The diversity requirement is designed to enhance the overall educational experience. As part of - but not in addition to - the existing Requirements for Associate in Arts Degree (AA) and Requirements for Associate in Science Degree (AS), students must earn three (3) credits from a designated list of courses that focus in a central and substantial way on issues, theories, and methods relevant to analyzing and understanding inter-group dynamics and diversity in its broadest sense.

A.A.S., diploma program, and certificate program students will not be required to take diversity-designated courses.

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Liberal education today must include preparation for effective citizenship in a diverse multicultural society and in a pluralistic global setting. The diversity requirement helps to ground students in the realities of a multicultural, transnational, and/or global society, and provides tools for studying the complexity of diverse communities defined by characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic background, religion, sexual orientation, age, and/or others.

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Many Bismarck State College graduates will work in diverse environments where they will be expected to possess a basic understanding of cultural difference. Diversity-designated courses at BSC will help prepare students for the 21st century workplace and global marketplace, as well as for academic and social success at transfer institutions.

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Bismarck State College has established a Cultural Diversity Course Requirement to enable students to:

1. gain knowledge of cultural diversity including races, religions, subcultures or ethnicities;
2. gain exposure to the concept that all individuals and cultures are not alike;
3. address multi-cultural issues; and/or
4. recognize and think critically about the ideas and perspectives of others.

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Diversity-designated courses will be courses that are already offered at Bismarck State College. The General Education Committee is currently working to select these courses from applications submitted by faculty. Most A.A. and A.S. students already take one or more of these courses (in the arts, humanities, social sciences, and sciences) during their time at BSC, and most diversity-designated courses will also fulfill a general education requirement. The list of diversity-designated courses will be extensive enough (about 30 courses, many with multiple sections) to meet students' scheduling needs.

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The University of North Dakota requires that three (3) credits of the General Education Requirements meet a World Cultures designation. North Dakota State University requires that students earn three (3) Cultural Diversity credits and three (3) Global Perspective credits as part of the General Education Requirements. In addition, Dickinson State University has established a Global Awareness Initiative. To view their Web site, go to: http://www.dsu.nodak.edu/Global.asp.

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If diversity credits are a general education requirement at the NDUS transfer school, they will automatically transfer as part of the GERTA package. If diversity credits are a graduation requirement at the NDUS transfer school, BSC's diversity-designated courses would be considered on a case-by-case basis for fulfillment of the transfer school's diversity requirement.

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The diversity course requirement goes into effect in Fall 2007. Students who are following the degree requirements for the 2007-09 catalog, which includes all new students in Fall 2007, must fulfill this requirement. Students who are following degree requirements outlined in a previous catalog will NOT be required to take a diversity-designated course. (See p. 43 of the 2005-07 catalog for more details on Effective Graduation Requirements.

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For further information on the BSC Diversity Requirement, please contact:

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