Introduction

Auburn University requires each student to complete a General Education program that meets the three components of this standard: the Auburn University Core Curriculum is based on a coherent rationale, the student learning outcomes that Auburn University has developed through a broad-based process of faculty reflection and discussion; it represents a substantial element within each student's undergraduate program, comprising 41-42 credit hours (35-36 credit hours for students earning degrees in Engineering); and it ensures breadth of knowledge, through its emphasis on broadly constructed coursework in a wide range of academic disciplines in conformity with the Alabama General Studies legislation (Act 94-202).

General Education Rationale

As presented in the Auburn University Bulletin, the purpose of the Auburn University Core Curriculum is “to foster the knowledge, skills, and perspectives that are hallmarks of an Auburn graduate. By completing courses that represent a range of disciplines, students will begin to acquire an educated appreciation of the natural world, of human life, and of the interactions between them.” The university’s Board-approved statement on instruction, appended to its mission statement and published in the Bulletin, further describes the principles underlying the Core Curriculum. It observes that:

(t)he liberal arts and sciences–introduced in the university’s nationally recognized Core Curriculum–are the heart of Auburn’s undergraduate programs. They lay the foundation not only for advanced study and career preparation but also for the development of a more responsible citizenry through students’ personal and intellectual growth. The Core Curriculum provides students with a common Auburn University set of experiences, develops their powers of analysis and communication, and encourages their understanding of human culture and the natural world. 

These goals of experiencing, analyzing, and understanding the human and natural worlds, and the resulting growth toward more responsible citizenry, are further expressed and operationalized in the nine General Education outcomes of the Core Curriculum:

In order to become lifelong learners and use their education to solve practical problems, by the time of graduation, students will be able to effectively:

1. Locate, evaluate, and use information
2. Read and think critically
3. Apply mathematical methods
4. Write and revise for a variety of purposes
5. Create and deliver oral presentations
6. Analyze their own society and its relationship to the larger global context
7. Interact in intercultural situations
8. Apply scientific principles
9. Analyze and value creative artistic endeavor 

The university ensures that the Core Curriculum supports achievement of these outcomes by mapping the outcomes to a 41-42 semester credit hour set of courses from a range of disciplines in the humanities, fine arts, sciences, mathematics, and social sciences. These area categories and there hour requirements, and the student learning outcomes most broadly connected to the courses within the areas, are as follows:

English Composition: 6 hours required (Student Learning Outcomes A & D)

Humanities: 12 total hours required (Note: Engineering students are required to complete 9 hours of Humanities)

   Literature (at least 3 hours): (Student Learning Outcomes B & I)

   Fine Arts (at least 3 hours) (Student Learning Outcome I)

   Other Humanities Choices: (Student Learning Outcomes B, E, F, & G)

Science and Mathematics: 11-12 hours required (Student Learning Outcomes A, C & H)

Social Sciences: 12 hours total required (Student Learning Outcomes F & G)

(Note: Engineering students are required to complete 9 hours of Social Sciences)

A complete listing of the Core Curriculum and General Education Outcomes is provided as evidence. Additionally, a complete listing of all academic programs, total credit hours, and Core Curriculum and General Education credit hours required is provided as evidence.

In addition to the above rationale for the institution’s Core Curriculum, Auburn University must follow regulation established in the State of Alabama. In 1994, the Alabama Articulation and General Studies Committee (AGSC) was created by Alabama Legislation Act 94-202 to simplify the transfer of course credit between public institutions of higher education. To accomplish this task, the AGSC has developed and implemented a statewide general studies and articulation program that facilitates the transferability of coursework among all Alabama public colleges and universities. The AGSC, as outlined by the legislation, consists of ten members, with three representing two-year institutions, two representing regional universities, and one each representing the following institutions: Auburn University, University of Alabama System, University of South Alabama, Alabama State University, and Alabama A&M. Auburn University’s representative on this committee is also chair of Auburn’s Core Curriculum and General Education Committee (CCGEC). This dual role ensures consistency in policy and process between Auburn University and the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE). Any change made to Auburn’s General Education curriculum must be approved at the state level in addition to standard internal committee approvals.

General Education Development and Implementation

General Education is supervised by the CCGEC, a University Senate committee overseeing General Education assessment and recommendations for course inclusion in Auburn’s General Education program (i.e., the Core Curriculum). The committee is composed of representatives from each academic college and is responsible for recommending goals for the general education and Core Curriculum as well as monitoring the University’s effectiveness in fostering student achievement of these goals. Toward this end, the committee shall oversee the assessment of student learning in the Core, including evaluation of courses, and may recommend to the University Senate changes in the Core Curriculum and general education.

Prior to 2015, the CCGEC coordinated a course-embedded assessment process, collecting assessment reports from department heads/chairs where core courses were taught. This course-embedded approach was quite labor-intensive for all involved and did not yield reliable data about student learning. In Fall 2015, the CCGEC implemented a “Year of Reflection.” During this year, General Education assessment reporting was optional. To facilitate reflection, the Office of Academic Assessment (which has since become the Office of Academic Insight) conducted nine focus groups with discipline-qualified faculty members across campus to explore 1) awareness of the General Education Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) and 2) the pros/cons of the current assessment approach. CCGEC members attended these focus groups and concluded that the course-embedded assessment approach was not working for Auburn University. In Spring 2016, they decided to 1) centralize assessment efforts and 2) rewrite the Student Learning Outcomes to focus on graduating seniors, recognizing our Core as foundational.

Beginning in Fall 2016, discipline-qualified faculty working groups were established for each Student Learning Outcome with the goal of 1) rewriting the outcome to focus on graduating seniors and 2) identify or create a test aligned with the new outcome. To ensure alignment between the revised Core Curriculum, the Alabama Legislation Act, and disciplinary standards, faculty participating in these working groups represented the following disciplines, which were the foundation of the revised learning outcomes: humanities, fine arts, sciences, mathematics, and social sciences. Annual update and celebration events were held where all past contributors (i.e., focus group attendees, CCGEC members, and faculty working group members) were invited to learn about the CCGEC’s progress and provide feedback on current decisions. These revisions to the Core Curriculum and Student Learning Outcomes were presented to the Auburn University Senate in September 2017 and approved unanimously at the October meeting,. A crosswalk for General Education SLOs was published on the Office of the Registrar’s website to help students during this transition time to compare old outcomes prior to 2017 with the newly revised outcomes.

Monitoring Credits

Individual academic units (i.e., colleges, schools, and departments) monitor students’ earned and transfer credits by way of their academic advisors, who track students’ progress for purposes of course scheduling and graduation. Any credit that a student wishes to transfer in from an Alabama junior (community) college is subject to the AGSC’s established articulation agreements, which are disseminated to students and potential students via the organization’s website as well as Auburn University’s Bulletin. The policies regarding the earning and application of transient credit while a current Auburn student are published in the Auburn University Bulletin, as well as via the website of the Office of the Registrar.

A student’s transcript reflects the earning of credit at institutions other than Auburn University—whether it be transfer credit prior to enrolling at Auburn or transient credit earned while earning an Auburn degree—by way of separate entries for each such institution, with a clear indication of the following: 1) the name of the institution; 2) the term during which the course was taken; 3) the name and identifying aspects of the course, such that it can be referenced using the other institution’s resources (e.g., bulletin, course inventory, etc.); 4) the grade earned for the course in question; and 5) how many credit hours are being applied to the student’s degree program at Auburn University from the transferred course. An example of this can be noted in the attached supporting documentation to follow.

At the undergraduate level, Auburn University monitors and enforces transfer credit limits and residency requirements by way of periodic evaluations by academic advisors. The results of these evaluations are included as part of the student's advising records, and are consulted prior to the student's graduation, to ensure that all policies are being adhered to, regarding the earning of credit hours.

Three redacted undergraduate student records, from three different units, demonstrating the review of those records that takes place are provided as samples. 

College of Human Sciences

The College of Human Sciences advising unit utilizes an electronic curriculum sheet to track progress throughout the students’ academic career. When the student is in the second semester of their junior year, the advisor uses an electronic credit check form to check completion of requirements and adherence to policy. A blank version and completed sample are attached as evidence,.

College of Liberal Arts Student

The College of Liberal Arts advising unit utilizes DegreeWorks to track completion of graduation requirements. They have their requirements scribed to track accumulation of transfer credits with the maximum set at 60, and that maximum can be altered to go up to 90 if the student is transferring in credits from a four-year institution. A screenshot sample is included as evidence. DegreeWorks is used throughout the students’ academic career to track progress towards degree and monitor accumulation of transfer credit. Beginning the semester before they graduate, an electronic graduation check form is used to check completion of requirements and adherence to policy. A blank version and completed sample are included as evidence.

College of Sciences and Mathematics Student

The College of Sciences and Mathematics (COSAM) advising unit utilizes an electronic curriculum sheet to track progress through the students’ academic career. Every semester a report is run to identify students close to graduating. Students with 75 Auburn University hours and transfers who are identified as approaching graduation are then placed in an appointment campaign and asked to schedule a graduation check. Once the graduation check appointment is scheduled, advisors prepare the graduation checks using their graduation audit check form. A blank version and completed sample are provided as evidence. At the graduation check appointment, advisors go over the remaining requirements for graduation. To help students plan their last semester, the advisors links to long-range schedules that tell students what semesters and what times courses in COSAM will be taught.

After the meeting, the students are emailed a copy of the PDF of this graduation check. An electronic copy is also posted in the Notes section of Advise Assist, which students have access to in case they lose the email.

You will see in the example that finished courses are checked off and specific choices or AP work is noted. Unfinished courses are highlighted. Auburn University GPAs (overall and major) are confirmed in the notes section as well.

Assessment

After two years of piloting various centralized assessment approaches, the Student Core Outcomes & Readiness Evaluation (SCORE) was adopted. The SCORE requires all graduating seniors to take a randomly assigned one-hour test aligned to a General Education SLO. The SCORE infrastructure was created through collaborations with the Office of Information Technology, the Office of Instructional Technology, the Office of the Registrar, Biggio Center Testing Services, and Student Affairs. Likewise, Auburn Online supported filming students for the oral communication assessment efforts. By 2017-2018, Auburn University made these tests a graduation requirement and thus achieved 96% compliance in student participation. The SCORE provides data that allows the institution to improve student learning by focusing on closing learning gaps. Frequently Asked Questions related to the revised Core Curriculum and General Education Student Learning Outcomes are published on website of the university’s Office of the Registrar. More details on the assessment process for Auburn University’s General Education Curriculum can be found in Standard 8.2.b.

Summary

Auburn University requires the successful completion of a General Education Core Curriculum at the undergraduate level that is based on a coherent rationale, represents a substantial component (30-35%) of each degree program, and ensures breadth of knowledge through courses in humanities, fine arts, sciences, mathematics, and social sciences.