Appealing General Education Transfer Course Evaluations

As a general rule, all students with general education appeals should be directed to make an appointment to see Dr. John Catau, Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs by calling 6-4589.

In an attempt to make the appeals process as student-friendly as possible, here are a few guidelines that might be helpful in deciding whether or not an appeal is realistic.

1. The most common scenarios involve transfer students whose classes have been evaluated as either general electives (i.e., GEN 000) or as an elective in a specific department (e.g., HST 000).

If the student would like to see if the class in question can be used to partially fulfill our general education requirements, and is NOT concerned about achieving a direct course equivalent, they should be instructed to make an appointment to see Dr. Catau, the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Programs by calling 6-4589.

When they go to their appointment they should take a copy of the course syllabus or catalog description with them. It is virtually impossible to make this type of judgment solely on the basis of the course title.

NOTE: Based on the materials supplied by the student, Dr. Catau may determine that the course in question meets the spirit of one of our general education requirements. If that's the case, he will assign a GEP code to the class. This code can be used to pinpoint the category of our general education program which will be satisfied by the transfer course. A list of these GEP codes is available on this link

If the student would like to see if the class in question is the direct equivalent of a specific class in our catalog, they should be instructed to make an appointment to see the head of the department in question.

When they go to their appointment they should take a copy of the course syllabus or catalog description with them. It is virtually impossible to make this type of judgment solely on the basis of the course title.

NOTE: This is the only option a student has if they want to have the class reevaluated as a direct equivalent of one of our classes. This would be an important consideration if the class in question might be needed as a prerequisite for another class they need or want to take. The same is true if they hope to apply the course to their major, minor, etc.

2. A second category of appeal involves those who were degree-seeking students at Missouri State University prior to Fall, 97 (and thus, were once under the old general education program) but because they subsequently stepped out of the university for a year or more before returning, are now under the new general education program.

*Many of these students would like to remain under the old program. Dr. Catau will approve this arrangement, but ONLY if the student had completed (or were within ONE class of completing) the old general education program prior to stepping out.

*If the student had more than one class left in their general education program when they stepped out, they must fulfill the requirements of the new program.