This toolkit gives SCAD's academic leaders a transparent, shareable view into the General Education Renaissance — the research, the process, and the conversations shaping how we prepare students for AI-augmented creative careers.
As AI performs more of the cognitive tasks general education has historically taught, SCAD is asking a foundational question: are we still prioritizing the right competencies?
Industry research indicates a large share of jobs face AI-driven disruption, and that a meaningful portion of required skills turn over within just a few years — while many recent graduates report being unemployed or underemployed within a year of finishing school.
If students are being prepared for four to five decades of work, the competencies worth building are the ones that compound over time: judgment, discernment, adaptability, and the capacity to ask questions that haven't been asked yet.
Faculty and alumni understandably carry AI-related anxiety. This project treats that anxiety as data, not an obstacle to route around, and builds curriculum change on evidence rather than assumption.
A phased research study gathers perspectives from employers, alumni, academic leaders, and faculty before any curriculum changes are proposed — so decisions are grounded in what people actually need, not assumptions about it.
Where do employers, alumni, and faculty agree — and diverge — on the competencies that matter most? Do SCAD's current general education outcomes still hold up? What's actually feasible to teach and assess?
Academic leaders are on the front line of these conversations with faculty. This site gives you the source material — the research, the literature, the standards — plus spaces to think out loud together before decisions are finalized.
A moment when people consciously reawaken curiosity, creativity, learning, and ambition — and choose to rebuild culture around human possibility.
Think of it less as a time period and more as a pattern that can happen anywhere.
Early findings across employers, alumni, academic leaders, and faculty converge around six competencies — chosen by what the data shows matters most, not by department. Each has its own discussion channel below.
Rated essential across every stakeholder group, and the one skill everyone still chose under pressure.
The single highest-rated competency in the study — still top 3 even when respondents were forced to choose.
The competency employers and alumni converge on most strongly.
Never drops out of the top tier, no matter how the question was asked.
Consistently valued, and holds up even under forced trade-offs.
Undervalued in the abstract — but the first thing people reach for when it actually counts.
Visit Resources for the literature review, research insights, and SACSCOC general education standards.
Visit Discussion to share "Thoughts on…" each of the six competencies with colleagues across campus.
Visit the Visual Identity Contest to submit or browse ideas for how the Renaissance should look and feel.