Liberal Studies

(This major is also available via the Division of Distance
Education)

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES
The Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Science degree in Liberal Studies (LS) provides students the opportunity to devise a personalized program of study in an interdisciplinary approach relevant to their life experiences and career goals. Students combine two areas of study into one interdisciplinary degree program. Students select one of the following program options:

1) A Pre-Approved Liberal Studies Program.
a. Business & Health Promotion
b. Business & Psychology
c. Early Childhood Education
d. Environmental Studies
e. Gender Studies/Business
f. General Science
g. Small City and Rural County Management

2) Two EOU Minors (In most cases, these must be selected from separate program fields. Two minors from Physical Activity & Health may not be used to form a Liberal Studies major. The minor may also not be selected from an “endorsement” area).

3) One Minor from EOU with One Minor from another accredited institution;

4) Individualized Program combining two subject fields.

Students work directly with faculty in the disciplines they choose. they should consult with their advisers as early as possible to obtain program approval and to achieve timely completion of general education, language, and other degree requirements.

LEARNING OUTCOMES
- Acquire a solid foundation in the two core disciplines included in the Liberal Studies degree.

- Comprehend the differences in perspective and methods between the two core disciplines.

- Develop skills in research, writing, and presenting across the two disciplines.

MEANS OF ASSESSMENT
Liberal Studies majors are assessed in a variety of ways. Students must submit a degree plan when applying for admission to the degree. The plan must include a justification which a) articulates why the particular minors/subject fields have been selected; b) the educational/career goal of the student; and c) how this program helps the student meet this goal rather than selecting a traditional major. Students must earn a C- or better in all required and elective courses that comprise their degree program. Liberal Studies majors complete a capstone course or project, which may include an integrative self-reflective component and employ effective research and writing strategies. Students must also complete the courses that meet University Writing Requirement (UWR) specific to their Liberal Studies degree option. Liberal Studies majors may submit learning essays for credit, using guidelines learned in the Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning course (APEL 390). Students should work with their advisers to be sure where APEL will fit in their degree program.

ADMISSION TO PROGRAM
Students should begin planning their Liberal Studies majors as soon as possible after admission to the institution. To be admitted to the Liberal Studies major, students must:

a) Complete 45 credits (of which at least 24 must be graded with 12 from EOU) with a GPA of 2.00 or better.

b) Plan courses to meet the University Writing Requirement (UWR).

c) If pursuing a PREAPPROVED program or TWO MINORS from EOU, a student will file a program plan at least forty-five (45) credit hours prior to graduation and must meet the admission standards described in a) and b) above. The student’s adviser and the Liberal Studies Coordinator approve the plan.

Students pursuing ONE MINOR FROM EOU/ONE FROM ANOTHER ACCREDITED INSTITUTION, or an INDIVIDUALIZED PROGRAM file a program plan at least forty-five (45) credit hours prior to graduation. The student’s adviser and the members of the Liberal Studies Committee approve this plan.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BA/BS
IN LIBERAL STUDIES
1. Complete Eastern Oregon University’s General Education and institutional requirements for the BA or BS degree.

2. Complete a minimum of 180 credits with the following limits: a) At least 60 upper division credits; b) No more than 45 credits of practicum; c) No more than 90 credits in a single subject area for the BS or 75 for the BA.

3. Maintain a minimum GPA of 2.00 in both of the following: a) Cumulative; b) Eastern Oregon University.

4. Students completing a major in Liberal Studies do so by satisfying the requirements described below:

A) Students must have an approved program plan which a) describes the educational or career goals which the Liberal Studies major is intended to meet; b) identifies the courses and other educational experiences that make up the curriculum which the student believes are appropriate to those goals; and c) justifies the curriculum in terms of the student’s educational or career goals.

B) All majors in Liberal Studies include a program of study made up of sixty (60) credits or more drawn from two or more disciplines.

C) The 60 credit hour program of study has the following requirements and restrictions:
(a) A minimum of 36 upper division credits including University Writing Class (UWR) and no more than 5 credits may be practicum.
(b) An approved capstone experience, which draws together and applies what the student has learned in the program of study. For students pursuing PRE-APPROVED PROGRAMS, the capstone is described in the program.
(c) No course with a grade of less that C- or its equivalent may be counted in the major.
(d) No course graded S/U may be applied to the Liberal Studies major unless designated as an S/U only course.

D) Students pursuing the Bachelor of Science Degree must complete with a C- or better, any college-level mathematics or statistics course (see institutional math competency statement.) Students who have completed an approved Oregon Transfer Associate of Arts or Oregon Transfer Associate of Science in Business degree have satisfied this requirement.

INDIVIDUALIZED PROGRAMS
Combine two subject fields and provide written justification for all courses, including any support courses that meet the student’s educational goals. Support courses may be included if they strengthen the total program. Complete all institutional requirements in addition to the requirements for the individualized program. Students must work closely with their adviser to plan this program.

PRE-APPROVED PROGRAMS:
Complete all institutional requirements in addition to the requirements for the specific Liberal Studies Pre-approved Program that has been selected.

BUSINESS AND HEALTH PROMOTION
The Liberal Studies BA/BS Pre-approved program in Business and Health Promotion provides students an opportunity to combine an interest in aspects of Business and the growing field of Health Promotion. This course of study would be appropriate for students desiring to become a personal trainer or work in a health/fitness club. It would also give a student skills to work in the growing fitness and performance equipment industry.

Liberal Studies BA/BS Degree Option – Courses include:

Business: 32 credit hours
BA 211 Financial Accounting I (4)
BA 213 Managerial Accounting (4)
BA 254 Business Law (4)
BA 312 Principles of Marketing (5)
BA 321 Principles of Management (5)

Select two courses from the following
BA 451 Human Resource Management (5)
BA 460 Entrepreneurship (5)
BA 461 Organizational Behavior (5)
BA 464 Promotion Strategy (5)
BA 465 Consumer Behavior (5)
BA 498 Business Policy and Strategy (5)

Physical Activity and Health: 30 credit hours
*HWS 298 Health and Fitness for Life (3)
*EXS 321 Applied Anatomy (3)
*EXS 323 Physiology of Exercise (5)
*HWS 325 Nutrition (4)
*HWS 350 Lifestyle Behavior and Health (3)
*PES 359 Care and Prevention in PER Settings (3)
*PES 470 Sport Management (3)

Select two from the following three options:
1. PES 364 Scientific Basis Coaching Youth Sports (3), or
2. PES 444 Adapted Physical Activity (3), or
3. HWS 422 Gerontology and Health Activity (2); and
PES 409 Practicum: Adult Health and Development Program (1)
*LS 401 Capstone (4)
* Required

Summary for Business & Health Pre-approved Program:
General Education Requirements 60
Business & Health Pre-approved Program 66
Electives 54
Total Credits 180

BUSINESS AND PSYCHOLOGY
The Business and Psychology pre-approved Liberal Studies Program is designed to give students a foundation in both the principles of business and psychology to prepare them for careers in either human resource management or marketing.

Required courses outside of the major:
ECON 201 Prin of Microeconomics (5)

Business Courses:
BA 211 Financial Accounting I (4)
BA 312 Principles of Marketing (5)
BA 321 Principles of Management (5)

Business Electives:
(12 credits) May be upper or lower division.

Psychology Courses:
PSY 201 General Psychology (5)
PSY 202 General Psychology (5)
PSY 345 Motivation (5)
PSY 327 Statistics (5)

Psychology Electives:
(10 credits) May be upper or lower division.
Electives may be completed by a variety of options including but not limited to Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning, traditional courses completed at other institutions of higher learning, EOU onsite or online courses, or CLEP. A list of recommended electives is available from psychology and business advisers. NOTE: PSY/STAT 327 meets institutional math requirements.
Total credits 66

Capstone (5)

Capstone
Must be approved by a teaching faculty capstone adviser.

Capstone Requirements
Purpose: The capstone project for the BS in Liberal Studies - Business/Psychology major is a thesis paper that integrates prior academic work in both disciplines, organized around a topic relevant to the student’s interest and career goals.

Capstone Course: Students will enroll in a 5-credit course, cross-listed as BA/PSY 403.
Prerequisites for this course include senior standing and completion of core degree requirements in both disciplines. It is strongly recommended that students allow more than one academic quarter for completion of the capstone.

Content: The capstone project consists of a 15- to 25-page paper submitted to both Business and Psychology faculty. This project should represent a significant academic effort drawing upon professional publications in business, psychology, and related fields, organized as a review of literature. It is expected that the student will utilize a variety of library resources, which may include CD-ROM or online computer searches, interlibrary loan, academic journals, edited books, and audio-visual materials.

Procedures: Students will be expected to select a topic, which must be approved by the student’s adviser and/or teaching faculty capstone adviser. Students will outline a thesis, search and review relevant literature, prepare a rough draft, and finally submit a corrected final version in APA format or in Kate Turabian style, free of grammatical or spelling errors. The project must be typed or printed on a computer. Two readers (one from Psychology and one from Business) will assign the paper a pass/fail grade. In the event the readers do not agree, a third faculty reader from either Business or Psychology will read the thesis and assign a pass/fail grade.

Credit Summary for Business and Psychology Pre-approved Program:

General Education 60
Business and Psychology Pre-approved Program 66
Electives 54
Total Credits 180

EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION (ECED)

The Liberal Studies degree with a concentration in Early Childhood is an online degree program for early childhood teachers with an AA degree in ECE who are interested in completing a BA/BS Liberal Studies Degree with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. The program content is multidisciplinary and integrative in relation to areas of family and child development, literacy, health, curriculum, administration and diversity.

This degree’s core courses will build on and expand each teacher’s knowledge, skills and perceptions necessary to work in an early childhood setting. Each core class will require the student to complete/implement an independent project, portfolio or research paper. These assignments allow each student to pursue an area of particular interest while weaving together the threads and understandings of each core’s subject area.

This degree is intended for those who have preparation and experience in early childhood education and requires admission to program. Information is available online and through DDE advisers.

Required Courses: 39 credits
ECED 320 Child and Family Literacy I (3)
ECED 420 Child and Family Literacy II (3)
ECED 330 Child and Family Development I (3)
ECED 430 Child and Family Development II (3)
ECED 340 Child and Family Health I (3)
ECED 440 Child and Family Health II (3)
ECED 350 Administration in EC I (3)
ECED 450 Administration in EC II (3)
ECED 360 Curriculum and Learning in EC I (3)
ECED 460 Curriculum and Learning in EC II (3)
ECED 370 Linguistically & Cultural Diverse Children (3)
ECED 470 Linguistically & Cultural Diverse Children (3)
ECED 490 Capstone (approved by ECED Adviser) (3)

Electives:
21 upper division credits. Elective courses must be related to and support the content of the six core areas: Literacy, development, health, administration, curriculum and diversity. Electives must be approved by an adviser.

ECED Program Requirements include:
- 39 credits of core classes listed above are required to be taken at EOU.
- 6 of the 21 elective credits listed above are required to be taken at EOU.

- 15 upper division credits may be transferred into the program if approved by the ECED Adviser.

Credit Summary for Early Childhood Education Program:

General Education 60
ECED Pre-approved Program Degree Requirements 60
Electives 60
Total Credits 180

ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
The Environmental Studies Program prepares students for a broad range of environmental careers. Employment possibilities range from various state and federal agencies to positions with numerous private agencies or corporations.
Most positions in environmental studies ask for a generalist who is able to deal with specialists from many areas of academics. It is also expected that such a generalist have her/his own area of expertise. The core curriculum is designed to train students in the broad area of environmental studies so that a student is able to deal with many areas of the field.

Students will complete 64 course credits that compose the Environmental Studies Pre-approved Program. In addition, a minor comprised of 30 credits must also be completed. The minor should focus on an interest that relates to your program.

Interest Minor

Water Resources Chemistry*
Environmental Politics Political Science*
Cartography Geography*
Environmental History History*
Environmental Design Art**
Report Writing IWR*
Environmental Writing IWR*
Agriculture Rangeland Resources
Agriculture Agriculture Economics

* Available through Eastern Oregon University on and off campus.
** Available to EOU students on campus only.

Lower Division Requirements: 30 credits
BIOL 101, 102, 103 Intro to Biology (9) or
BIOL 211, 212, 213 Prin of Biology (9)
GEOG 105 Cultural Geography (5)
GEOG 106 Physical Geography (5)
GEOG 201 Cartography I (3)
GEOL 102 Environmental Geology (3) or
SCI 110 Physical Geography II (5)
POLS 101 American National Government (5)
Total 30

Upper Division Requirements: 34 credits
GEOG 317 Land Use and Environment (3)
GEOG 318 North Am. Reg. Plan. (5)
GEOG 319 Environ. Report Writing (3)
GEOG 401 Environ. Research (5)
POLS 314 State & Local Government (5)
POLS 350 Public Policy (5)
POLS 351 Public Administration (5)
Capstone* (3)
Total 34

* An appropriate capstone such as a field course, field placement, practicum or thesis, must be designed with a faculty adviser in the College of Business.

Credit Summary for Environmental Studies Program:
General Education Requirement 60
Environmental Studies Pre-approved Program
Degree Requirements 64
Minor (approximately) 30
Electives 26
Total Credits 180
GENDER STUDIES/BUSINESS
(Available only to on-campus students)

The Gender Studies/Business program is designed to help prepare students to deal with gender issues in the work environment. Graduates of this degree program will have the knowledge background in management and gender studies, as well as the communication skills necessary to operate effectively with others in an organization.

The program will have an entry course that synthesizes the two disciplines and establishes a context for the student to pursue the required and elective courses. Students will take four required gender studies courses (GEND prefix) – a total of 18 credit hours. The business portion of the program (BA prefix) requires 18 credit hours of required courses. The student must also fulfill 16 credit hours of electives – at least two elective courses in each discipline. In addition, students will be required to take a three credit English technical writing course. The student then exits the program with the final experience of the Liberal Studies Capstone (4 credit hours), which integrates the gender studies and business disciplines organized around a topic relevant to the student’s interests and career goals.

This program of study totals 64 hours.

Joint Required Courses:
GEND/BA 220 Gender, Work and Society (5)
ENG 320 Technical Writing (3)
LS 401 Capstone (4)

Required Gender Courses:
GEND 201 Gender Basics (5)
GEND 301 Perspectives on Gender (5)
GEND 360 Gender & Power (5)
GEND 409 Practicum (3)

Required Business Courses:
BA 101 Introduction to Business and the Global
Environment (3)
BA 321 Principles of Management (5)
BA 312 Principles of Marketing (5)
BA 451 Human Resource Management (5)
Electives:
A minimum of 16 elective credits is required. At least two elective courses must be taken in each discipline. Electives may be completed by a variety of options including but not limited to Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning, traditional courses, or CLEP. Students should consult with their advisers for recommended courses.

Capstone LS 401:
An appropriate capstone must be designed with a teaching faculty capstone adviser. Prerequisites of this course are senior standing and completion of core degree requirements in both disciplines.

Credit Summary for Pre-approved Gender Studies Business Program:

General Education 60
Gender Studies/Business Program 64
Electives 56
Total Credits 180

GENERAL SCIENCE
(Available only to on-campus students)

1. Complete General Science core requirements (satisfies Science general education requirements in Natural World NW).

a. BIOL 211, 212, 213 (15)
b. CHEM 204, 205 (10)
c. GEOG 106 (5)
d. GEOL 201, 202, 203 (15)
e. SCI 221 (3)
f. MATH 241 (5) (satisfies institutional math
requirement)
g. PHYS 201, 202, 203 or 221, 222, 223 (12-15)
(Students enrolling in PHYS 221, 222, 223 should take
MATH 251, 252, 253 and 254 instead of MATH 241).

2. Complete a minimum of 36 upper division science credits of which 9 or more must be in each of two subject fields:

a. Selected from the subject fields of Biology, Chemistry, Geology and Physics.
b. University Writing Requirement (UWR) courses.
c. No more than 5 credits of practicum.
d. A capstone which relates the two subject fields
chosen above.

3. Complete a minor in at least one subject field.

Credit summary for General Science Pre-approved Program:
General Education other than Science 46
General Science Core
(meets General Education Science requirements) 65-68
Upper Division courses (Sciences) 36
Science Minor (included above) 0
Upper Division elective 24
Other electives 6-9
TOTAL 180

SMALL CITY AND RURAL COUNTY
MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
Goal
The goal of the Small City and Rural County Management pre-approved program is to provide students with a program of study tailored to meet the occupational and career requirements in the public, non-profit, and private sector management of small towns, cities, counties, and other social service agencies in rural areas. The program is designed for both off-campus and on-campus students. The core fields of geography and political science are complemented with essential courses from the business program.

Admission
This program will follow the general guidelines for the Liberal Studies major (see Liberal Studies major and institutional requirements.)
Specific requirements for the Small City and Rural Management Pre-approved program include:

A. Complete the following 31 credit hour core of lower division courses.

GEOG 105 Cultural Geography (5)
GEOG 106 Physical Geography (5)
GEOG 201 Cartography I (3)
POLS 101 American National Gov’t (5)
ECON 201 Microeconomics (5)
BA 211 Financial Accounting (4)
BA 213 Managerial Accounting (4)
Total 31

B. Completion of the following 39 credit hour core of upper division courses.

GEOG 306 Cartography II (5)
GEOG 317 Land Use and Environment (3)
GEOG 318 N. American Regional Plan (5)
POLS 314 State & Local Government (5)
POLS 350 Public Policy (5)
POLS 351 Public Administration (5)
BA 321 Principles of Management (5)
BA 420 Non-Profit Accounting (3)
*Capstone (3)
Total 39

* An appropriate capstone such as a field course, field placement, practicum or thesis, must be designed with a faculty adviser in the College of Business.

Credit Summary for Small City and Rural County Management Pre-approved Program:
General Education requirement 60
Degree requirements:
Lower Division requirements 31
Upper Division requirements 39
General electives 50
Total 180
CONTINUOUS ENROLLMENT
Students must be enrolled in planned degree course work or validated by their Distance Education adviser as actively progressing in Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning, so that college attendance (at EOU or another accredited Oregon institution) is not interrupted for three or more consecutive quarters, not counting summers. If such an interruption occurs, students may have to meet different EOU graduation requirements. Continuous enrollment begins with enrollment in the first EOU course, after admission to EOU.

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
LS 401 - Sr Proj/Capstone Credits: 4.00
Individualized capstone project conducted with a teaching faculty capstone adviser in student’s main subject area. Prerequisite: Approval of capstone proposal form. Restrictions: May not be enrolled in one of the following Class(es): Freshman, Sophomore.