WMCC is committed to graduating an “educated person,” one who has a solid foundation for lifelong learning, civic engagement, and career mobility. To this end, all associate degree programs require students to take general education courses, in addition to those courses specific to their program. These general education courses expose students to the vast field of human knowledge and endeavor so that, upon graduation, they possess a broad-based education covering a wide range of disciplines, including the humanities, the arts, the laboratory sciences, the social and behavioral sciences, and more.
An educated person is one who has acquired the skills, perspectives, and critical abilities to function competently, productively, and professionally in life and work, qualities that are embedded in WMCC’s eight Core Competencies.
Core Competencies:
All graduates of associate degree programs at WMCC attain the following core competencies:
- Study Skills: The ability to absorb information presented in various forms (including written, oral, digital, and pictorial); to practice strategies conducive to learning; and to locate, evaluate, and use resources in any act of intellectual investigation.
- Communication Skills: The ability to express ideas and convey information clearly, effectively, and efficiently through oral, written, and non-verbal means such that others understand the intended message and purpose.
- Critical Thinking Skills: The ability to engage in activities at a high cognitive level: to think rationally; to analyze problems, situations, and conditions; to make sensible judgments and draw logical conclusions; to synthesize perspectives, data, and research to produce original thought; and to assess and determine the value, worth, and viability of arguments, proposals, and solutions.
- Social, Cultural, and Artistic Skills: The ability to apply ethical standards in social interactions; to work collaboratively to achieve defined goals; to find common ground; to develop supportive, productive relationships; to value diversity and inclusion; to express oneself creatively; to engage the imagination in service to abstract notions of beauty, truth, and goodness; and to assess these notions in the artistic creations of others.
- Technical Skills: The ability to perform the skills that are necessary in a trade or technical field and to use theoretical and applied knowledge for entry into that trade or field. To be competent in technical skills is likewise to be adept at information literacy and capable of navigating the digital world.
- Quantitative Reasoning: The ability to apply computational methods, perform mathematical operations, and interpret numerical data to solve problems and deduce verifiable conclusions.
- Scientific Processes: The ability to use scientific methods in the search for knowledge and truth; to apply scientific laws, theories, and postulates to draw conclusions about physical and biological phenomena; to extract and interpret data from graphs, tables, charts, and other visual displays associated with scientific inquiry.
- Global Perspective: The ability to examine cultural values, concepts, attitudes, and beliefs contextually; to see history in relation to environmental and situational conditions; to be aware of and open to alternative viewpoints; and to consider events and circumstances as they relate to the entire world.