General Education
General Education at VMI encompasses a full range of academic, military, and athletic experiences that provide cadets with a common grounding in areas that are essential to the Institute's educational mission.
In addition to developmental leadership activities implemented through the class system, cadets benefit from preparation in a rigorous core curriculum that begins in the Rat year and continues throughout the cadetship, regardless of major.
Core Curriculum
The new VMI Core Curriculum, designed thematically as The Nucleus of Effective Citizenship and Leadership, includes four components:
Leadership & Ethics
The development of leaders of character at VMI involves a four-year cadet journey through well-integrated and closely coordinated experiences in intellectual, military, physical, and character development. Each of these four programs facilitates particular aspects of cadet growth and development—and all cadets need sufficient opportunities to develop in each of these domains to become leaders of character who are prepared to serve the nation as citizen-soldiers.
The VMI Center for Leadership and Ethics will play the central role in integrating and synchronizing these experiences across the four major programs so that Dean and Commandant, faculty and staff, coaches and instructors, officers and non commissioned officers—all are working together to fully exploit the developmental opportunities of the VMI experience.
Technological Competencies for Cadets
As part of their general-education experience, cadets are required to demonstrate basic competency in five technological applications: word processing, email, spreadsheets, use of the internet, and presentation software. Individual departments may require competency at higher levels and in particular software or additional areas.
The Institute provides on-line tutorials and technical support for the following Microsoft programs, which will be used to assess the basic competencies: Word, Outlook, Excel, Explorer, and PowerPoint. Fourth-class cadets are required to complete on-line tests (with a minimum score of 70%) in each of these programs before they will be allowed to register for classes for their third-class year. The Institute will begin making these tests available during the summer before matriculation, and students will be encouraged (but not required) to complete them during the Summer Transition Program.
