General Education

The IVCC faculty has agreed that the goals outlined below will enable us to achieve this purpose. They will serve as guides for general education and will be addressed through IVCC's curriculum. Students will encounter teaching strategies and find learning activities designed to attain these goals embedded in courses throughout the curriculum.

1. To apply analytical and problem solving skills to personal, social, and professional issues and situations. The purpose of this goal is to help students develop competence in their ability to differentiate between fact and opinion, to determine the accuracy and completeness of information, to be able to compare and contrast information and points of view, to apply logical reasoning skills, to make reasonable judgments, and to draw logical conclusions. Students should be able to apply these skills in both social and personal settings and use them to enhance their problem solving skills in the workplace.

2. To communicate successfully, both orally and in writing, to a variety of audiences. The purpose of this goal is to help students communicate clearly, appropriately, effectively, and creatively through both oral and written communication. These skills will be used throughout college, in the workplace, as well as in everyday life.

3. To construct a critical awareness of and appreciation for diversity. This goal seeks to foster and encourage the students' knowledge of and appreciation for their position as members of a global community by examining the cultures and their interconnectivity. Appreciation can be understood here to mean that students must have an adequate understanding and respect for difference before they can compare other cultures to their own.  Aspects of given cultural groups may include but are not limited to the personal, philosophical, religious, social, economic, historical and political.

4. To understand and use technology effectively and to understand its impact on the individual and society. The intent of this goal is to develop the ability of the students to access, understand and apply technology to their personal and professional lives, and to have an appreciation of the impact of technology on their communities.

5. To develop interpersonal capacity. The purpose of this goal is to help students develop the ability to interact effectively with others. Individuals with interpersonal capacity possess relationship building skills that are desirable in the workplace, as well as in the public sphere and their private lives.

6. To recognize what it means to act ethically and responsibly as an individual and as a member of society. The purpose of this goal is to assist students in developing an understanding of the tools necessary to form and evaluate a personal code of ethics and then to apply those tools within the context of their own lives.  The faculty at IVCC aim to share a set of values with our students that will inspire them to develop a "moral compass" that will guide them in making ethical decisions in their personal, professional, and public lives.*

7. To recognize what it means to develop and maintain a healthy lifestyle in terms of mind, body, and spirit. This goal is intended to assist students in developing a lifelong, holistic approach to health maintenance, because students thus equipped can utilize their skills and knowledge to create positive change in themselves and their communities.

8. To connect learning to life. Students apply new and existing knowledge to exhibit a long-term perspective for career planning and personal growth; thus, they display the understanding that interdisciplinary experiences promote life-long learning.