Category: General Education

How do I find which gen ed/HASS classes are being offered next semester?

This will save you time when looking for general education elective classes: 

  1. In Banweb go to “Look-Up Classes to Add” and select “Advanced Search” at the bottom of the page.  
  2. In the Subject box use the shift key to select all the subject areas.  
  3. In the Attribute Type box select what you are looking for.

Attributes are defined as follows: 

  • Critical/Creative Think’g CORE:  These are courses on the Critical & Creative Thinking core list.
  • Soc Resp/Ethical Reason CORE:  These are courses on the Social Responsibility & Ethical Reasoning core list.
  • Composition or Communication:  These are courses on the HASS Communication and Composition list.
  • Humanities & Fine Arts:  These are courses on the HASS Humanities and Fine Arts list.
  • Social & Behavioral Science:  These are courses on the HASS Social and Behavioral Sciences list.
  • HASS Restricted:  These are courses on the HASS Restricted list.
  • Co-Curricular Phys Activity: These are courses on the co-curricular activities list.

IMPORTANT!  Run your online degree audit on Banweb after enrolling to make sure classes are counting where you expect them to.  Contact your advisor if you have questions.

I have completed UN 1015 Composition and UN 1025 Global Issues. Which general education class should I take next?

Once you have completed both UN 1015 Composition and UN 1025 Global Issues (or a 3000-level modern language course) then you can take the remaining general education core and HASS courses in any order.

Before choosing your next general education class, review the general education requirements and figure out where classes you’ve already taken are counting. General education requirements are described on the department’s degree requirements page and the Registrar’s Office general education page. Then run your online degree audit on Banweb to see if your classes are being used where expected. If a class isn’t going where expected then contact your academic advisor to figure out why. For new students, online degree audits are available 30 days before the start of the semester.

Is it ok to take UN 1025 Global Issues before UN 1015 Composition?

Yes. You may take these classes in either order.

These two classes should be among the first general education classes that you complete. It’s important to get both UN 1015 Composition and UN 1025 Global Issues (or a 3000-level modern language course) completed early because they are prerequisites for later general education HASS electives. Also, UN 1015 Composition is a prerequisite for the junior chemical engineering laboratory CM 3215 Transport Lab because it is a writing intensive course.

May I take both CM 3410 and HU 3120?

No, that is not permitted.  CM 3410 is required for graduation with a degree in chemical engineering from Michigan Tech.  You may take HU 3120 as a substitute course for CM 3410.  Because HU 3120 functions as an equivalent course to CM 3410, you may not take them both.

 

CM 3410 – Technical Communication for Chemical Engineering
Study of the purposes, genres, and applications of technical communication in chemical engineering professions, including written, oral, visual, and graphic communication. Assignments may include memos, progress reports, procedures, memo and formal reports, research citations, and job-seeking requirements. Emphasizes organization, support, coherence, usefulness, ethics, and professionalism.
Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (3-0-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Restrictions: May not be enrolled in one of the following Class(es): Freshman, Sophomore, Senior
Pre-Requisite(s): UN 1015

 

HU 3120 – Technical and Professional Communication
A study of written and oral communication in technical and scientific environments; emphasizes audience, writing processes, genres of scientific and technical discourse, visual communication, collaboration, professional responsibility, clear and correct expression. Students write and revise several documents and give oral report(s). Computer Intensive.
Credits: 3.0
Lec-Rec-Lab: (0-3-0)
Semesters Offered: Fall, Spring, Summer
Restrictions: May not be enrolled in one of the following Class(es): Freshman, Sophomore
Pre-Requisite(s): UN 1015 and (UN 1025 or Modern Language – 3000 level or higher)

What are the changes to GenEd for Fall 2015?

The Michigan Tech General Education program is changing as of Fall 2015.  All student starting or transferring to Tech as of Fall 2015 must follow the new General Education rules.  For chemical engineering students, this impacts mostly what courses count as HASS electives.  The program will soon be outlined on the Registrar’s General Education page; that’s the definitive page for determining the rules.  We do have an advanced copy of the rules/HASS list posted on the we that you can access at this link:  www.chem.mtu.edu/~fmorriso/curriculum/HASS2015RegistrarList.pdf.

I cannot register for my UN class. I am getting a class restriction error. What should I do?

If you are having difficulty enrolling in your UN class due to a “class restriction” error, then please read the directions below:

First-Year Students

If you are a first-year student and are bringing in AP, dual enrollment, or transfer credit then you may no longer have the freshman class standing that is required to enroll in the freshman UN classes (Compositions and Global Issues). You will need a class restriction waiver. Usually these waivers are put in place ahead of time by the Registrar’s office.  You can see if you already have this waiver by going to the “Check Your Registration Status” page on Banweb.  If you don’t have the waiver then you must go to the Student Services Center in the Admin building.  Tell them you are a first-year, and they should automatically give you the waiver.

New Transfer Students

If you are a new transfer student and you no longer have the freshman class standing that is required to enroll in the UN classes then you will need a class restriction waiver.  Usually these waivers are put in place ahead of time by the Registrar’s office.  You can see if you already have this waiver by going to the “Check Your Registration Status” page on Banweb.  If you don’t have the waiver then you must go to the Student Services Center in the Admin building.  Tell them you are a new transfer student, and they should automatically give you the waiver.

Second-Year Students

If you are a second-year student who is trying to take Compositions (now UN 1015) you will not automatically get a waiver.  The policy of the Registrar’s office is to allow first-year students and new transfer students to register ahead of all others seeking to enroll in the first-year General Education classes.  After the first-year students have completed registering (after Wednesday of the second week of registration) the restrictions on class will be lifted from the courses and anyone can register.  If you think you should be allowed to register ahead, please go to the Student Services Center in the Admin building and request to get added to the class you seek.

Upperclassmen

If you are a returning Michigan Tech student who chose not to take the UN classes in their usual semester then you will need to wait until the freshmen have enrolled in their classes.

Registration for spring semester:  Class restrictions on spring semester UN classes will be lifted at the end of the second week of registration. An email from the Michigan Tech Registrar’s Office will be sent out once these class restrictions have been removed and you will be able to register for these classes at that time.

Registration for fall semester:  The class restrictions for fall semester UN classes are usually not removed until the end of Orientation week in the fall, after the new freshmen have enrolled in the classes.

Registration for summer semester:  Summer semester UN classes do not have any class restrictions.

What are the general education (Gen Ed; HASS) requirements for the chem eng degree?

The General Education requirements for all degrees at Michigan Tech are the same, and they are most accurately explained on the Registrar’s General Education web page.  Please go there or attend an advising meeting to have the details of the General Education requirements explained.  We recently made a video guiding you through the General Education process for Chemical Engineers.  The ECE deparment’s advisor Judy Donahue also has a General Education video on YouTube you may find helpful (she shows a bit how Gen Ed looks on DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System, in Banweb)).

There a few aspects of Gen Ed that you should keep in mind:

1.  The rules can and do change; you must follow the rules that apply to you.  Your rules are the ones that are associated with your catalog year, that is, the year you started at Michigan Tech.  Your catalog year is listed on your Banner DARS page.

2.  Not all Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences courses count as HASS electives.  You must choose your HASS electives from the supplied lists and follow the prescriptions associated with the list.

3.  Not all physical education classes count as co-curriculars.

4.  Six credits of your HASS credits must be at the upper division level (3000+).

4.  Failure to follow the General Education rules will prevent you from being awarded your degree.  Please think ahead and choose your courses to comply with the University’s Gen Ed requirements.