The Simmons General Education Program: PLAN (Purpose Leadership ActioN)

PLAN Requirements for On-Campus Students

Year One

Writing Boston

Fall or Spring Semester, 4 credits

In this writing-intensive first-year course, students will utilize Boston as the theme to hone their college level writing skills. Through engagement with readings about the City, this course develops writing, critical analysis, and information literacy skills.

Simmons 100: Explore

Fall Semester, 2 credits

Explore is designed to provide students with Simmons-specific resources that can be utilized to foster personal and academic success. It will also give students the opportunity to connect with their classmates and reflect on key issues and situations they will face as college students while transitioning to the Simmons community.

Sophomore or Junior Year

Simmons 200: Extend

Fall or Spring Semester, 2 credits

This course will focus on academic, co-curricular, and career planning. In addition to assignments related to resume and interview preparation, internship preparation, and an exploration of graduate school opportunities, the course includes units on the development of competencies in financial literacy, digital literacy, and cybersecurity, as well as an exploration of what it means to be AI-literate in a specific field. SIM 200 will be  cohorted by discipline (Humanities, Social Sciences, STEM, Health Professions), so students are advised to take this class after they declare their major.

PLAN Requirements for CompleteDegree Students

Courses are listed in the order we recommend they be taken.

Connect 101, Simmons Connect

3 credits
Highly recommended to be taken in your first term
Simmons Connect is designed to connect you to your new Simmons community, to discipline-specific writing skills and strategies, and to tools and resources to ensure your success at Simmons and in your career post-graduation. This class is required of all Complete Degree students who matriculate without an AA/AS degree and highly recommended for all Complete Degree students.

 

Leadership 201, Gender and Leadership

4 credits
The study of leadership in American higher education has traditionally centered cis-gendered white men and their socialized masculine behaviors. This course seeks to counteract that by exploring women leaders in the United States, both leaders in history as well as present day to support students’ development of their own leadership identity. The course will identify trends common to cis-gender women leaders as well as the unique and authentic leadership practices that successful cis-gender women leaders have enacted that contributed to the social, economic, political and personal successes they achieved. The course will be gender inclusive where possible, though more scholarship is needed that is inclusive of multiple gender identities.

CDA 201, Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Public Issues

6 credits
Problem solving, critical thinking skills, and integrative techniques for researching an issue are important for all students to learn no matter their major or their future job aspirations. This course will introduce students to multiple ways of looking at an issue within their chosen discipline; students will gain knowledge to analyze common themes, communicate effectively, and use interdisciplinary perspectives to provide solutions to a potential employee and/or mentor. Students will use techniques from information science and public policy, for example, to formulate and answer questions with quantitative and qualitative techniques while enhancing their academic search skills.
Recommended prerequisite: CNCT 101

 

Connect 201, Pathways to Career and Leadership

1 credit
Connect 201: Pathways to Career and Leadership focuses on career and life planning. It represents a culmination of a two-course sequence that foregrounds the concepts of metacognition and self-directed learning. The course also focuses on the development of competencies in diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the refinement of leadership skills.

3D (Design Across Diverse Disciplines)

Included in Connect 201
For this graduation requirement, students will design and propose a cluster of three courses they have taken and plan to take that addresses a topic, problem, or issue from various disciplinary perspectives. Students will explain the rationale for their selection of these courses, focusing on the intellectual coherence of the courses they have chosen.

 

The Capstone

4-8 credits
All students will complete a Capstone experience in their major, which will be designed by individual departments. Regardless of discipline, Capstone experiences will address career and graduate school preparation. (One Capstone in a student’s major is required to fulfill PLAN requirements; students with multiple majors may be required to fulfill Capstones in each major, depending on major requirements.)

 

 

Graduation Requirements for On-Campus Students

PLAN Requirements, Purpose,
and Double Counting (for On-Campus Students) 

	PLAN REQUIREMENT	PURPOSE	DOUBLE COUNTING
Year 1	Writing Boston fall or Spring semester, 4 credits Simmons 100: Explore fall semester, 2 credits	Communication essential capability Engagement with Simmons Communities and with Boston; academic skill-building
Sophomore or Junior Year	Simmons 200: Extend Fall or spring semester, 2 credit	Discipline-specific career education; Academic skill-building; post-graduation support/ planning; careers, graduate school
Any year	Key Content Areas (3 courses) • Artistic, Literary Aesthetic • Global Historical •Scientific Inquiry	Exposure to content across disciplines	Each KCA may be fulfilled through major/ minor course of study (if applicable)
Any year	Key Skills Areas (5 courses) •Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice •Integrative Learning •Leadership •Quantitative Literacy  • Writing Intensive	Application of skills and knowledge toward social engagement and change	At least two KSA courses must be taken outside of the student’s major

Exemptions/Alternate Requirement

• As of May 2021, all students entering with an AA/AS degree are exempt from all PLAN requirements.
  
  Note: All students must complete a capstone in their major. Capstones are not part of PLAN but of requirements for all majors.

Starting a New Language

• For incoming students as of Fall 2024 and thereafter: Incoming undergraduate students are not required to take a language course as a part of the Simmons PLAN curriculum. The language placement exam is optional and available only to students who are interested in taking Spanish or French at the undergraduate level.
• For students whose first semester was prior to Fall 2024: All on-the-ground undergraduate students must satisfy the PLAN Language Requirement that was in place at the time of their enrollment. Language exams are still available to students who have not yet taken one and require a placement. The language requirement is met by one of the following: 
  The successful completion of the 102 level* in Spanish or French at Simmons University or in any modern language taken through the COF or at another institution with preapproval from the Associate Provost for Curriculum, Assessment, and Accreditation. (*Completion of the 101 level [or its equivalent] is a prerequisite of the 102 level.)
  OR
  The successful completion of one GH KCA course AND one DEIJ KSA course taken specifically to fulfill the language requirement. 

Math Competency Requirement

Students will be required to demonstrate competency in mathematics in one of the following ways before they may take a Quantitative Literacy course:  

• Pass the mathematics competency exam administered by the Office of Undergraduate Advising prior to registration;

• Successfully complete MATH 101 or a higher level mathematics course at Simmons; or

• Present evidence of satisfactory completion at another accredited college of a mathematics course at the level of MATH 101 or above to the Registrar’s office.

• Students must satisfy the math competency requirement during their first semester at Simmons. Students who do not pass the mathematics competency exam prior to registration or who do not meet the math competency requirement in one of the other ways described above must take MATH 101 in the first semester it is available.

Key Content Area (KCA) Requirements

The key content area courses draw upon three broad areas of knowledge to emphasize a multidisciplinary approach to ways of knowing. They engage phenomena as objects of study through approaches rooted in various disciplines tied to the sciences, the arts and broad frames of historical and cultural understanding. Students must complete one course from each of the following three areas:

1] Aesthetic, Literary, and Artistic (ALA)

Courses in this area focus on phenomena in art and literature as well as ways of knowing or creating original works or aesthetic approaches to these phenomena. This requirement can be met by courses in any of the creative and performing arts as well as in any course in the study of literature, art, and music. Courses in other disciplines that provide perspectives of aesthetic, literary, and artistic phenomena as defined above also meet this requirement. For example, a course that studies the digital or computational aspects of artistic creation would meet this requirement.

2] Global Historical (GH)

Global Historical courses provide perspectives on contemporary or historical phenomena as they present themselves socially. They may foreground the perspective of a particular community or person or a specific interpretive frame or historical moment in time ,or they may include comparative ways of knowing phenomena across cultures of the globe, within and beyond the US, past and present. 

Courses in this area offer students the opportunity to study societal topics closely and to appreciate cultural and historical differences as they have manifested for humankind. 

3] Scientific Inquiry (SCI)

Courses in this area focus on phenomena in the natural and physical world and on ways of knowing these phenomena, particularly through experimental approaches. This requirement is primarily met by courses in the sciences and psychology; the requirement may also be met by courses in other disciplines providing perspectives on scientific phenomena. All courses meeting this requirement include a “hands on” component providing students the opportunity to understand and appreciate the scientific method.

Key Skills Area (KSA) Requirements

While the Key Content Areas focus on knowledge of content, the Key Skills Areas emphasize skills acquired or applied in courses. This category spans skills that are essential for student’s success in and beyond academia. It extends to opportunities for students to apply their developing skills and knowledge toward social engagement and change. Students must complete one course from each of the below areas. Note: At least two KSA courses must be taken outside of the student’s major.

1] Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice (DEIJ)

Courses with a DEIJ designation provide students opportunities to build skills in the areas of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice that can be deployed in organizations, professions and society. Students in these courses critically analyze social forces and systems and learn how to take some form of action to respond to these forces and systems. A DEIJ course allows explicit knowledge about DEI–Diversity, Equity and Inclusion– through examination of power and privilege as they pertain to gender, race, dis/ability, sexuality, immigration status, socioeconomic status, etc. And it also focuses on application of this knowledge toward the creation of change aimed at Justice–not just DEI, but also DEIJ. The ultimate goal of these courses is to–through a combination of analysis and action, or praxis–help students develop agency around understanding and challenging existent forces and systems.

2] Integrative Learning (IL)

The Integrative Learning KSA allows students to study a topic or question that cannot be fully understood without its examination through the lenses of subfields within or between disciplines. This integrative approach to learning aims at helping students develop the habits of mind needed to meaningfully explore topics and issues that require movement across different perspectives. The KSA is filled by courses that root their approach in any set of disciplines and/or subfields. A central topic or question guides the course, and students learn about content specific to the course topic, but the course is most centrally an opportunity for students to understand what they can and cannot know in the absence of employing multiple perspectives.

3] Leadership (LDR)

The Leadership courses help students expand their ideas of what leadership is and who can lead. These courses support students’ ability to envision opportunities to lead, formally or informally, in their careers, their communities and their lives. Each course focuses on the relationship between leadership and social identities and allows students to develop and demonstrate leadership skills related to both working in teams and public speaking. Students engage such topics as conflict resolution and advocacy on meaningful issues.  Leadership courses typically study successful leaders and/or organizations, or specific theories or best practices, in order to help students envision their own ideas of leadership.

4] Quantitative Literacy (QL)

Quantitative Literacy (QL) is a “habit of mind,” competency, and comfort in working with numerical data. Courses in this area will develop a student’s ability to reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday life situations. QL courses will develop the skills necessary to understand and create sophisticated arguments supported by quantitative evidence, and to clearly communicate those arguments in a variety of formats (using words, tables, graphs, mathematical equations, etc., as appropriate)

5] Writing Intensive (WI)

Writing-Intensive courses further develop the competencies introduced to students in the first year writing course, Writing Boston. They encourage more advanced writing proficiency and centralize at least two of the following skills: awareness of audience and context, formulation of arguments and conclusions, evaluation and utilization of researched sources. Writing-Intensive courses also typically include frequent (usually weekly) writing assignments, some informal and ungraded writing, and at least one paper that is examined in draft form by the instructor and then revised by the student. This requirement is filled by courses in multiple departments, and courses are often rooted in the research and methods of the department’s particular academic discipline.

Graduation Requirements for CompleteDegree Students

PLAN Requirements, Purpose,
and Double Counting (for CompleteDegree Students) 

	Plan Requirement	Purpose	Double Counting
	CNCT 101, 3 credits LDR 201, 4 credits	Communication essential capability Engagement with Simmons Communities; academic skill-building Leadership, teamwork
	CDA 201, 6 credits CNCT 201, 1 credit	Interdisciplinary and integrative learning Post-graduation support/ planning; careers, graduate school Academic skill-building; 3D planning
	3D (Design Across Diverse Disciplines)	Interdisciplinary and integrative learning 3 courses that are topically connected;	Each 3D course may count as a KCA. One 3D course may count in each major/minor course of study. 3D courses must be drawn from different disciplines. Two 3D courses may have been taken during the first or second year.
	Capstone	Expertise in student’s field of study	The Capstone is in the major.
Any year	Key Content Areas (4 courses) Social/Historical Artistic, Literary Aesthetic Scientific	Exposure to content across disciplines	Each KCA may be fulfilled in a major/ minor course of study (if applicable).
	Quantitative Literacy (1 course)	Critical thinking and problem solving; literacy in numeric systems	The QL requirement may be fulfilled through a course in a student's major/minor course of study (if applicable).
	Language and Culture Requirement (2 additional GC KCA courses)	Cultural skill development

Math Competency Requirement

Students will be required to demonstrate competency in mathematics in one of the following ways before they are able to take a Quantitative Literacy course:

Pass the mathematics competency exam administered by the Office of Undergraduate Advising no later than the end of their first term at Simmons;

Successfully complete MATH 101 or a higher level mathematics course at Simmons;

Present evidence of satisfactory completion at another accredited college of a mathematics course at the level of MATH 101 or above to the Registrar’s office.

Students must satisfy the math competency requirement during their first semester at Simmons. Students who do not pass the mathematics competency exam by orientation or who do not meet the math competency requirement in one of the other ways described above, must take MATH 101 in the first semester it is available.

Language and Culture Requirement (QL)

Complete Degree students must take two additional Global/Cultural KCA courses to satisfy this PLAN requirement.

Quantitative Literacy Requirement (QL)

Quantitative Literacy (QL) is a “habit of mind,” competency, and comfort in working with numerical data. Courses in this area will develop a student’s ability to reason and solve quantitative problems from a wide array of authentic contexts and everyday life situations. QL courses will develop the skills necessary to understand and create sophisticated arguments supported by quantitative evidence, and to clearly communicate those arguments in a variety of formats (using words, tables, graphs, mathematical equations, etc., as appropriate).

Key Content Area (KCA) Requirements

The key content areas pertain to phenomena as objects of study across the disciplines, rather than modes of inquiry defined by a particular discipline or set of disciplines.
Indeed, these categories describe areas of knowledge from multidisciplinary perspectives. The phenomena included under each of the four areas listed below thus admit of a wide variety of ways of knowing or disciplinary approaches. Students must complete one course from each of the following areas:

1] Aesthetic, Literary, and Artistic (ALA)

Courses in this area focus on phenomena in art and literature as well as ways of knowing or creating original works or aesthetic approaches to these phenomena. This requirement can be met by courses in any of the creative and performing arts as well as in any course in the study of literature, art, and music. Courses in other disciplines that provide perspectives of aesthetic, literary, and artistic phenomena as defined above also meet this requirement. For example, a course that studies the digital or computational aspects of artistic creation would meet this requirement.

2] Global Cultural (GC)

The term “global cultural” is broadly construed; it includes all cultures, past and present, within and beyond the U. S., and in their multiple forms of manifestation. Courses in this area offer our students the opportunity to understand and learn to appreciate cultural differences as they have made themselves manifest in humankind. This requirement can be met by courses in any discipline—from the liberal arts to the sciences and the professions—that provide a multicultural perspective of the world. For example, courses that focus on cross-cultural practices, or on minority cultures in the U. S., or on non-European cultures, or that provide world surveys of cultures would all meet this requirement.

3] Scientific Inquiry (SCI)

Courses in this area focus on phenomena in the natural and physical world and on ways of knowing these phenomena, particularly through experimental approaches. This requirement is primarily met by courses in the sciences and psychology; the requirement may also be met by courses in other disciplines providing perspectives on scientific phenomena. All courses meeting this requirement include a “hands on” component providing students the opportunity to understand and appreciate the scientific method.

4] Social and Historical (SH)

Courses in this area focus on phenomena in society and history as well as ways of knowing these phenomena. This requirement can be met by courses in the social sciences, including economics, political science, sociology, social psychology, social work, and history. Courses in other disciplines that provide perspectives of social and historical phenomena as defined above also meet this requirement. For example, a course that focuses on the social applications of management principles would provide such perspectives.

 

List of CompleteDegree courses with KCA designations