Gordon Rule
Gordon Rule
Rule 6A-10.030, Florida Administrative Code, hereafter referred to as the Gordon Rule, applies to students who entered college for the first time after spring term of the 1982-83 academic year. The rule stipulates the requirements of student performance in both the communications and mathematics areas. A grade of "C" or higher is required for all General Education courses, whether they are being used to fulfill program or elective requirements.
Prior to the award of an Associate in Arts degree, students at the College must fulfill the communication and computation requirements of the Gordon Rule by successfully completing the following courses with a grade of "C" or higher:
- Six (6) credit hours consisting of English Composition I (ENC 1101), and English Composition II (ENC 1102) or a course equivalent to English Composition II (ENC 1102)
- Three (3) credit hours of humanities course work
- Three (3) credit hours of social and behavioral sciences course work
- Six (6) credit hours of mathematics course work at the level of College Algebra (MAC 1105), or higher
Course descriptions for all courses that fulfill the Gordon Rule communication and computation requirements will include a statement indicating that the course satisfies the Gordon Rule and that a grade of "C" or higher must be attained. These course descriptions are contained in the PHSC Catalog and Student Handbook . Students taking any course that is identified in the PHSC Catalog and Student Handbook as a Gordon Rule course must fulfill the writing requirements of that course whether they are taking the course to fulfill General Education requirements or as an elective.
Gordon Rule Writing-Intensive Courses
PHSC's faculty has established the following rationale for identifying writing-intensive courses that may be used to satisfy the college-level communication portion of the Gordon Rule:
A writing-intensive course is a content-specific course that has as major instructional, learning and assessment objectives, a substantial discipline-based writing component that consists of instructor-assessed, college-level writing assignments. College-level writing exhibits critical and analytical skills to discuss a topic; presents paragraphs that are focused, developed, organized, coherent and unified; expresses ideas in complete, clear, well-structured sentences; and enhances ideas through discipline-appropriate diction, conventions and rhetorical strategies. In a writing-intensive course, students are expected to produce a substantial amount of discipline-based writing of which the majority is assessed by faculty toward refining college-level writing skills in a specific discipline.