General Studies Courses

General Studies courses are college foundation courses offered to students in all majors to help them meet the demands of college-level work. Designed to allow students to improve their skills in a subject, show them their strengths and weaknesses, and increase their chances of academic success in college, these courses are offered through Academic Skills and taught by certified specialists in each area. The General Studies courses offered at USI are listed below with their course descriptions.

GENS 105 - College Study Strategies
This course helps incoming freshmen, current students in need of better study skills, and adults reentering or contemplating re-entry to formal education assess their current approach to studying. It offers suggestions and practice to improve study methods. The course topics include time management, note taking from lectures and textbooks, exam preparation, listening skills, memory, concentration, test anxiety, and organization. Course is open to all students for elective credit. 

GENS 111 - Career Planning
Confusion about career planning occurs among undergraduates as well as among individuals who have entered the working world. This course benefits any student who is undecided about a career choice. The course is designed to increase self-awareness, familiarize participants with informational resources available to help in career planning, and provide individualized assistance with career decision-making. Course is open to all students for elective credit.

GENS 151 - Academic Reading Strategies
In order to be successful in college, students must be able to read, comprehend, synthesize, and process large amounts of information. This course emphasizes the before, during, and after active reading strategies necessary for learning information across the academic disciplines. In addition, students will be encouraged to become self-regulated learners and will demonstrate their understanding of the strategies through practice and application on college-level textbook reading. Students should enroll in a reading intensive course (i.e. history, sociology, political science) as a companion for applying the reading strategies. This three-credit hour course counts as elective credit toward graduation.

GENS 199 - Select Topics in Study Strategies
This course focuses on an intensive study of specialized topics in study strategies such as advancing vocabulary, speed reading, test taking, and strengths finder. Course is open to all students and repeatable with change in course content.

UNIV 101 - First Year Experience
This course is an introduction to the University of Southern Indiana and the undergraduate experience with a specific focus on academic success, campus involvement and community engagement.  Students will discuss issues of value and behavior in the college setting, discover what resources are available to them, and learn what it means to integrate themselves into the campus and surrounding communities.