Institutional Graduation Requirements

Graduation requirements reflect our belief that an undergraduate education should provide both breadth and depth and that all educated individuals should possess certain skills, especially the ability to express themselves in writing, speaking, and in the language of mathematics. The general education curriculum rests on the assumption that every educated person should have some acquaintance with certain traditional areas of human knowledge and experience and be able to synthesize and contextualize this knowledge within their own lives.

Determining Graduation Requirements

• Students must meet all applicable degree requirements listed in the Academic Catalog.
• The student’s catalog year for institutional and general education core requirements is established by his or her first term of attendance (matriculation date) at Eastern Oregon University.
• The catalog year for a student’s academic major/concentration is based on the date of declaration. Consequently, a student’s major and any corresponding concentration must fall under the same catalog year. If a concentration is declared for a major during an academic year subsequent to when the major was declared, the degree requirements for the concentration will be aligned with the catalog year for the major. If the concentration did not exist when the major was declared, then both the major and concentration will align with the catalog year during which the concentration was declared.
• The catalog year for an academic minor will be based on the date of declaration. The catalog year for a minor will not be dependent upon the catalog year for the student’s academic major.
• Changes in a student’s declared catalog year must move the student forward toward the current catalog. Under no circumstances may the catalog year be moved to an older catalog year.
• A student, in collaboration with an advisor, can choose to graduate in accordance with a more recent (subsequent to their major declaration date) catalog year. The Registrar’s Office must have confirmation from the student before moving a catalog year forward.
• Current EOU policy requires a student to reapply after not enrolling at EOU for three or more consecutive terms (not including summer term). See Academic Policies & Procedures  
• A degree cannot be awarded if a student has any outstanding incomplete grades.

Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

Students must complete the following institutional graduation requirements for a baccalaureate degree from Eastern Oregon University (EOU).

1. Complete a minimum of 180 credit hours.
2. Earn an EOU GPA of at least 2.00 and a cumulative GPA of 2.00 for all college work taken up until the time that the degree is conferred. The transfer GPA and the EOU GPA are combined at the time of graduation.
3. Complete a minimum of 60 credit hours of upper-division coursework (300-400 level courses). Of the 60 credit hours required in upper division course work, up to 30 may transfer in from other regionally accredited schools.
4. Complete all requirements in the chosen major, including at least 45 credit hours (25 of which must be in 300 or 400-level courses) in the major area of study. Of these credits, a minimum of 20 must be from EOU (10 from EOU must be upper division).
5. Complete a minimum of forty-five (45) credit hours supervised by EOU Faculty. Thirty (30) of the forty-five (45) credit hours must be upper division. These can include online and onsite courses and credit earned through EOU’s Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning.
6. A maximum of 90 hours in one discipline may be applied to the degree.
7. Complete the General Education Core (GEC). EOU is a community of scholars who understand that learning is a life-long process. The GEC provides opportunities for students to become reflective, responsible citizens of strong minds and ordered intellects who see multiple points of view. The University expects graduates to use their knowledge of the human condition and the physical world to adapt to, solve the problems of, and thrive in an ever-changing world.

• The 60-credit GEC serves the diverse student body of EOU by helping students to integrate into university life and challenging them to become critical, creative thinkers and engaged, knowledgeable citizens, open to new ways of looking at the world. GEC Program & Breadth Outcomes can be found at www.eou.edu/epcc/. GEC and the Program Learning Outcomes listed at the beginning of each academic program’s catalog page are based on EOU’s University Learning Outcomes, found at eou.edu/ctl/ulo.
• A minimum of 60 credits of GEC is required. The courses may be taken graded (C- or better) or S/U (please refer to the S/U option in the Academic Policy section above).
• All courses used to fulfill the general education core must be approved by the Educational Policy and Curriculum Committee to ensure that General Education Outcomes, as distinct from the discipline-specific outcomes, have been identified and means of assessment are in place.

8. Complete the University Writing Requirement (UWR). Eastern Oregon University is strongly committed to the view that writing aids in learning and that writing skills are key to professional success. The UWR requires that students receive attention to writing throughout their studies and that students demonstrate their mastery of discipline-specific writing. To this end, all students must complete the following:

• First-year writing courses required by placement.
• One lower-division UWR writing-intensive course identified by each major.
• Two upper-division UWR writing-intensive courses as identified by each major.

Outcomes for lower-division UWR Writing Intensive Courses:

• Students will produce at least 3,000 words (including drafts, in-class writing, informal papers, and polished papers); 1,000 words of this total should be in polished papers which students have revised after receiving feedback and criticism.
• Students will be introduced to the discourse forms appropriate to the discipline the course represents.
• Students will write at least one paper integrating information from at least one source, employing the appropriate documentation style for the discipline represented by the course.
• Students will draft, revise, and edit their formal written work.
• Students will seek assistance from a Writing Tutor in the Writing Lab when needed and when referred by the instructor.

Outcomes for Upper Division UWR Writing Intensive Courses:

• Students will produce at least 5,000 words (including drafts, in-class writing, informal papers, and polished papers); 2,000 words of this total should be in polished papers which students have revised after receiving feedback and criticism.
• Students will practice the forms of writing and reflect upon the nature of the writing used by graduates and professionals in the discipline the course represents.
• Students will write at least one paper integrating information from more than one source, employing the appropriate documentation style for the discipline represented by the course.
• Students will draft, revise, and edit their formal written work.
• Students will seek assistance from a Writing Tutor in the Writing Lab when needed and when referred by the instructor.
• Students must complete all UWR writing-intensive courses with a C- or better, and UWR writing-intensive courses must allocate at least 30% of the overall grade to formal writing assignments, with at least 25% of the overall grade based on evaluation of individually written papers that have been revised after feedback.
• UWR writing-intensive courses will address punctuation, grammar, and disciplinary documentation style, but they are primarily intended to be discipline courses that use writing tasks to help students learn the material and learn how to write effectively in the discipline.

9. Capstone Experience in the Major. Students must complete a capstone experience in their major fields. Capstone courses are identified in the course description sections of this catalog.
10. Diversity Requirement. Beginning fall of 2015, students admitted to Eastern Oregon University seeking a bachelor’s degree will be required to complete a minimum of 4 credits of Difference, Power, and Discrimination (DPD) coursework. DPD coursework must be completed with a “C-” or “S” to count toward graduation.
11. Credits counted toward graduation must fall with the following limits:

• Up to 12 credit hours in PES/OUT activity courses, up to 24 credit hours of music activity courses (performance ensemble, MUS 195 , MUS 395 ) and up to 12 credit hours of INTACT courses may be applied toward degree requirements. Music majors may exceed the MUS limitation.
• A maximum of 45 credit hours of practicum coursework numbered 109, 209, 309, or 409 may be applied toward the 180 credit hour degree requirement.
• Up to 135 credit hours of transfer coursework may be applied toward the degree requirement.
• A combined maximum of 45 credit hours of course challenges, College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Agency Sponsored Learning (ASL), and Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) may be applied toward the 180 credit hour degree requirement.
• A combined maximum of 60 credit hours of course challenges, College-Level Examination Program (CLEP), Advanced Placement (AP), International Baccalaureate (IB), Agency Sponsored Learning (ASL), Assessment of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL), and practicum coursework may be applied toward the 180 credit hour degree requirement.
• No more than 93 non-graded credits (courses taken S/U) may be applied toward the 180 credit hour degree requirements.

12. Students must satisfy the Math Competency Requirement, which demonstrates the application of mathematics at the college level. Means for satisfying the Math Competency Requirement will be limited to any mathematics or statistics course that has a prerequisite of intermediate algebra or higher (e.g., EOU’s MATH 095 - Algebraic Foundations ) and a minimum of three credits. Students may use a linked pair of courses, where the second course is a direct continuation of the content of the first course and the first course is a prerequisite of the second course. The total number of credits for both courses must be at least 3 credits. For example, MATH 241A  (2 credits) and MATH 241B  (2 credits) may be used to satisfy the Math Competency Requirement as long as both courses are completed satisfactorily (C- or better). Or STAT 243A  (2 credits) and STAT 243B  (2 credits) may be used to satisfy the Math Competency Requirement as long as both courses are completed satisfactorily (Cor better). Individual majors may require specific courses to satisfy this requirement. As a program requirement, the course(s) must be graded A-F, otherwise, students may take the course(s) as S/U.
13.  Students may choose to earn a Bachelor of Science, Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music, or Bachelor of Applied Science degree from EOU. Associate degrees and certificates are also available in certain subjects.

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Students must demonstrate proficiency in a foreign language through any one of the following means:

• Twenty-four credit hours of a single foreign language.
• Completion of a second-year foreign language course sequence.
• Completion of any upper-division course which has a two-year language prerequisite.
• Equivalency certification by the appropriate foreign language faculty.
• Foreign students educated in a language other than English will be considered as meeting the B.A. foreign language requirement.
• Oregon Seal of Biliteracy (SoBL). Students who have received the Oregon State Seal of Biliteracy can contact the registrar’s office (registrar@eou.edu or 541-962-3607) for review and addition of your official seal.

Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS)

The Bachelor of Applied Science (BAS) is a degree program available to students who have successfully completed an Associate of Applied Science degree. The BAS option is currently available in Business Administration, and Emergency Medical Systems Administration (EMSA). Information Technology Management and Sustainable Rural Systems.

Completion of the Bachelor of Applied Science degree program consists of 45 credits that meet EOU’s General Education requirements, 60 credits of program coursework from the College of Business, and 60 credits of technical/professional classes from the Associate of Applied Science degree. In addition to 60 credits of technical/professional credits, other credits earned in the Associate of Applied Science degree may be transferred to satisfy EOU’s institutional graduation requirements.

Bachelor of Music (BMUS)

Students can declare a music major in the Bachelor of Music. See the Music  section of Art, Humanities, and Social Sciences for major requirements.

Bachelor of Science (BS)

In addition to any coursework used to satisfy the math competency requirements, an additional twelve (12) credits of coursework is required in one of the following areas: social science, natural science, computer science, or mathematics.

Associate of Arts (AA) Degrees and Certificates (CERT)

Associate Degrees

Minimum 90 credits, including 60 general education credits are required for an associate’s degree. Requirements for an AA degree will consist of the following:

• AA degrees will consist of lower-division courses focused on skills development or enhancement in a particular field of study and could serve as a building- block toward a baccalaureate degree.
• At least 23 credits must be from EOU.
• Students must complete the coursework with a “C-” or better to count towards the AA degree, with an overall cumulative GPA of 2.00 for the degree.

Certificates

Certificates are generally 20-45 credits, with an emphasis on the development of intellectual and practical skills in a particular field of study are required. Fewer credits may be acceptable if there is a strong, coherent skills-based justification. Requirements for a Certificate will consist of the following:

• Certificate programs will be focused on lower-division skills development or enhancement in a particular field of study and could serve as a building block towards an AA degree.
• A range of 20-45 credit hours is required for a Certificate, depending on the purpose and nature of the offerings.
• At least 25% of the credits must be from EOU (for example, if the certificate requires 45 credits, the student would need to complete a minimum of 12 credits at EOU).
• Students must complete the coursework with a “C-“or better to count towards the certificate, with an overall cumulative GPA of at least 2.00 is required to complete the certificate. Individual programs may impose higher standards as a condition for awarding the certificate.

Awarded Degrees May Not Be Changed

Once a degree is awarded the programs and courses within the degree may not be changed. Additional concentrations or minors may not be added. Students wishing to complete additional programs must earn an additional degree.

Degrees can be re-printed with a changed name. Please see the Registrar’s diploma website for additional information.