Revised Guidelines for Application to the UNT Core Curriculum
(October 14, 2009 revision)

In September 2009, at a joint meeting of the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum (OCCC) and the University Curriculum Committee (UCC), the committees decided to extend the work of the two committees for another year in order to achieve a more complete core curriculum.  This recommendation was approved by the Faculty Senate Oct. 14, 2009.

Below are the steps that a NEW or EXISTING course must undergo to be included in the new 2011 Core Curriculum. Step 1 is completed by a faculty member submitting the application. The following steps outline the process for a course to be fully approved, including what the OCCC members look for in an application.  In addition, we list the EEOs and OAOs for each core area, a set of sample successful applications, and a listing of core consulting resources including contact information for members of the core oversight committee.

1. Application: Core course application submitter fills out the UCC-A-102 form showing how the course meets ALL of the exemplary educational objectives (EEOs) AND over-arching objectives (OAOs) for the appropriate core area.  Each EEO and OAO for that core area is justified on the UCC-A-102 form with its corresponding assessment listed on an attached assessment plan.  The sample syllabus, justifications on the UCC-A-102 form, and assessments listed on the assessment plan are all essential elements of the application.
   
   
1. An assessment plan must be developed and explained in the application. In so doing, follow the Guidelines in Fulfilling Assessment Objectives for all New Courses to the Core Curriculum: http://www.unt.edu/ir_acc/Assessment/Guidelines_for_Fulfilling_Assessment_Objectives.pdf.
2. Fill out the form UCC_A_102. Note that this form has signature lines and check-off boxes regarding subsequent steps. Applications MUST have signatures on the document or e-signatures for the course to be considered.
3. Seek an optional consultation by a member of the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum by emailing the Faculty Senate office at: coreconsult@unt.edu . Consultations are not required, but are strongly recommended. Consultation does not ensure acceptance of a course into the Core, but has proven to be very useful for applicants and reduces the chance of the course application being returned for revision or rejected.

2. The course application is submitted through the normal curriculum course approval process for the unit/college. New courses need separate UCC applications for a new course (UCC-102) and those UCC-102 applications plus their syllabi need to go through the normal approval process for the unit/college, usually at the same time as the UCC-A-102 process to get the respective approvals from the faculty of that unit/college.

1. Obtain approval/signatures from your department chair, chair of your college curriculum committee, and dean on form UCC_A_102 (written or electronic signatures). All signature lines above the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum must be signed before the Oversight Committee will review the course. (Applications with missing signatures will be returned.) If your college curriculum committee does not require a full review, you must still seek a sign-off from the committee chair.

3. After the course is approved by the College, for an area of the university core, it is submitted to the Faculty Senate office to be reviewed by the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum (OCCC).   All signatures (Department Chair, College/School Curriculum Chair, and/or Dean of College/School) must be included for the course to continue in the university core review process.

1. Submit all materials (syllabus, assessment plan, UCC_A_102, any other supporting materials) to the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum via the Faculty Senate office by campus mail, hand delivered to Wooten Hall, rm. 162, or email to facultysenate@unt.edu care of Kathy Nichols.

4. Each submitted course application is electronically reviewed by the Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum and a recommendation (recommend acceptance or recommend rejection of the course’s application for that area of the core) is made to the University Curriculum Committee. The recommendation is made using the criterion set forth by the faculty senate, using a majority vote of the committee’s membership.

The criterion is that each course presents sufficient evidence in its application that the justification, syllabus, and assessment plan DOCUMENT HOW students completing that class will demonstrate their mastery of each EEO and OAO for the core area in the application using the faculty member’s benchmark(s) for evaluating the course (often applications have stated that course is satisfactory in meeting a specific EEO or OAO if a majority of the students perform at a satisfactory level or higher using a benchmark rubric targeting the specific EEO or OAO).

The faculty member that submits the application (justifications, syllabus, and assessment plan) has complete freedom in documenting how that course meets a core area’s EEOs and OAOs. Individual committee members judge if the evidence presented in the justifications, measurement tools assessing individual student performance and the faculty member’s benchmarks for overall course performance has resulted in a convincing application. 

A course application that is recommended for acceptance means that the majority of the OCCC’s membership is convinced that each EEO and OAO for that core area will be satisfactorily met and assessed by that course when the course is taught as described in the UCC-A-102, sample syllabus, and assessment plan, if the feedback from assessments is used to adjust the class so that EEOs and OAOs are met.

5. At the time that the OCCC recommendation is made to the UCC, an email will be sent to the core course application’s submitter, the Dean of the College/School, Chair of the College/School Curriculum Committee, and the Department Chair giving them the recommendation and the OCC Committee’s comments. The signature block of the UCC-A-102 form is the notification guide for the OCCC’s recommendation notification email message.

6. If the course application is recommended for acceptance, then it goes before the UCC at their next monthly meeting. The UCC has its own approval process for classes and may recommend denials for courses that are approved by OCCC.
   
   
7. If the course application is recommended for rejection, it may be resubmitted after the appropriate changes have been made. The course application will go before the UCC at their next monthly meeting and the UCC has its own approval process.  You can find out information about UCC deadlines from your college’s curriculum committee or at http://vpaa.unt.edu/core-curriculum-committee.htm which list the UCC’s activities.
   
   
8. Once a course application is recommended for acceptance to enter the core curriculum by the UCC, the Faculty Senate will vote on the UCC’s recommendations at their next monthly meeting.
   
   
9. If the Faculty Senate accepts the UCC’s recommendations then the course is officially part of the 2011 Core Curriculum.

Groupings of EEOs and OAOs UNT Core Area / Sample Successful Applications

The process for developing the new university core for Fall 2011 (now) and the specific listings of EEOs and OAOs can be found below at the Core Course Development link.  Below is a set of direct links to the respective areas of the core curriculum and a set of faculty developed applications that the majority of the committee recommended for acceptance for the respective areas of the core.  Faculty members have complete freedom in structuring their course’s application for an area of the core (UCC-A-102, syllabus, and assessment plans for each EEO and OAO).  You may find these examples to be helpful while preparing a course application for an area of the core. 

Link to UCC-A-102 form

Link to 2011-2012 Core in Progress page - NOTE - This is not an 'official' page, and is only used for tracking the UCC progress. 

Link to the University Curriculum Committee minutes (all approved applications)

Link to Core Course Development - Historical documents page.

Core Consulting Resources and Oversight Committee on the Core Curriculum’s Contact Information

We have some frequently asked questions linked here and feel free to send an email to core.consult@unt.edu when your application is ready.  In addition, each member of the Oversight of the Core Curriculum Committee is ready to serve as a consultant for core course applications for their faculty senate district or for any other area of the core.  At-large members are indicated in the list as (A-L).  We stand ready to help.  Our contact information is below.

Oversight of the Core Curriculum Committee members and contact information:

This page is maintained by the Faculty Senate.  If you have suggestions/comments/queries on this page, please send an email to the OCC Committee Chair or to the maintainer of this page Kathy Nichols.

updated 3.25.11