Developmental Studies, First Year Experience, and General Education Courses
Developmental Studies Mission and Value Statement
Our mission is to provide general education and developmental instruction designed to meet individual educational goals and foster lifelong learning.
By providing rigorous curriculum through interdisciplinary instruction that honors and recognizes the academic and workforce needs of our diverse community of lifelong learners, the DACC developmental studies programs
- are student-centered, and
- encourage students to become risk-taking and self-motivated learners.
Developmental/First Year Experience Courses
Developmental courses are designed to help students acquire the skills and attitudes necessary for college success. Developmental Studies includes English, math, reading, and study skills.
Developmental English, math and reading courses are identified by an “N” that appears after the course number. Developmental Studies courses are included on the transcript and will be calculated in the academic grade point average, but do not count toward a degree.
On the other hand, First Year Experience (FYEX) courses do carry academic credit and are designed to help students acquire the attitudes and strategies necessary for college success.
Students’ placement in developmental studies courses will be determined by one or more of the following instruments: High School GPA, ACT, SAT, Accuplacer, Math Placement Exam, and locally developed tests or surveys. Students must earn a grade of C- or better in courses with “CCD-” prefixes to continue on to the next course.
Course descriptions appear in this catalog and are listed by course prefix (the letters appearing before a course number). The various prefixes represent different areas of study as shown:
- CCDE: Developmental English
- CCDM: Developmental Mathematics
- CCDR: Developmental Reading
- FYEX: First Year Experience
General Education Courses
General Education courses at NMSU are state-certified under the model for general education. This model emphasizes the development of five transferable, essential skills that all college graduates need for success:
- Communication
- Critical Thinking
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Personal and Social Responsibility
- Information and Digital Literacy
General education courses taught at DACC are lower-division, university-level courses that are the same as those taught at NMSU. They are identified by the “G” that appears after the course number. In addition to meeting DACC graduation requirements, they may also be used to meet requirements for bachelor’s degree programs at NMSU.