and communicating knowledge. The well-expanded structure of the GEP includes an understanding of the methods and concerns of traditional branches of knowledge — the arts and humanities, the social sciences and the natural sciences while an equal emphasis is placed on developing a 21st century worldview requiring historical, global and cross-cultural examination of knowledge of all kinds.

Credit Requirement

The GEP is a non-degree granting program within the framework of the University. All university students must complete the 42 credits of general education courses as a prerequisite requirement for graduation from their own respective departments. For instance, those studying towards a bachelor's degree in Psychology must earn a total of 127 credits, 42 credits of which are offered through the GEP.​​

Vision

The General Education Program seeks to acquire a place of preeminence in promoting the true spirit of Liberal Arts Education (LAE), research, intercultural communication and community engagement.

Mission 

The General Education Program creates a vibrant environment for academic excellence, societal relevance and global awareness through imparting Liberal Arts Education, disseminating high quality research and advancing the best of citizenship traits among the students and the community at large. 

Goals

1. Achieve the General Education Program’s mission as a liberal arts provider and enhance its national and international presence through deepening its partnership with local and global communities.
2. Develop an efficient and transparent working environment through effective leadership of the General Education Department. 
3. Adhere to the Liberal Arts Education (LAE) principles in providing excellent curricular and extra-curricular activities through a variety of educational resources and services. 
4. Promote students’ ethical, moral and civic contributions towards their immediate and distant contexts. 
5. Recruit and retain qualified faculty and staff and create a vibrant environment conducive to professional growth and development
6. Offer technological support and other required facilities in order to optimize the General Education Department’s functioning through an efficient management of its budget.
7. Strengthen research culture and scholarship and encourage faculty and students to increase their research output. 
8. Enhance relationships and interactions with local and global communities through projects and  joint activities  ​
   

Knowledge Diversity

The human experience is at the core of the GEP educational objectives. By exploring broadly the courses in humanities and fine arts, natural sciences and mathematics, and social and behavioral sci​ences, students develop an understanding of the nature of human experience-its complexity, its diversity of expression, its continuities and discontinuities over space and time.

Inquiry-based Learning

Inquisitive style of teaching and learning aids students in growing beyond acquiring general knowledge and focus more on developing broader perspectives of concepts, theories and facts of any field or topic under study. 

Critical Thinking, Formal Analysis, and Effective Expression

Communication is one important facet of the GEP educational objectives. By comparing and evaluating the ideas of others and by participating in various styles of research, students develop their capacities for critical judgment. By exploring mathematical and other quantitative reasoning systems, students acquire the ability to think in abstract, symbolic ways. By writing and communicating orally, students acquire the ability to express their ideas effectively and to interact with others smoothly and persuasively.

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Comparing and evaluating the ideas of others and participating in various styles of research help students develop their capacities for critical analysis and problem solving. By exploring mathematical and other quantitative reasoning systems, students acquire the ability to think in abstract, symbolic ways.

Effective Communication

Communication is one important facet of the GEP educational objectives. By writing and communicating orally, students acquire the ability to express their ideas effectively and to interact with others smoothly and persuasively.

Intercultural Understanding

By learning about their own culture and the cultures of others, students gain personal and global awareness. This awareness of the diversity as well as the uniformity of the human race promotes the notion of global citizenship and civil engagement, both at a national and international level.

Social and Ethical Responsiveness

By undertaking social responsibility and by examining the ethical implications of knowledge, students learn teamwork; they also learn to evaluate the effects of actions at personal and social levels. They learn to assume responsibility, to disseminate knowledge, and to uphold civic duty.​​

Knowledge

• GEP-K1: Demonstrate an understanding of terminology, norms, conventions and practices in the fields of study.
• GEP-K2:  Explain major facts, theories, concepts and principles pertinent to the fields of study.
• GEP-K3: Demonstrate an understanding of fundamentals and major conventions of academic research.

Cognitive Skills

• GEP-S1: Apply theoretical and practical knowledge using concepts, principles and theories to address issues in the field of study.
• GEP-S2:  Evaluate and solve problems and find solutions to current issues in the field of study.
• GEP-S3: Critically analyze issues and problems in various complex context, in a field of study.
• GEP-S4:  Produce research by applying academic conventions and principles.
• GEP-S5:  Perform practical tasks and procedures in the field of study.
• GEP-S6: Communicate effectively using oral and written communication skills.
• GEP S7- Perform mathematical operations and quantitative methods

Values

• GEP-VI:    Demonstrate integrity and academic professional ethics finding solutions to societal issues.
• GEP-V2:    Demonstrate effective teamwork, leadership skills, responsibility, and commitment to quality.
  

​The GEP is a non-degree granting program within the framework of the University. All university students must complete the 42 credits of general education courses as a prerequisite requirement for graduation from their own respective departments. For instance, those studying towards a bachelor's degree in Psychology must earn a total of 127 credits, 42 credits of which are offered through the GEP.​​