Purpose
Since its inception in 1993, EXCEL has been committed to providing adult learners with quality Christian higher educational opportunities in the liberal arts and professions in a manner that brings glory to God. Programs maximize convenience, relevance, and service to our students while helping them grow as whole individuals through engaging instruction and stretching curricula. We are dedicated to providing adults a means to complete degrees that will draw on past experience and provide tools for life. It is our desire that those proceeding through our programs will grow spiritually, intellectually, vocationally, and relationally and will have the tools to continue that growth throughout their lives.
The Mission of the EXCEL Program
EXCEL is committed to providing students with Christ-centered, nontraditional education for active participation in a culturally rich community by fostering academic excellence and Christian service, and promoting lifelong learning.
An Overview
The EXCEL programs of Trinity College offer unique opportunities for all learners to enhance their professional goals through accelerated education. The baccalaureate degree earned by EXCEL graduates is the same degree offered through Trinity’s traditional programs and is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. The programs offer a means for busy students to complete their undergraduate degree in a convenient and timely manner. Students may enter EXCEL with or without any number of prior college credits and, by taking accelerated courses one at a time, finish their degree within a manageable time-frame. To facilitate this, EXCEL offers clusters of courses that proceed in sequence in the context of a cohort community of fellow students. Diverse faculty members teach in their expertise, yet the students in the cohort stay together. Cohort schedules can take between eighteen and thirty months to complete. Single course electives may also be chosen. In addition, students may transfer credit, gain credit by examination, seek credit based on prior experience or job-related learning, or take courses from approved traditional campuses and/or online courses to meet graduation requirements.
We believe EXCEL meets the needs of 21st Century students like you, here in Florida. Are YOU this kind of student?
- You are busy and have many competing responsibilities. To introduce any educational program into already full schedules is a considerable challenge.
- You are motivated to learn. Students who choose TIU-Florida are typically ready to give the effort needed to benefit from classes for which they are sacrificing.
- You have learned discipline. As a result of being in the workforce, and managing the complexities of both professional and personal responsibilities, many of our students have developed a sense of discipline that serves them well in the EXCEL programs.
- You have broad life experiences. Learning theory tells us we learn by relating abstractions to memories of past experiences. Drawing on a broad background of experiential knowledge and ethnic diversity allows students to quickly grasp ideas.
- You desire relevance. In your daily life, you encounter situations where the classroom learning may be consistently applied to real life, allowing for a more motivated learning environment.
- You have developed skill in independent learning. You have, by necessity, learned to seek information on your own from a variety of sources allowing you to be an active participant in your own educational processes.
- You learn best when you are personally involved. There are many styles of learning, but when you interact in small groups, engage in role play, prepare projects, and apply techniques in the workplace, the learning is deep and retention is long.
- You have many insights of your own. Experience is a tremendous teacher. You have much to contribute to the learning of others. Discussion is valued as highly as lectures in EXCEL classes.
Goals Across the Curriculum
The key question that constantly confronts the curriculum in our rapidly changing society is “What educational qualities allow an individual to succeed and thrive in the unfolding future?” Eight competencies rise to the top. Trinity seeks to enhance these abilities across the curriculum for each of the EXCEL programs. They are:
Integration of a Christian worldview: The ability to formulate a distinctively Christian perspective concerning ideas, people, events, relationships, and issues and then to discern responses consistent with that perspective.
Self-knowledge: A willingness to examine one-self, including one’s emotions, temperament, values, goals, experiences, preferences, habitual processes, and identity structure.
Open-minded inquiry: The commitment to explore, understand, and appreciate divergent perspectives, values, and cultures without losing identity through premature closure or complete relativism.
Critical thinking: The evaluation, through sound research and thinking, of the quality of ideas and information, the merits of courses of action, and the integrity of one’s own beliefs and viewpoints.
Aesthetic appreciation: Love for the beautiful, the imaginative, the delightful and empathy for the unlovely, the commonplace, the tragic.
Organizational effectiveness: The ability to effectively participate in organizational settings, including working in teams, giving leadership, and solving problems creatively.
Communication: Competency in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and collaboration.
Lifelong learning: Awareness of foundational questions and knowledge structures in a variety of disciplines, coupled with curiosity, a desire to learn, and skills in self-direction.
Standard Framework
- EXCEL is designed to be a nonresidential program.
- Classes meet once a week for a four-hour block.
- Students generally take one course at a time.
- Students generally stay with the same group of people through their major, forming a cohort.
- Classes typically meet for five to seven weeks.
- Classes may be subdivided into study groups expected to accomplish group tasks in addition to individual work.
- Primary emphasis is placed on building transferable skills rather than preparing individuals for specific job functions.
- Skills that cross the curriculum are deemed just as important as the content specific to courses.
- Interaction is emphasized in the classroom, focusing on integrative activities and student input. Prior learning is valued and drawn upon to enhance the educational environment.
- Integrative papers are the primary means of evaluation, though tests may be used when appropriate to the content.
- Community building occurs outside the classroom using online formats.
Program Objectives
The EXCEL degree programs are designed to meet these objectives:
- Provide adult students a flexible means of completing their entire undergraduate degree in a reasonable time frame without forcing students to abandon work or family responsibilities.
- Meet adults’ needs for relevance, convenience, and vocational advancement without forcing students to abandon work or family responsibilities.
- Foster key skills, such as writing, speaking, critical thinking, problem solving, information literacy, ethical thinking, and the ability to integrate faith, values, and practice.
- Students can enter the program at various stages in their academic career and enroll in courses that proceed one course at a time. Clusters can be combined to form an entire degree program supplemented by transfer hours, elective courses, credit for learning outside the classroom, and credit by examination.
For students to satisfactorily complete an undergraduate degree through Trinity, they may select general education courses, a major, and optionally, a minor. They may also take individual classes offered as electives and seek assessment of credit for prior learning. Some general education courses are offered online. Since students enter the EXCEL program at various points in their progress toward a degree, different majors have different admission requirements. The primary goal of the admission requirements is to ensure that students enter equipped for success. Students should work closely with an academic advisor.
General Education and Elective Courses
For All Majors
To guarantee a well-rounded liberal arts education, the college requires all EXCEL students to gain understanding in a variety of fields. These requirements can be met by taking EXCEL general education courses, through transfer credit, credit for prior college-level learning, or credit by examination. Before graduating, students must have 45 credit hours of general studies distributed in the following way. Education majors must follow the specifications established by the Division of Education to meet EXCEL General Education requirements, as found in the Elementary Education section of the catalog.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Biblical Studies / Theology / Lifelong Learning (9 hours) | ||
| Select two: | 6 | |
| Understanding the Old Testament | ||
| Understanding the New Testament | ||
| Biblical Interpretation | ||
| Select one: | ||
| IDS 105 | Foundations for Adult Learning | 3 |
| or IDS 150 | Foundations of Christian Thinking and Living | |
| College Writing (6 hours) | ||
| ENG 111 | Critical Thinking and Writing | 3 |
| Select one: | ||
| ENG 210X | Business Communication 1 | 3 |
| or ENG 115 | Writing and Research | |
| Humanities (6 hours) | ||
| Select one: | ||
| ENG 222 | Studies in Fiction | 3 |
| or ENG 308 | Nineteenth-Century Women Authors | |
| Select one: | 3 | |
| United States History Through the Civil War | ||
| United States History Since the Civil War | ||
| World Civilizations to 1600 | ||
| World Civilizations Since 1600 | ||
| Math or Computer Science (3 hours) 3 | ||
| Select one: | 3 | |
| Applied Computer Technology | ||
| Mathematics in the Modern World | ||
| Introductory Statistics | ||
| Statistics | ||
| Science (3 hours) | ||
| Select one: | 3 | |
| Introduction to the Physical World | ||
| Human Biology | ||
| Environmental Conservation | ||
| Social Science (6 hours) | ||
| Select two course from the following options. The courses that are selected must come from two different areas of study, which are represented by the different prefixes (BUS, COM, CRJ, POL, PSY, and SOC). | 6 | |
| Introduction to Economics | ||
| Principles of Management 1 | ||
| Human Resources Management 1 | ||
| Survey of International Business 1 | ||
| Introduction to Business Law 1 | ||
| Personal Finance | ||
| Sales Principles and Practices 1 | ||
| Interpersonal Communication | ||
| Intercultural Communication in a Global Context | ||
| Introduction to Criminal Justice | ||
| Criminal Law and Procedure 1 | ||
| Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and Criminal Justice | ||
| Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 1 | ||
| American Government | ||
| Introduction to Psychology | ||
| Human Sexuality | ||
| Psychology of Addiction | ||
| Introduction to Sociology | ||
| Marriage and the Family | ||
| Social Problems | ||
| Social Movements | ||
| Race and Ethnic Relations | ||
| Total Hours | 33 | |
| 1 | Not available for general education credit for students residing in the state of Florida. |
| 2 | These courses must be taken at TIU to fulfill the requirement. |
| 3 | Math must be college algebra or above; computer must be general introduction, not programming, and completed within the past five years. |
For Florida Students Only
General Education Courses are those college-level courses designed to place emphasis on principles and theory rather than on practical applications associated with a vocational, occupational, or professional objective. General education courses may include, but not limited to, English, history, philosophy, literature, religion, art, music, sociology, foreign languages, humanities, mathematics, chemistry, biology, and psychology, when such courses are not within the area of concentration of a vocational, occupational, or professional program. For example, English Composition is considered a general education course, but Business English is not. Courses designated as "applied", "specialized", "technical", or similar designation do not meet this definition.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| In addition to the 33 hours listed above, Florida residents will complete the following requirements: | ||
| Social Science Courses | 6 | |
| Humanities Courses | 6 | |
| Total Hours | 12 | |
