Two comments regarding the General Education Program are voiced too frequently by students: (1) "I may as well take these to get them out of the way," and/or (2) "Why do I have to take ---------- courses, I just want to be an accountant (or engineer, or etc. )?" Neither indicates an appreciation for the contributions the General Education Program is designed to make in the education of the whole person.
One approach used with entering students who tend to be career/job oriented is to highlight the purposes of the General Education Program as preparation not just for the first year after graduation, but for the next fifty years of their lives.
To relate to their career orientation and go beyond, students can be informed of what employers increasingly tell us they look for in college graduates: (a) clear career goals; (b) previous work experience; and (c) specific knowledge students have gained from their majors. Given a number of qualified candidates who possess these attributes, employers look for skills that will separate the outstanding from the average employee. They look for transferable, functional abilities that may be utilized in many different situations.
These abilities may be acquired through formal education and training and through informal life experiences. They include: decision making; the ability to lead and motivate people; written and oral communication; persistence; initiative; and problem solving.
Selection of elective courses aimed at developing these general education life skills may be a concrete way of helping students connect with General Education Program relevance, assist in course selection outside the major field, and assist in charting progress toward increased academic competence. It is one way to help students articulate and appreciate the significance of the General Education Program. See especially the General Education Handbook.
A "General Education Lifeskills Checklist" is included for your reference and use with students. Hopefully it will serve as a stimulus for discussion with your advisees. Please note that GEP lifeskills are not restricted vocational skills. They are more broadly based "transferable skills" which transcend limited contexts. Moreover, they are sufficiently definable to permit progress toward mastery to be assessed, encouraged, striven for, and acknowledged.