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Promote curricular and intellectual connections between students’ GE and major coursework, while providing
students an opportunity to integrate their learning, ideally beyond their disciplinary area of study, thus
distinguishing the Advanced Core course from the major Capstone experience.
How will Advanced Core Courses be structured and supported?
These courses will have a flexible format; a set of designated courses with common elements and centered on
common idea of putting knowledge into action will be offered by multiple departments and in different course
structures.
All Advanced Core courses will center on the idea of “Knowledge In Action.” Faculty from a broad range of
disciplines will teach courses centered on how engagement in real world endeavors is informed by academic
knowledge. These courses will underline the reality that putting ideas into action increasingly requires a broad-
based understanding and an even broader ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds. The format of
the classes will vary, but all will include hands-on, creative, and/or collaborative projects/activities that require
students to reflect and build upon their academic and personal development.
Multiple course formats might include: interdisciplinary, project-focused, research-centered, student group
projects, performance-based, field-based, internships, travel courses, service learning, weekend, or team-taught
courses (across department or colleges), etc. Many current courses across UCCS departments could be re-
focused, with minimal changes, to serve as Advanced Core courses. One intention is to encourage collaboration
among students and among faculty from a range of departments and the professional schools in these courses.
Departments and/or colleges will be encouraged to offer advanced core courses proportional to their number of
majors. Faculty will be encouraged to develop new hands-on, collaborative courses. In many cases, however,
Advanced Core courses will be developed by modifying existing courses within each department to Advanced
Core course guidelines. Optimally, Advanced Core courses will be open to non-majors, even if the course is
offered for credit within specific majors. Students will be encouraged to take Advanced Core courses that push
their disciplinary boundaries allowing them to apply and integrate their knowledge, beyond their focused major
course of study, either within or between colleges. Flexibility and innovation will be considered in the
implementation of this component to ensure the integrity of academic programs (including majors, minors, and
General Education). Also, the current LAS Humanities Program is collaborating in the Advanced Core course
discussions. Revamped HUM 3990 courses, adhering to common guidelines for all Advanced Core courses, will
be among the options students, university-wide, can take to satisfy the Advanced Core requirement. As part of
these efforts, the unique model of the Humanities Program will be broadened to include humanities-centered,
team-taught courses across colleges and disciplines, providing new opportunities for cross-disciplinary
collaboration.
Tenured/tenure-track faculty and instructors will be supported in their efforts to adapt existing courses to the
Advanced Core guidelines as well as to develop new courses. The Provost’s Office is committed to funding the
additional costs associated with developing and staffing Advanced Core courses.
What will all advanced core courses have in common? How will they deliver of the promise of the GE Goals?
Goal 1: Evaluate and Create: