Vision Statement

Empowering Pirates to capture their horizons!

ECU’s motto is Servire – To Serve. The university prepares graduates by engaging the broad range of human knowledge and developing the skills that promote self-discovery and informed, responsible citizenship.

The fundamental purpose served in requiring students to take general education courses is to have students develop an understanding of aspects of the human condition that are not the primary focus of their major field of study. The number of subjects that fit this description is larger than can be required of ECU’s students. Hence the university only requires courses in the broadest and most basic areas of study along with courses in especially valuable competency areas (written communication, mathematics, health promotion and health-related physical activity and diversity). Most professional and interdisciplinary programs of study are grounded in the following broad, basic areas of study: the fine arts, the humanities, the social sciences, and the natural sciences.

General education exposes students to the broad range of human knowledge, while enabling them to acquire key skills and to gain critical competencies that prepare them to understand societal problems and to seek solutions. On that foundation, students then build expertise in one or more academic areas, developing the capacities to establish themselves in the work world and to contribute to society as engaged and well-informed citizens.

Students explore and inquire in the humanities, fine arts, natural sciences and social sciences, learn to communicate effectively both orally and in writing, develop quantitative literacy, become familiar with global concerns and the diversity of the human experience, and cultivate the broad knowledge and skills that inform the mature exploration of their own majors. This foundation and its integration with specialized learning in the students’ majors enable them to live broadly informed, responsible, and meaningful lives; at the same time, this preparation is essential to good citizenship in an increasingly global and culturally diverse world.

Fully developing each student’s communication, computational and critical thinking skills can only be accomplished by the student’s program of study in their academic major. General education courses advance students beyond the competencies acquired in PK-12 education, but these courses are too few in number and too early in an undergraduate’s career to fully prepare students in these skill areas. The full development of these skills is the responsibility of each student’s major area of study.