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About the Core

The Core is the foundation upon which your degree is built

The Core Humanities sequence and English 102 are required of all students. The remaining group components of the Core allow you, the student, to build your own experience by selecting courses of greatest interest. Please note that some majors have specific requirements within the Core as related to the degree. This frequently applies to Math, the Natural Sciences, the Social Sciences and Capstones. The Core Curriculum experience is considered to be the hallmark of the UNR graduate.

Basic skills are emphasized throughout the core curriculum courses. Not only in English 102 and the preliminary English 101, if necessary, but also throughout the core curriculum, students will write and have their writing critiqued and graded for quality. The purpose is not only to encourage mastery of a set of skills, but also to allow students to think, to see connections among ideas, and to reach meaningful conclusions. The development of effective oral communication skills by students is also emphasized in each core curriculum course. To the degree possible, the application of mathematical skills is also incorporated throughout the university curriculum particularly in the core science courses.

Requirements for graduation include the successful completion of two capstones. At least one capstone course must be taken outside the major department. Capstones represent the opportunity for in-depth study. The general capstone offers the student the arena for realizing the interrelationship of many areas of study throughout their undergraduate career.

In their admission letter, new students are instructed to go to WebCT and submit an “intent to enroll” form which initiates the process of creating your DARS. Expect this process to take a minimum of four weeks. When completed, it is then uploaded to your epaws account. Courses must be accepted in transfer process in order to qualify for potential core substitution. It is recommended that transfer students bring with them an unofficial copy of all previous college transcripts and their Transfer Credit & DARS report when meeting with their adviser for the first time.