General Education Philosophy
General Education is that part of a student’s education that goes beyond learning technical skills and allows students to become well-rounded, higher-functioning citizens of the world. As an institute of higher learning, MTI is committed to the inherent value of general education and know that critical thinking ability, communication skills, information literacy, math and problem-solving skills and more, are crucial for graduates’ success in their future technical careers.
MTI also recognizes that an Associate’s degree or diploma at Mitchell Technical Institute must mean something more than job skills. Students must become lifelong learners with the ability to adapt to a changing world and ever-increasing job expectations. To this end, general education learning outcomes that all MTI graduates should possess are identified in the South Dakota Administrative Rule 24:59:01:07 as follows:
24:59:01:07. Application requirements for program approval. A postsecondary technical institute seeking authority to grant the associate of applied science degree must apply on forms provided by the executive director of the Board of Technical Education. The application must include documentation of admission requirements, required hours, curriculum components, instructor credentials, and graduation requirements.
Each Associate of Applied Science degree program must include a minimum of 15 credit hours of general education courses from a minimum of four of the following categories:
(1) Communications
(2) Social sciences
(3) Mathematics
(4) Computers
(5) Arts and humanities
(6) Natural sciences
Source: 15 SDR 64, effective November 2, 1988; transferred from § 24:10:38:03, 20 SDR 223, effective July 7, 1994; repealed, SL 1995, ch 86, § 6, effective July 1, 1995; readopted, 22 SDR 13, effective August 9, 1995; Readopted from § 24:10:43:03, 44 SDR 184, effective June 25, 2018; 45 SDR 130, effective April 29, 2019.
General Authority: SDCL 13-39A-18.
Law Implemented: SDCL 13-39A-16, 13-39A-18, 13-39A-42.