General Studies AA: Studies in Social Science, Administration, and Health Area of Concentration (SSAH Core): 611C

: 611C

Studies in the Social Sciences, Administration and Health (SSAH) core allows students to develop an interdisciplinary course of study emphasizing the behavioral and social sciences, administration and/or health disciplines, including criminal justice and hospitality management. The SSAH core is designed to encourage students to explore these disciplines while deepening their knowledge through a selected academic focus. For additional information, please visit the General Studies website.

In this core, students will develop an intentional academic plan that reflects personal, academic, and career goals emphasizing the following discipline areas or individual courses:

Anthropology (ANTH)
Criminal Justice (CCJS) ‡‡‡
Economics (ECON)
Applied Geography (GEOG)
Health (HLTH)
History (HIST)
Homeland Security (HMLS)
Hospitality Management (HMGT)
Physical Education (PHED) (students are limited to two PHED courses #100-199)
Political Science (POLI)
Psychology (PSYC)
Sociology (SOCY)
Women’s and Gender Studies (WMST and GNDS)

Students may elect to take any of the following individual courses as part of their SSAH core requirements to enhance their selected academic focus; however, transferability of these courses should be carefully reviewed:

Accounting (ACCT 221 , ACCT 222 )
Business (BSAD 101 , BSAD 210 )
Education (EDUC 101 , EDUC 102 , EDUC 119 )
Emergency Management (EMGT 101 , EMGT 206 )
Health Information Management (HINM 115 , HINM 116 )
Management (MGMT 101 , MGMT 140 , MGMT 211 , MGMT 201 )

NOTE: Students intending to transfer to pursue a 4-year degree in hospitality management or criminal justice should consult an advisor to determine how to use this core.

General Degree Requirements

In order to complete this degree, students must

complete of a minimum of 60 credit hours including:
- 31 credit hours of General Education program requirements ***
- 15 credit hours in SSAH core courses with a minimum of 3 credit hours at the 200 level
- up to 11 elective credit hours as needed to complete 60 credit hours
complete a minimum of 15 credit hours at the 200 level with at least 3 credit hours at the 200-level from the SSAH core
have a 2.0 GPA or higher.

Suggested Course Sequence

All students should review the Program Advising Guide and consult an advisor.

First Semester

ENGL 101 - Introduction to College Writing 3 semester hours *
Mathematics Foundation 3 semester hours ‡
Behavioral and Social Sciences Distribution 3 semester hours (BSSD) **
Natural Science Distribution without Lab 3 semester hours (NSND)
General Education Institutional Requirement 3 semester hours (GEIR)

Second Semester

English Foundation 3 semester hours (ENGF) ‡
Behavioral and Social Sciences Distribution 3 semester hours (BSSD) **
Humanities Distribution 3 semester hours (HUMD)
Natural Sciences Distribution with Lab 4 semester hours (NSLD)
Elective 3 semester hours ‡‡

Third Semester

Arts Distribution 3 semester hours (ARTD)
SSAH Core Course 1 3 semester hours
SSAH Core Course 2 3 semester hours
General Education Institutional Requirement 3 semester hours (GEIR) †
Elective 3 semester hours

Fourth Semester

SSAH Core Course 3 3 semester hours
SSAH Core Course 4 3 semester hours
SSAH Core Course 5 3 semester hours
Elective 3 semester hours ‡ ‡
Elective 2 semester hours ‡ ‡

Total Credit Hours: 60

* ENGL 101 /ENGL 101A , if needed for ENGL 102 /ENGL 103 , or select an elective.

** Behavioral and social sciences distribution (BSSD) courses must come from different disciplines.

*** Students must complete one global or cultural perspectives designated course as part of their General Education program.

‡ Students should attempt ENGL and MATH foundation requirements within completion of the first 24 credits of college-level work or at the completion of any prerequisite or required non-credit coursework.

‡‡ Any credit hours beyond the minimum General Education credit hours (31) or core courses are counted toward elective credit hours.

‡‡‡ Any CCJS course, except CCJS 255 .

† Two General Education institutional requirement (GEIR) courses are required from the following General Education courses: COMM, HLTH, or one ARTD or HUMD. Students may only take one course from ARTD or HUMD to fulfill General Education institutional requirements.

NOTE: Exact semester credit counts may vary based on specific course selections.

Program Outcomes

Upon completion of this program a student will be able to:

Articulate a plan for their educational and career development that relates their coursework to their goals.
Identify available resources related to their ongoing educational and professional development.
Apply critical thinking, quantitative reasoning, and/or scientific reasoning skills by articulating, analyzing, and evaluating problems and scenarios across discipline areas.
Find, evaluate, use, and synthesize information needed to address increasingly complex problems and scenarios.
Use technology effectively to accomplish a variety of general and discipline specific activities.
Communicate effectively in writing and orally appropriately across disciplines.
Articulate an academic identity that reflects an integrated, interdisciplinary view of their formal, co-curricular and personal learning.
Make and articulate the connections within their course of study.