Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

Baccalaureate Degree Definition

A baccalaureate degree is the academic title that Cal Maritime confers upon successful completion of all coursework, including General Education requirements, major requirements, and any elective coursework, as specified by Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations. Cal Maritime offers two baccalaureate degrees, a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree and a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree. Specific coursework required for each major can be found in the Schools and Academic Programs   area of this catalog.

A candidate for a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree at Cal Maritime must have completed the academic program with a cumulative rade point average of not less than 2.00 in each of three separate assessments:

• Overall: all baccalaureate-level units completed (all college-level work, no matter what the institution, including Cal Maritime);
• Campus: all units completed at Cal Maritime; and
• Major: all units completed in the major.

Baccalaureate Degree Requirements

The California Code of Regulations sets forth basic requirements for a baccalaureate degree:

• 43 units of General Education (G.E.) Requirements;
• Major coursework (at least 24 units for a B.A., at least 36 units for a B.S.);
• Upper Division coursework: at least 40 units of upper division, of which 12 (for a B.A.) or 18 (for a B.S.) will be in your chosen major;
• US History, Constitution, and American Ideals Requirement;
• Satisfaction of the University Writing Skills Requirement;

Requirements in United States History, Constitution and American Ideals

The California Code of Regulations requires that students demonstrate competencies in U.S. History, the U.S. Constitution, and California State and local government for graduation. These requirements may be satisfied through the completion of one course in U.S. government and one course in U.S. history.

Residency Requirements

To be eligible for a degree from Cal Maritime, a student must complete a minimum of 30 units of upper division coursework at this institution.

General Education Program

Description of Program

The California State University Maritime Academy embraces the principles of general education for the California State University as outlined in the California State University Executive Order 1100: “CSU General Education requirements have been designed to complement the major program and electives completed by each baccalaureate candidate, to assure that graduates have made noteworthy progress toward becoming truly educated persons.” Whenever possible, Cal Maritime subscribes to the breadth and depth requirements, but given the number of high-unit professional and licensure major degree programs, some exceptions may apply. Specific information on exceptions and curricular paths can be found in those catalog sections devoted to specific majors.

General Education Requirements

• Every baccalaureate candidate who has not completed either the Cal-GETC or UC GE shall complete the CSU General Education requirements totaling a minimum of 43 semester units.
• A grade of C- or better is required in each CSU or transfer course in English composition, critical thinking, oral communication and mathematical concepts and quantitative reasoning.
• At least nine of these semester units must be upper-division level, taken no sooner than the term in which upper-division status (completion of 60 semester units) is attained.
• At least nine of the 43 semester units must be earned at Cal Maritime.
• Through a process of campus-wide curriculum review and approval, Cal Maritime permits the “double counting” of courses for General Education with major requirements and prerequisites only after giving careful consideration to the impact of such actions on general education programs.
• Cal Maritime permits up to six semester units taken to meet the United States History, Constitution, and American Ideals Requirement to be credited toward also satisfying General Education Requirements.

General Education Area Distribution

Courses approved to fulfill the following GE subject area distribution requirements should address the contributions to knowledge and civilization that have been made by members of diverse cultural and gender groups.

Area 1 English Communication
9 semester units

Area 1 requires 9 semester units in English composition (1A), critical thinking (1B) and oral communication (1C). Students taking courses in fulfillment of Areas 1A and 1C will develop knowledge and understanding of the form, content, context, and effectiveness of communication. Students will develop proficiency in oral and written communication in English, examining communication from the rhetorical perspective and practicing reasoning and advocacy, organization, and accuracy. Students will enhance their skills and abilities in the discovery, critical evaluation, and reporting of information, as well as reading, writing, and listening effectively. Coursework must include active participation and practice in both written communication and oral communication in English.

In critical thinking (1B) courses, students will understand logic and its relation to language; elementary inductive and deductive processes, including an understanding of the formal and informal fallacies of language and thought, and the ability to distinguish matters of fact from issues of judgment or opinion. In 1B courses, students will develop the abilities to analyze, criticize, and advocate ideas; to reason inductively and deductively; and to reach well-supported factual or judgmental conclusions.

Area 2 Mathematical Concepts and Quantitative Reasoning

3 lower-division semester units

Additionally, 3 upper-division semester units may be taken in Area 2 or Area 5

One lower-division course in this area, and one upper-division course in either Area 2 or 5

Through courses in Area 2, students shall demonstrate the abilities to reason quantitatively, practice computational skills, and explain and apply mathematical or quantitative reasoning concepts to solve problems. In addition to traditional mathematics, Area 2 courses may include computer science, personal finance, statistics or discipline-based mathematics or quantitative reasoning courses.

Area 3 Arts and Humanities
9 semester units with 3 semester units taken at the upper-division level

One lower-division course in each area, and one upper-division course in either areas.

Area 3 requires 9 semester units among the arts, literature, philosophy and languages other than English.

Across the disciplines in Area 3 coursework, students will cultivate intellect, imagination, sensibility and sensitivity. Students will respond subjectively as well as objectively to aesthetic experiences and will develop an understanding of the integrity of both emotional and intellectual responses. Students will cultivate and refine their affective, cognitive, and physical faculties through studying works of the human imagination. In their intellectual and subjective considerations, students will develop a better understanding of the interrelationship between the self and the creative arts and of the humanities in a variety of cultures.

Activities may include participation in individual aesthetic, creative experiences; however, Area 3 excludes courses that exclusively emphasize skills development. Students may take courses in languages other than English in partial fulfillment of this requirement if the courses do not focus solely on skills acquisition and integrate a substantial cultural component. This may include literature, among other content.

Area 4 Social and Behavioral Sciences
9 semester units, with 3 semester units take at the upper-division level

Six semester lower-division units and 3 additional semester units at the upper-division. Courses shall be completed in at least 2 different disciplines among the 9 required semester units.

Area 4 requires 9 semester units focused on human social, political and economic institutions and behavior, and their historical background.

Students learn from courses in multiple Area 4 disciplines that human social, political and economic institutions, and behavior are inextricably interwoven. Through fulfillment of the Area 4 requirement, students will develop an understanding of problems and issues from the respective disciplinary perspectives and will examine issues in their contemporary as well as historical settings and in a variety of cultural contexts. Students will explore the principles, methodologies, value systems and ethics employed in social scientific inquiry. Courses that emphasize skills development and professional preparation are excluded from Area 4.

Area 5 Physical and Biological Sciences

7 lower-division semester units (9 quarter units), which includes 1 semester (1 quarter) unit allocated for a laboratory.

Additionally, 3 upper-division semester (4 quarter) units may be taken in Area 5 or Area 2 (see Area 2 above).

One lower-division course in each area. One of the two lower-division courses must be associated with a 1 semester unit laboratory. In addition, one upper-division course in either Area 5 or Area 2.

Area 5 courses focus on scientific theories, concepts and data about the physical and biological aspects of the world. Through their courses in Area 5 disciplines, students will achieve an understanding and appreciation of scientific principles and the scientific method, as well as the potential limits of scientific endeavors and the value systems and ethics associated with human inquiry.

The Area 5 laboratory must support learning by exposing students to scientific inquiry, the empirical nature of science, and hands-on experiences in any instructional modality (see 3.2).

*Three semester unit science courses with an embedded laboratory may be used to meet the laboratory requirement as long as the minimum unit value is met for Area 5. Stand-alone laboratories shall be a minimum of 1 semester unit and shall have a prerequisite or co-requisite of the associated lecture course.

Area 6 Ethnic Studies

3 semester units

This lower-division, 3 semester unit requirement fulfills Education Code Section 89032. The requirement to take a 3 semester unit course in Area 6 shall not be waived or substituted.

Course outcomes and competencies are as follows:

1. Analyze and articulate concepts such as race and racism, racialization, ethnicity, equity, ethno-centrism, eurocentrism, white supremacy, self-determination, liberation, decolonization, sovereignty, imperialism, settler colonialism, and anti-racism as analyzed in any one or more of

the following: Native American Studies, African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latina and Latino American Studies.

2. Apply theory and knowledge produced by Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities to describe the critical events, histories, cultures, intellectual traditions, contributions, lived-experiences and social struggles of those groups with a particular emphasis on agency and group-affirmation.

3. Critically analyze the intersection of race and racism as they relate to class, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, national origin, immigration status, ability, tribal citizenship, sovereignty, language, and/or age in Native American, African American, Asian American, and/or Latina and Latino American communities.

4. Critically review how struggle, resistance, racial and social justice, solidarity, and liberation, as experienced and enacted by Native Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans and/or Latina and Latino Americans are relevant to current and structural issues such as communal, national, international, and transnational politics as, for example, in immigration, reparations, settler-colonialism, multiculturalism, language policies.

5. Describe and actively engage with anti-racist and anti-colonial issues and the practices and movements in Native American, African American, Asian American and/or Latina and Latino communities and a just and equitable society.

Graduation Requirement in Writing Proficiency

The Graduate Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR)

The Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR) requires that all CSU students demonstrate competence in written communication before they are granted a baccalaureate degree. With the start of the fall term 2023, “students shall meet the GWAR requirement via a 3-semester unit, upper-division course as determined by the campus.” Students who are subject to the degree requirements of the 2023-24 or subsequent general catalogs and “who are undertaking a second baccalaureate degree will be deemed to have met the requirement if their first baccalaureate degree is from an institution of higher education accredited by a U.S. regional accreditor.”(CSU EO 0665 as revised 4/6/2023).

At Cal Maritime, all students who have satisfactorily completed both EGL 100 - English Composition, and EGL 220 - Critical Thinking and at least 60 units of academic coursework (“Junior” standing) may satisfy the requirement through either EGL 300 - Advanced Writing or EGL 302 - Nonfiction Writing. Oceanography students fulfill this requirement via a major-specific course called EGL 301 - Project-Based Writing for Science. Students in any GWAR-certifying course must pass with a C- or above to receive credit.

Please note that students should be matriculated at the CSU campus where they satisfy the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GWAR), although “certification of graduation writing competence shall be transferable from one CSU campus to another” (EO 0665 as revised). Unless a student has previously met this requirement at another CSU campus before transferring to Cal Maritime, they must satisfy the GWAR at Cal Maritime.

All GWAR certifying courses are offered through the Department of Culture and Communication. Questions about these courses or GWAR certification may be addressed to the chair, Dr. Colin Dewey (cdewey@csum.edu).

U.S. Coast Guard License Examination

The U.S. Coast Guard will issue a license as Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer to license-track graduates of Cal Maritime who

• are U.S. citizens
• complete the baccalaureate program
• meet the standards established by the U.S. Coast Guard, and
• pass the license examination

To be eligible to take the license examination, a student must:

• apply to the U.S. Coast Guard to sit for the license exam in the last semester of attendance
• pay appropriate U.S. Coast Guard fees, and
• complete all Cal Maritime STCW/USCG license requirements

Admission into programs leading to licensure and credentialing does not guarantee that students will obtain a license or credential. Licensure and credentialing requirements are set by agencies that are not controlled by or affiliated with the CSU and requirements can change at any time. For example, licensure or credentialing requirements can include evidence of the right to work in the United States (e.g., social security number or tax payer identification number) or successfully passing a criminal background check. Students are responsible for determining whether they can meet licensure or credentialing requirements. The CSU will not refund tuition, fees, or any associated costs, to students who determine subsequent to admission that they cannot meet licensure or credentialing requirements. Information concerning licensure and credentialing requirements are available from  the USCG Licensing Program Coordinator.

Sea Training Requirements

Three training cruises, established by the U.S. Coast Guard, are required of all students seeking a license as Third Mate or Third Assistant Engineer. During the training periods students put the skills and knowledge they have been taught in the classroom to the ultimate test - actual practice. The entire operation of the Training Ship Golden Bear is performed by students, with licensed faculty officers acting in an advisory capacity. First-year students do the more elementary tasks, while third-year students perform all the duties of ship officers.

The sea training is designed to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping of Seafarers, 1978, as amended. Additionally, the sea training is designed to provide all students with an understanding of the maritime industry and the requirements of living in a ship environment.

The cruises will be accomplished in the following order on the following vessels: training ship, commercial ship, and training ship. This program is part of the academic curriculum and carries credit for graduation.

Transfers from other state maritime academies or the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy will be evaluated on a case by case basis for completion of Cal Maritime’s approved program, including sea time equivalency.

Military, merchant mariner sea time external to Cal Maritime’s approved program, and volunteer/observer sea time may not be used in meeting the sea service requirements.

A student’s major will normally determine the type of sea training. The required amount of sea training for each major is as follows:

• Business Administration - one sea training or international experience
• Facilities Engineering Technology - one sea training experience as an engineering student
• Global Studies and Maritime Affairs - one sea training or international experience
• Marine Engineering Technology - three sea training experiences as an engineering student
• Marine Transportation - three sea training experiences as a marine transportation student
• Mechanical Engineering with license - three sea training experiences as an engineering student
• Mechanical Engineering - one sea training experience

Commencement and the Awarding of Degrees and Licenses

In order for a degree candidate to participate in commencement he/she must be able to complete all academic requirements by the end of the following fall semester. Students are expected to apply for graduation by the deadlines published on the Office of the Registrar website. The Registrar will then determine eligibility to participate in commencement. The degree and any appropriate license will be awarded upon completion of all degree requirements.