Act 15 – Core General Education Requirements and Transfer

Purpose

On July 3, 2025, the Wisconsin State Legislature approved 2025 Wisconsin Act 15, which, in section 134, amended state statute 36.11 (3)(b). In response to this new statute, President Rothman charged Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs Johannes Britz to take the necessary actions to ensure compliance with the Act 15 requirements through the creation and/or revision of Regent and System policies. In order to operationalize the transfer of Core General Education Requirements (CGER), two work groups will be established to supplement the pre-existing Transfer Policy Work Group. One will be designated the Academic Affairs Work Group, while the other will be the Operational Work Group. Each work group will comprise representatives from the Transfer Policy Work Group as well as representatives with necessary expertise from UW Administration and all UW universities. These two work groups will work separately and collaboratively to address all technical, procedural, and communications needs, develop a new system policy, and revise other system policies.

Work Groups Objectives

Both work groups, working collaboratively with the Transfer Policy Work Group and in consultation with appropriate stakeholders, will draft a new system policy (SYS 105), ideally by October 2025, that will add further detail as to how transfer of CGERs will work. They will also look at other system policies (i.e., SYS 102, 115, 135) that may need to be revised. To accomplish the policy goals, each group will focus on specific areas that need to be addressed operationally, as well as others that may arise through the work.

Work Group Membership

Transfer Policy Working Group

NameTitleOrganization 
Julie AmonAssociate Vice President for Enrollment & Student Success UW Administration 
Shanna NifoussiDirector of Academic Student Success InitiativesUW Administration
Corina Diaz-SuazoStrategic Enrollment & Transfer SpecialistUW Administration 
Christy SevierDirector of Strategic Enrollment UW Administration 
Joey BohlAssociate Director of AdmissionsUW-Eau Claire
Marquell JohnsonFaculty Governance RepresentativeUW-Eau Claire
Trevor SpragueAssociate Director of Transfer AdmissionsUW-La Crosse
Janet BranchawAssociate Professor of Kinesiology in the School of EducationUW-Madison 
Lori ChristiansonAssociate Director – Transfer Admissions & RecruitmentUW-Madison
Christopher HeadAssistant Registrar of Transfer ServicesUW-Milwaukee
Erin GrishamInternal ConsultantUW-Oshkosh
Ed MartiniProvost and Vice Chancellor for Academic AffairsUW-Oshkosh
Matt CecilInterim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic AffairsUW-Parkside
Deann PossehlAssistant Provost for Student SuccessUW-Parkside
Holly AttenboroughAssociate ProvostUW-Platteville
Annette Hackbarth-OnsonDirector of Academic SuccessUW-Stevens Point
Todd HuspeniAssociate Vice Chancellor for Teaching, Learning, & Strategic PlanningUW-Stevens Point
Julie ZaloudekAssociate ProvostUW-Stout
Nicholle SchulkeFaculty Governance RepresentativeUW-Superior
Tatiana FadeevaTransfer Articulation CoordinatorUW-Whitewater

joined working group in July as part of General Education subcommittee

Academic Affairs

NameTitleOrganization
Shanna Nifoussi*Director of Academic Student Success InitiativesUW Administration
Julie Amon*Associate Vice President for Enrollment & Student SuccessUW Administration
Amanda SmithOLITS ConsultantUW Administration
Christy Sevier*Director of Strategic EnrollmentUW Administration
Marquell Johnson*Faculty Governance RepresentativeUW-Eau Claire
Jason SpraitzInterim Associate Vice ChancellorUW-Eau Claire
Patricia TerryFaculty, Shared Governance RepresentativeUW-Green Bay
Bryan KoppFaculty, Communications DepartmentUW-La Crosse
Trevor Sprague*Associate Director of Transfer AdmissionsUW-La Crosse
Janet Branchaw*Interim Vice ProvostUW-Madison
Michelle YoungAssociate Vice ProvostUW-Madison
David ClarkAssociate Vice ProvostUW-Milwaukee
Christopher Head*Assistant Registrar of Transfer ServicesUW-Milwaukee
Ed Martini*Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic AffairsUW-Oshkosh
Matt Cecil*Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic AffairsUW-Parkside
Holly Attenborough*Associate ProvostUW-Platteville
David GillotaAssistant ProvostUW-Platteville
Wes ChapinInterim ProvostUW-River Falls
Kathleen HunzerFaculty, Director of General EducationUW-River Falls
Todd Huspeni*Associate Vice ChancellorUW-Stevens Point
Alison LukowskiFaculty, General Education Program CoordinatorUW-Stout
Julie Zaloudek*Associate ProvostUW-Stout
Nicholle Schulke*Faculty Governance RepresentativeUW-Superior
Alison WielgusFaculty, University Studies CoordinatorUW-Superior
Kristin PlesselAssociate Vice ProvostUW-Whitewater
Tatiana Fadeeva*Transfer Articulation CoordinatorUW-Whitewater
*Member of the Transfer Policy Work Group 

Operations

NameTitleOrganization
Julie Amon*Associate Vice President for Enrollment & Student SuccessUW Administration
Shanna Nifoussi*Director of Academic Student Success InitiativesUW Administration
Amanda SmithOLITS ConsultantUW Administration
Todd BaileyPolicy and Planning AnalystUW Administration
Sue ButhDirectorUW Administration
Corina Diaz-Suazo*Strategic Enrollment & Transfer SpecialistUW Administration
Angie KelloggSenior Academic PlannerUW Administration
Vivek DeshpandeOLITSUW Administration
Joey Bohl*Associate Director of AdmissionsUW-Eau Claire
Andrew MeyerAssistant Registrar, Transfer Services CoordinatorUW-Green Bay
Leann VigueUniversity RegistrarUW-La Crosse
Beth WarnerInterim University RegistrarUW-Madison
Brian HinshawDirector, Academic AdvisingUW-Milwaukee
Josh BeckenAssociate RegistrarUW-Oshkosh
Erin Grisham*Internal ConsultantUW-Oshkosh
Deann Possehl*Assistant Provost for Student SuccessUW-Parkside
Holly Attenborough*Associate ProvostUW-Platteville
Ryan BenchAssociate RegistrarUW-River Falls
John GaffneyRegistrarUW-Stevens Point
Darren WardAssociate Director for Transfer & ArticulationUW-Stout
Anne CarlsonTransfer Center CoordinatorUW-Superior
Heather Chermak RegistrarUW-Whitewater
*Member of the Transfer Policy Work Group 

Core General Education Requirements Proposal:

The proposed Regent policy will provide the framework for the Core General Education Requirements as six broad categories, 10-12 courses, 30-36 credit hours.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Where did the six categories come from?

A: The six proposed categories are based on an examination of the general education and competency requirements at all of the UWs and identifying areas of alignment. The categories are also similar to the seven categories identified as requirements for the AA/AS degree at WTCS. Additional analysis of other statewide and systemwide gen. ed. cores show common inclusion of the following areas or disciplines: Communication/English composition, Humanities/Social or Behavioral Science, Quantitative skills/critical thinking, Physical and Natural Science, with variability in areas of global/cultural/ethnic studies and wellness/wellbeing/fitness.

Q: Within the flexible CGER model, what are the minimum and maximum requirements?

A: Under the flexible CGER model, students must complete at least 10 courses for 30 credit hours and based on statutory language, universities cannot require students to complete more than 36 credit hours of core general education courses. However, as a student is being advised on what courses to select to fulfill the core general education requirements, they may end up with more than 36 credit hours from courses with the CGER categories. For example, a student may take a foreign language course for 4 credits, thus fulfilling the Civics & Perspectives category requirement by completing 4 instead of 3 credit hours.

Q: May a general education course fulfill multiple Core General Education Requirement categories? For example, can a History of the Middle East course fulfill both the Humanities & Arts category requirement and the Civics & Perspectives category requirement?

A: The Academic Affairs working group will address questions like this and will inform the development of SYS policies and procedures. We anticipate that one course may fulfill both a CGER requirement and a major requirement, however it may not satisfy two different CGER categories. In the scenario above, the History of the Middle East course may be used to fulfill a course requirement in the Humanities & Arts category and may be applied to a History major requirement, but it may not also be used to fulfill the course requirement for the Civics & Perspectives category.

Q: My university currently requires more than 36 credit hours of general education and university requirements. Can we have additional requirements above those included in the Core General Education Requirements for all undergraduates?

A: No, a university can’t have additional course requirements that are universally applicable to all undergraduates. Universities may have additional College/School, degree type (e.g., B.A., B.S., B.F.A., B.B.A., etc.), and/or major/program requirements that apply to subsets of students.

Q: What if a student completes the Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning category at one UW university and then transfers to another UW university and wants to use that course to fulfill requirements at the receiving university. Does the receiving university have to accept and apply the course and credits?

A: Yes, if a student completes a course that fulfills a Core General Education category at the sending UW university, it must fulfill the same Core General Education category[1] at the receiving UW university. However, the receiving UW university may have additional program/major requirements that are not fulfilled by that course. For example, a student who completes an algebra course at the sending university fulfilling the Mathematics & Quantitative Reasoning category requirement may still have to complete calculus at the receiving university to fill a chemistry major requirement. In this case, the Core General Education Requirement has been fulfilled at the receiving university, but the student still needs to complete calculus to satisfy the program/major requirement.

[1] UW universities may use discretion in applying CGER credit to categories that are in the best interest of the student.

Q: May my university specify discipline or subcategory requirements within the framework of the Core General Education Requirements?

A: Yes. For example, a university can require students to take one Humanities course (e.g., History or Literature) and one Arts course (e.g., Dance) to fulfill the Humanities & Arts category requirement. However, that same university must accept any courses within the category that transfer from another UW university to fulfill that category requirement. So, if the sending UW university allows students to complete the Humanities & Arts category through completion of two Art courses, or an Art and a Music course, the receiving UW university must accept those two courses as fulfilling the Humanities & Arts category requirements.

Q: Our university has developed a First Year Experience/Seminar course to increase retention in first year students. Will we need to get rid of this course?

A: No. Depending on the learning outcomes of the First-Year course it is possible that it could align with a few different categories, such as Communication & Literacy, Social & Behavioral Science, or Humanities & Arts. You may also have different First Year courses that are specific to a particular College/School. In the latter case, since students enrolled in different colleges/schools within the university have different requirements, this would not be considered a Core General Education Requirement, but rather a College/School requirement and therefore outside of the 30-36 credit hour range.

Q: My university does not have a wellbeing and fitness requirement, but a student transferred in with a course that is tagged as meeting a Natural Science & Wellness requirement. Can we require the transfer student to take another course to complete the Natural Science & Wellness category?

A: No. If one UW university (sending institution) has categorized a course as fulfilling a requirement within a Core General Education category, the receiving university must accept the course as fulfilling the same category. A transfer student cannot be required to take additional courses to meet the learning outcomes or requirements of the receiving university within a particular category, if the completed course fulfilled category requirements at the sending university.

Q: Can my university add an additional courses outside of the categories?

A: No. The general education courses currently offered at your university need to be mapped to the six (6) broad CGER categories. Any courses outside of these categories can’t be a graduation requirement for all students. As indicated above, requirements can be added to specific Schools/Colleges, degree types, or programs (major) that are outside of the six (6) categories but can’t be required universally of all students.

Q: Can my university have a course just for first year students, that is outside CGER and wouldn’t be required for transfer students?

No. In accordance with RPD 7-3 and SYS 135, UW universities should apply academic policies and procedures to continuing and transfer students in a similar manner. In this context that means that a UW should not have different graduation requirements for continuing (first year students) versus transfer students. If the university has a first year experience course requirement, transfer students should be provided with a suitable course substitution.

In this scenario, since the first year experience course is a graduation requirement, even with the appropriate course substitution, this would still be considered a general education requirement and therefore needs to be mapped into one of the six categories to be included in the CGER.

Q: Will the new CGER include the Universities of Wisconsin ethnic studies/diversity required course.

The Design for Diversity (RPD 17-9) and Plan 2008 (RPD 17-10) were time specific reports or initiatives that were considered obsolete or no longer in effect when the Board of Regents approved removal of these policies in April 2011.

While courses that were previously considered under these initiatives may be mapped to one of the six broad categories, there will not be an ethnic studies or diversity course requirement.

Q: How are we required to provide notice to HLC regarding these curricular changes?

A. The Office of Academic Affairs (OAA) will work with each university to ensure that notice is provided to HLC as necessary to document the curricular changes associated with the new Core General Education Requirements. OAA will also work with each university to ensure compliance with DOE policies.

Q: What is the role of the regents in this process?

Act 15 amended state statute to indicate that the board is responsible for establishing policies related to the transfer and applicability of core general education requirements. To comply with the statute, it is anticipated that the Board will consider the new policy, which we are referring to as Regent Policy Document (RPD) 4-X. This document has been drafted and shared with Board leadership and it is anticipated that the Board will consider RPD 4-X at a special meeting on November 19. Prior to that meeting, the policy will be distributed to all UW universities for comment and feedback.

Q: Will the Regent or System policy determine the specific courses that are taught at a UW to fulfill the Core General Education Requirements?

A: No. Universities will have autonomy to determine how their courses and associated learning outcomes fit into each of the identified categories.

Q: What is the timeline for the policy development, distribution, and approval?

RPD 4-X:

Sept. 24: distributed for public comment (see information below)

Nov. 19: Board discussion and anticipated approval

SYS 105:

Sept./Oct: The Academic Affairs and Operations working groups identified above will draft the System policy.

Nov.: anticipated distribution of policy for public comment

Dec. 31: anticipated approval by President Rothman

Updates