TUSCULUM COLLEGE COMPETENCY PROGRAM

The mission of the Competency Program is to help students develop the skills and virtues that are essential to good citizenship. Tusculum College has identified writing, analytical reading, public speaking, critical analysis, mathematics, and computer literacy as the foundation competencies that students need to participate fully and effectively in public life. If the best interests of the individual and the community are to be served, these citizenship skills must be guided by a complementary set of citizenship virtues. The College has designated self-knowledge, civility, and the ethics of social responsibility as the virtue competencies.

The competencies are integrated into Tusculum College coursework so that knowledge, skills, and virtues are mutually supportive. As students progress through the curriculum, they become more proficient in their academic skills and more mindful of their practices of virtue. The scholarship, communication abilities, and personal values represented by the competencies enable Tusculum graduates to enhance their personal and professional lives and improve the lives of others in the communities they join.

Every course in the Tusculum College curriculum designates at least one foundation or practice of virtue competency for development. Competency criteria are specified in each course syllabus.  The competency program is integrated into the Commons curriculum and goals for student learning.

The lower division Commons courses focus on the instruction and assessment of the foundation competencies. College entrance examination scores or transfer credit determine student placement in these courses. A passing grade in a lower division Commons course indicates minimum proficiency in the academic skill that is taught and assessed in that course. Those Commons courses and their associated competencies are listed below.

Analytical Reading — Humanties Courses

Writing — ENG 110, 111 and 200

Mathematics — MATH 101 and 102

Critical Analysis — Social Science Courses

Computer Literacy — CISC 100

Public Speaking — Designated courses in the Majors

The College expects students to demonstrate proficiency in each foundation competency before taking Junior and Senior-level courses.

Students will continue to develop their foundation competency skills and their practice of virtue competencies in other courses throughout the curriculum. In their junior and senior years of study, students will take a series of foundation competency tests, or "assessments." The scores on these tests will be used by the college to improve the academic program and will not affect students’ academic standing or graduation status.

Individual competencies are described in detail, including the criteria for validation and the level of accomplishment, on the Competency pages of the Tusculum College website.