Starting next fall, Binghamton University will implement a new civic-based general education requirement while revising the existing information literacy requirement to reflect the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in higher education.

In a January press release, SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. announced the planned revisions, which were approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees last December. It updated a 2021 resolution establishing the current SUNY general education framework, effective fall 2023. New students admitted since then are required to fulfill two new general requirements: critical thinking and reasoning, and information literacy.

The general education framework requires undergraduates to take courses across 12 different knowledge and skill areas and core competencies.

“SUNY General Education supports these goals by creating a system-wide framework — applicable to all SUNY undergraduate degree programs — that addresses the fundamental aims of postsecondary undergraduate education, including proficiency with essential skills and competencies, familiarization with disciplinary and interdisciplinary ways of knowing, and enhancement of the values and disposition of an engaged 21st century global citizenry,” the SUNY General Education Vision Statement read.

King announced SUNY’s plans to consider revising the general education requirements in May 2024. That June, the SUNY Board of Trustees convened a group of experts to source recommendations for a draft of the revised general education requirements. After considering stakeholder feedback, the Board of Trustees approved this draft in December.

“SUNY is committed to academic excellence, which includes a robust general education curriculum,” King said in a Jan. 7 press release. “We are proud that every SUNY student will be expected to demonstrate the knowledge and skills that advance respectful and reasoned discourse, and that we will help our students recognize and ethically use AI as they consider various information sources.”

The new civic discourse requirement aims to help students gain relevant skills to “participate in civic life and engage in healthy dialogues to secure the future of our democracy.” Additionally, SUNY plans to push for an expansion of the Empire State Service Corps, which promotes paid civic and service opportunities for SUNY students.

The revised information literacy requirement acknowledged the role of AI in higher education. One study by the Digital Education Council reported that 86 percent of students use AI regularly, with 54 percent using it weekly and nearly one in four students using it daily. Revising this requirement is part of SUNY and Gov. Kathy Hochul’s efforts to lead the state in emerging technologies and AI research for the public good.

On Oct. 9, Hochul announced an AI training pilot program for 1,000 state employees using technology from Google Gemini.

The University’s Center for Learning and Teaching has started preparing professors for these changes. On Friday, the Center hosted its latest workshop to help professors decide if they want to keep or add an “I” designation to their courses.

“The change is part of SUNY’s effort to make sure that the General Education curriculum is relevant for students’ lives,” Donald Loewen, vice provost for undergraduate education, wrote to Pipe Dream. “It’s actually a small addition to an existing category (Information Literacy) but it’s important because it points out how essential it is that students learn about the multiple factors to consider when evaluating the ways that emerging technologies like AI can shape the information environment around us.”