The institution identifies college-level competencies within the
general education core and provides evidence that graduates have attained
those competencies.
[Compliance]
Narrative:
The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) is in compliance with Principle 3.5.1 because the UAH Council of Deans has reaffirmed (on February 10, 2005) its commitment to four core competencies that serve as the foundation for undergraduate general education requirements. These four core competencies are
Effective communication;
Ability to deal with questions of values, ethics, and aesthetics as represented in literature, the humanities, and the arts;
Understanding of the scientific method and application of quantitative or inductive reasoning;
Understanding of human behavior and economic, social, and political structures as represented in the disciplines of history and social and behavioral sciences.
These core competencies are consistent with those of a State of Alabama mandated articulation agreement under Legislative Act 94-202, which ensures the transferability of credits form the State's two-year institutions to its four-year institutions. The implementation of the articulation agreement occurred in September 1999.
The College of Liberal Arts provides coursework that addresses Core Competencies 1, 2, and 4; while the College of Science provides coursework to address Core Competency 3. In addition, the College of Administrative Science provides two courses, microeconomics and macroeconomics, that are applicable to Core Competency 4. In total nearly 60 courses are designed to address core competency requirements.
Each college is responsible for articulating a) the minimum number of semester hours required to meet each core competency and b) specific general education coursework pertinent for each of the four competencies. All colleges within the University are consistent with or exceed the state mandated minimum hours for each core competency.
Every course that contributes to fulfilling general education requirements is identified with a core competency and must provide student learning expectations and assessments of those learning expectations. Focused assessment within general education courses is used to evaluate attainment of the objectives of general education courses. This method conforms with General Studies and Articulation legislation. The University must abide by the General Studies and Articulation legislation of the State of Alabama and thereby must accept approved general studies coursework, pertinent to the declared major of the transfer student, provided by the post-secondary system of the state.
Thus, coursebooks and course folders provide examples of assignments and graded work pertinent to the goals of general education requirements. This approach to assessment addresses effectiveness assessment of all students within the University who take general education coursework offered by the College of Liberal Arts, the College of Science, and the College of Administrative Science. Examples of course work at three performance levels are included in the coursebooks and course folders. Coursebooks and course folders for Fall Semester 2004 and Spring Semester 2005 are on file in the College offices and selected examples are included in the source documents.
