Opting into the Core Curriculum

All students entering St. Mary’s College of Maryland in 2008-2009 catalog or beyond will be under the new Core Curriculum. 

Current students (those in catalogs prior to the 2008-2009 catalog) may also opt into the Core Curriculum.  To opt in to the Core Curriculum, students should complete the appropriate forms and turn the forms into the Registrar’s Office.  Forms will be accepted in the Fall 2008 (by Dec. 15, 2008) and Spring 2009 (by May 1, 2009).

Because current students, for the most part, will not have taken the new required First Year Seminar, there are four ways in which students could satisfy the Seminar requirement:

1. Students enrolled in the Fall 2007 pilot First Year Seminars (IDIS101) may count this course as fulfilling the Liberal Arts Seminar requirement.
2. Students who serve as peer mentors for the First Year Seminars (as they attend all class sessions), enrolling in CORE401 in Fall 2008 or Fall 2009, may count this course as fulfilling the Liberal Arts Seminar requirement.  
3. Students may elect to complete a First Year Seminar (CORE101) on a space available basis – registration for CORE101 will open to current students during the add/drop period in the fall semester.
4. Other students who wish to petition to move into the new Core Curriculum, must have already satisfied the general education English composition requirement (ENGL102) and they must submit a portfolio of work that reflects the ways in which they have achieved an introductory level of competency in the four fundamental liberal arts skills: critical thinking, information literacy, written expression, and oral expression.