I. Regulations
Davis Division Regulation 522 sets forth the Baccalaureate Degree Requirements in General Education. Literacy with Words and Images (522.C.1) is a component of Core Literacies and requires 20 units of work in specified categories. Oral Skills coursework is an option for 3 units of that requirement.
Regulation 523 sets forth the Criteria for General Education Certification of courses, stating: “A course in oral skills strengthens a student’s ability to understand and orally communicate ideas while using critical thinking.” (523.C.2)
II. Interpretation
The objective of Oral Literacy is to strengthen effective communication skills by strengthening their ability to use critical thinking skills to present ideas or concepts verbally.
Courses that meet the oral literacy requirement must include instruction, practice, and demonstration by the student in the preparation, organization, logic, delivery, clarity, and rhetorical elements involved in persuasion.
All courses must require each student to give at least two oral presentations that total a minimum of ten minutes of presentation experience. These must be given live (including through remote interface) to a group of their peers, with or without visual supporting materials, either in person or through a connection that facilitates speaker-audience interaction.
Course instruction in oral literacy must include proper methods for constructing, understanding, and critiquing sound verbal arguments. Assignments or activities may be used for students to practice proper construction of argument used in oral presentations; however, assignments must not replace the required oral presentations given by students.
For all oral presentations, students must receive clear, written guidelines for completing each assignment and they must receive formal feedback from the instructor on their presentations. Clear criteria for evaluation must be established in advance of each assignment and must focus on each of the elements of oral communication.
Departments and programs are encouraged to incorporate oral literacy units within existing courses and to develop courses that emphasize the department’s or program’s distinctive disciplinary uses of public speaking.
Minimum Elements Checklist
Courses in the Oral Skills Literacy must:
ME1) Require students to develop techniques in effective oral presentation and practice communication skills.
In justifying ME1, describe how the course presents opportunities for students to develop oral presentation skills and to practice those skills.
ME2) Require each student to give at least two (2) oral presentations that total at least 10 minutes of presentation experience.
In justifying ME2, briefly describe the requirements for oral presentations by each student in the course, including the total number of presentations and the nature and length of each presentation. If students will give presentations in groups, describe how the instructor will ensure that each student gives the required 10 presentation minutes.
ME3) Require that all presentations are given live to a group of student peers and evaluated by the instructor (this does not preclude remote connections). Provide formal feedback to each student following their oral presentations.
In justifying ME3, briefly describe how criteria for evaluation and feedback on the presentations will be provided to students.
ME4) Assess students for competency in the Oral Skills literacy.
In justifying ME4, describe how course assignments allow students to demonstrate competency in the Oral Skills literacy. Please provide specific examples of how student competency in the Oral Skills literacy is assessed.
ME5) Ensure that strengthening the ability to understand and orally communicate ideas while using critical thinking are learning objectives throughout the course.
In justifying ME5, describe how students develop Oral Literacy throughout the course and how this Oral Literacy is addressed across student learning objectives of the course.
III. ICMS Submission Requirements
The Committee on Courses of Instruction (COCI) evaluates whether the course proposal satisfies the minimum elements checklist above. COCI uses the information provided in the answers to the General Education literacy justification questions and the Expanded Course Description. Departments requesting that a course be approved for this GE literacy must answer the literacy questions in the Integrated Curriculum Management System (ICMS). Where provided, the italicized notes below the Minimum Elements above may help guide course proposers in drafting responses in ICMS.
Last revised and approved by Undergraduate Council
June 5, 2026