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The GE, Overlay, and Code (GEOC) Subcommittee of CIC reviews proposals for new GEOC certifications, revisions to existing GEOC courses, and existing GEOC courses up for recertification, using the GE Framework that contains the current learning outcomes and the revised learning outcomes that start in Fall 2026 (1B Critical Thinking and Compostion, US Code, and our Diversity Overlay). All the information on this page is provided in greater detail in the Faculty Guide to GEOC Course Approvals.  Faculty should also consult the that GEOC created to help everyone create good proposals.  Please be aware that GEOC can entirely remove a GE certification from a course, even if the proposal is just for revision. 

ALSO NOTE:  Please make sure your syllabi conform to the   While GEOC asks for a syllabus from a course that has already been taught, we do expect that the most current learning outcomes for all your GE areas (including overlays and/or US Code) are on the syllabus.  The "Course Information" section of the policy is very important so please be sure that everything is there or it will cause delays to your proposals (I have added the bolded words):

COURSE INFORMATION

• Course number, section, and title
• Classroom location (physical and/or virtual) 
• Class modality (e.g., web online asynchronous, web online synchronous, web online synch-dual teaching) and meeting time (including final exam), if applicable 
• Number of units
• Prerequisites or corequisites (if applicable)
• [Catalog] Course description
• Student learning outcomes [for the course, and all GEOC areas]

The course title, description, and learning outcomes  must match what is in the University Catalog. If the course meets the learning outcomes for one or more breadth requirements, the student learning outcomes for the appropriate area(s) of breadth (including GE) must be clearly stated on the syllabus each time the course is taught. This will alert students and any new instructors that the course carries breadth credit

MISSION

The GEOC Subcommittee ensures that courses approved for GE, Overlay, and/or Code credit reflect the spirit of general education.  In reviewing courses, the committee looks for evidence that a course has, at its heart, the GEOC learning outcomes and that these outcomes are the primary focus of and fully integrated into the course. In particular, GEOC learning outcomes should not seem incidental or inserted into an existing non-GEOC course.  Course-specific learning outcomes, content, activities, and assignments/assessments must mutually reinforce the GEOC learning outcomes; and the elements of GE should be present even in the course description. Also, a general education course needs to be accessible by all students (so any student should be able to walk into a GE course and be able to succeed), so it has been our policy to not accept GE course proposals that have a number of prerequisites or to accept courses that are for majors only.

If you need help creating/revising your course-specific learning outcomes, you can contact the Director of General Education, Kevin Kaatz (kevin.kaatz@csueastbay.edu) or see Indiana University's for creating assessable learning outcomes or Stanford's for help/advice.  

Here is a video I created a few years ago on how to prepare and fill in your Curriculog forms.  

Senate policy establishes a Timeline for Curricular Changes (), and the Curricular Procedures Manual describes the approval process for new course, revision, and recertification requests. The approval process for GEOC courses is highlighted below.  All processes are originated, routed, and tracked through Curriculog.

All course proposals must be launched in Curriculog by Sept. 15.  Course proposals revision/recertification requests must pass the College Curriculum Committee step and reach the Academic Affairs step by October 15th.  

Course proposals/revision/recertification requests that do not reach Academic Affairs by October 15 must be re-submitted using the appropriate Curriculog form for the next catalog year.

Existing GEOC courses will be reviewed by the GEOC Subcommittee on 5-year intervals. The figure (below) shows the review cycle beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year. Important points to note:

• Any existing GEOC course that is not approved by the committee for recertification will lose its GEOC certification(s), effective Fall 2026.
• Course recertification reviews will occur according to the schedule regardless of when the course was originally certified.
• Courses that carry a GE along with an Overlay and/or Code certifications will be reviewed for all certifications according to the GE designation.
• Course recertification requests must reach Academic Affairs by October 15.  

The Curricular Procedures Manual provides step-by-step instructions, timelines, and other necessary information needed for launching new course requests, course revision requests, or other curricular changes to academic programs at Cal State East Bay. These procedures are in compliance with local ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍø policy, CSU Chancellor's Office guidelines, and WASC accreditation standards. The details most germane to GEOC course requests are explained with step-by-step instructions in the Faculty Guide to GEOC Course Approvals.  

All GEOC course approval requests/forms should be created, launched, and tracked exclusively online via , ºÚÁϸ£ÀûÍø's curriculum management platform.   

Contact Julie Mielke and Rick Rader at catalog@csueastbay.edu for any Curriculog-related questions, issues, or training.

Below is a summary diagram of what happens to a course proposal once the committee renders a decision to approve, table, or reject.

MONITOR YOUR CURRICULOG COURSE PROPOSAL

Keep track of all comments and alerts posted to your Curriculog proposal once it leaves your step. The proposal may be rejected or delayed due to incorrect or missing information. Prompt response to any proposal delay will ensure the proposal moves through the approval steps as expeditiously as possible and increases the chances of GEOC approval.
The most common problems that delay course proposals at the Academic Affairs/GEOC steps are:

• Official Catalog course descriptions are not included on the syllabi (usually resulted in conditional approval)
  GE Learning Outcomes and/or Overlay Learning Outcomes are not included on the syllabi (usually resulted in conditional approval).
• What is in Curriculog does not match with the syllabi that were presented to GEOC (usually resulted in tabling the proposal). We determined that this was primarily caused from old semester-conversion materials being imported into Curriculog and the way the courses were actually being taught did not correspond to what was in Curriculog.
• While not totally the purview of GEOC, we found that some of the student learning outcomes were the same as program learning outcomes. GEOC asked CIC to look at this issue. In the end we had to ignore this, but we did not allow new GE course proposals to use program learning outcomes as SLOs (see GEOC Guide to Faculty for this policy)

In addition, keep track of when your course will be on the GEOC Subcommittee meeting agenda and up for discussion/review. GEOC meetings are open to all faculty guests. You may request a time certain from the GEOC Subcommittee Chair. The GEOC Subcommittee meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month during the academic year by Zoom.

EXEMPLARY COURSE PROPOSALS

Here's a list of some GEOC-certified courses that have submitted exemplary GEOC proposals.  These proposals are accessible in .

Search Tip:
In Curriculog > Proposals > All Proposals > 
In Keyword, search ART%323 (with "%" in between ART and 323, thus ART%323.
Then, in "Proposal Status" check "Completed".
Next, in the "Process Type" dropdown, choose "Course."
Lastly, click "Filter Proposals" for results, and you will find only "ART 323" proposals.

• | Social Justice Overlay
  Proposal: "1-CR-1: Course - Breadth (GEOC) - Recertification ONLY (2021-22 AY)"
• | D1-2, Social Justice Overlay, and Code
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GR Certification/Re-Certification - US Code 1, 2, or 3 - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GR Certification/Re-Certification - Social Justice Overlay - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GE Certification/Re-Certification - Area D1-3 Social Sciences - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
• | Area F Ethnic Studies and Social Justice Overlay
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GR Certification/Re-Certification - Social Justice Overlay - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GE Certification/Re-Certification - Area F Ethnic Studies - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
• | UD-C and Sustainability Overlay
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GE Certification/Re-Certification - Area C4 Upper-Division Arts or Humanities - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
  Proposal: "Z-2-CR1: Course - GR Certification/Re-Certification - Sustainability Overlay - New/Revision (2020-21 AY)"
• | UD-D and Code
  Proposal: "1-CR-1: Course - Breadth (GEOC) - Recertification ONLY (2021-22 AY)"
• | UD-D and Diversity Overlay
  Proposal: "1-CR-1: Course - Breadth (GEOC) - Recertification ONLY (2021-22 AY)"
• | GE-E
  Proposal: "1-CN1: Breadth (GEOC) - NEW ((2021-22 AY)"
• | GE-D1-2
  Proposal: "1-CN1: Breadth (GEOC) - NEW ((2021-22 AY)"

CONTACT INFO

Email the Director of General Education and Chair of the GEOC Subcommittee with any questions or concerns about the GEOC course application or approval process at: Kevin Kaatz (kevin.kaatz@csueastbay.edu)