Core Curriculum 2025

Focus Area courses engage students in contemporary issues facing society from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students take three courses in one of the four Focus Area categories.The intention is that the three courses have differing approaches to the Focus Area to allow students to experience the Focus Area topic from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Students will be actively engaged in reflecting on those multiple perspectives when they take the Core Curriculum Synthesis course.

A Focus Area course must:

1. Include small group experiences to help students learn and reflect on their learning.
2. Include writing or other forms of communication as relevant to the course.
3. Weave in the common threads of:
   1. Ethics: Moral principles or framework that influence behavior, decisions, and actions.
   2. Personal Agency: Empowering the individual to make contributions that impact decisions, processes, and/or outcomes.
   3. Innovation: Ability to think creatively to offer dynamic solutions, ideas, and contributions.
4. Be offered on a regular schedule.
5. Be taught by University of Minnesota faculty.

Foundation courses provide students with the broad ways of knowing and modes of inquiry that are needed to prepare them for work, civic participation, and life. Further, because some foundation courses connect to the chosen focus areas, students graduate with the ability to understand, engage with, and respond to complex problems that can only be addressed through integrating knowledge across disciplines. Students take one course in each of six Foundation categories: 

• Creativity & Imagination
• Humanistic Thinking
• Analyzing the Past
• Quantitative Reasoning
• Scientific Thinking
• Societies, Cultures, and Communities

A Foundation course must: 

1. Engage students in understanding the methods or modes of inquiry that are essential to the foundation category.
2. Employ teaching and learning strategies that engage students with doing the work of the field.
3. Identify key disciplinary resources and evaluate their quality, as appropriate to meet the goals of the course.
4. Include small group experiences such as discussion sections or labs and use writing as appropriate to the discipline to help students learn and reflect on their learning.
5. Not have prerequisites beyond the University's entrance requirements, except in rare and clearly justified cases.
6. Be offered on a regular schedule.
7. Be taught by University of Minnesota faculty.

Every student is required to take one course in Race, Power, and Justice in the United States and a second in Global. The descriptions for these categories are unchanged from their definitions under the current Liberal Education requirements.

Proposed Core Curriculum Writing Requirements

Students will enroll in four WI courses that include:

First-Year Writing, which will convert to a WI course.

Three WI courses:

• At least one upper division (3xxx-5xxx) course that teaches disciplinary writing. This course will be identified by faculty responsible for major programs of study as courses that teach writing within the discipline.
• At least one upper division course from any discipline.
• A third course that could be upper or lower division. 

Course Description

Students in this course will first engage in individual analysis of how their Focus Area courses shaped their understanding of the Focus Area. Then, students will work in small groups on a specific project (e.g. policy recommendation, research question, creative response to a current issue, etc.). The work on the group project will enable students to make meaningful, cross-disciplinary connections among the approaches they have learned through study of their Focus Area. Students will work on their project and produce a product in their choice of format (e.g. presentation, art project, poster, video, podcast, etc.). Each group will share their product in a public-facing manner, such as through a symposium associated with the course.

Course Objectives

Students will… 

• Learn to synthesize, in collaboration with peers, multiple disciplinary approaches learned through study of their Focus Area.
• Develop the ability to identify and define tractable questions related to the broader Focus Area.  
• Learn tools and processes to strive for effective solutions to complex problems or implementable recommendation for policy issues or meaningful conclusions for research questions.
• Gain skills to work collaboratively with individuals from different disciplinary backgrounds while engaging on complex problems.
• Develop interpersonal, public speaking, writing, and other communication skills in a process-based approach that includes peer revision opportunities.

Organizational Philosophies

• Each course should structure opportunities for students from different colleges to work together.
• Centrally coordinated course for consistency and pedagogical coherence. Individual instructors will still rely on their own expertise for specific course material and to facilitate student learning.
• Faculty Fellows from disciplinary backgrounds related to each Focus Area will be compensated to oversee curriculum development, supervision, and to teach a limited number of sections of the course.

Course Structure

Courses taught by faculty and P&A Instructional Staff with a capacity of 30 students, (~125 sections/semester). When the proposed Core Curriculum model is approved by the Faculty Senate, the Faculty Fellows will be charged with the following:

• Help faculty develop a syllabus.
• A week by week teaching plan.
• One or more course structures to achieve the stated outcomes. 

How has faculty input been engaged in the core curriculum revision process?

The core curriculum revision process began in Spring 2022 with faculty, student, staff, and career forums. Since that date, iterations of the proposed curriculum have been shared with faculty via departmental meetings as well as collegiate curricular meetings and department chair meetings. The committee chair and committee members met with faculty individually and in groups as requested and also proactively. A list of consultation activities appears in an appendix.

How have students been engaged in the core curriculum revision process? 

Student voice has been essential throughout the process. Students have served as committee members and were present for all meetings. In addition, faculty committee members consulted with collegiate student boards, the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), and the Student Senate. In addition, USG formed a parallel “Students’ Core Curriculum Review Committee” with 20 students from seven colleges that worked independently but in partnership with CC2025 to provide an additional student voice. 

How have staff been engaged in the core curriculum revision process? 

Staff participated in the Spring 2022 forums and two advising leaders were members of the Core Curriculum 2025 committee to ensure the advising perspective was considered regularly. In addition, staff who maintain curricular systems, including degree audit, were consulted to ensure awareness and consider how the proposed curriculum could be delivered to students.

What other perspectives were considered by the CC2025 committee? 

In addition to the groups mentioned above, the committee engaged in discussion with UMTC career staff who support students in career preparation and also those who facilitate relationships with organizations that hire UMTC graduates. This meeting also included representatives from multiple organizations and companies that hire UMTC graduates through which the committee heard about the skills organizations are seeking in job candidates.

Does this proposed curriculum apply to undergraduates at all five UMN system campuses?

The proposed Core Curriculum applies only to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Faculty at each U of M campus are responsible for the curriculum at their campus. 

What courses might fit into the Foundations and Focus Areas?

The report identifies departments that likely would offer courses in each Foundation area. Those are not intended to be exhaustive lists but to give a sense of the breadth the committee envisions for each requirement.

How does the proposed curriculum better address student needs than the current curriculum? 

A common complaint of the current curriculum is that it is seen as a checklist of requirements unrelated to one another nor to a student’s interests. The proposed curriculum engages students in a common course to learn about liberal education and the Core Curriculum and why they are critical components of their undergraduate degree. Then, students will complete three disciplinarily-diverse courses from a Focus Area of their choosing before enrolling in a synthesis course. The Synthesis course creates an opportunity to make meaning of their Focus Area from an interdisciplinary perspective through the development of a project, in a format of their choosing, to show others what they know. In this way, students will experience the proposed curriculum as a cohesive experience more so than the current requirements.

Will students have the same diversity of classes to choose from as compared to the existing system? 

Yes. In addition, the proposed curriculum has broader definitions for course categories that should allow for even more flexibility.

Can courses count for a Focus Area, but not fulfill a Foundation? Similarly, can a course count for a Perspective and not fulfill a Foundation? 

Yes. Courses can be certified for a single requirement: Foundation, Focus Area, Perspective, or Writing Intensive. Or, a course may be certified for more than one category, for example, a course could be certified as a Foundation and a Focus Area. Or as a Perspective and a Foundation.

Will the new plan reduce liberal education requirements at UMN?

The proposed curriculum has the same number of credits as the current curriculum.

Can a Foundation meet more than one Focus Area? 

A single course may meet a Foundation and a Focus Area but not more than one Foundation nor more than one Focus Area.

Will courses that currently satisfy both major and LE requirements need to change so much that they no longer satisfy both?

It is possible that a course that currently satisfies a Liberal Education requirement and a major requirement may not satisfy a Core Curriculum requirement. The changes needed for a revised course to satisfy a Core Curriculum requirement will vary depending on the nature of the course. It is also possible that a course required for the major that does not currently satisfy a Liberal Education requirement may be better aligned to a Core Curriculum requirement.

Can a capstone course required by a major take the place of the Core Curriculum Synthesis course? 

Within-major capstones are focused on a student’s major, and are typically discipline-specific. The Synthesis Course has the goal of engaging students in examination of different disciplinary perspectives on a Focus Area that includes a societal challenge. For this reason, the within-major capstone does not replace the Core Curriculum Synthesis

How have concerns about the financial model, and tuition and enrollment impacts been considered? 

The committee was charged to develop a curriculum that will best serve our students and graduates of today, while being fiscally reasonable. The Office of the Provost and Budget Office will be involved in the implementation process to help manage financial impacts.

What does the plan mean for departmental requirements for majors and minors? 

The Core Curriculum is designed to be completed in parallel to all undergraduate majors and minors. No changes are needed for majors or minors.

How much curricular revamping would departments and individual faculty need to do? 

Faculty who teach a course that meets a current Liberal Education requirement will need to determine whether to propose their course for a Core Curriculum requirement if they want to continue teaching a course certified for the Core Curriculum. It is expected faculty will have the opportunity to develop new courses as well. Additional details about the certification process will be worked out during the implementation phase that will occur after the curriculum is approved but before it is put into place.

Could we use an incremental approach rather than a replacement LE curriculum approach?

The University has used an incremental approach in the past to make small adjustments to the current Liberal Education curriculum. The most recent example of this is the revision of the Diversity and Social Justice in the United States requirement to Race, Power, and Justice in the United States. The Core Curriculum 2025 Committee was charged to revise the curriculum that has been in place for nearly 30 years. Through their conversations they determined that it was appropriate to propose a larger revision in response to student and faculty feedback regarding the current curriculum as well as societal changes since the early 1990’s.

What will the process be for course approval? 

To be certified for a Core Curriculum requirement, a course certification application will need to be submitted for review by a committee of faculty with diverse disciplinary expertise.

What about transfer students? How will this connect to the MN transfer curriculum? 

Students who enter the University having completed the MN Transfer Curriculum will be considered as having fulfilled the University’s Core Curriculum, as occurs now under the current Liberal Education requirements. A subcommittee focused on the transfer student experience sees an opportunity to offer a “Navigating the Core Curriculum” course section specific for transfer students to address transfer student needs and build community among this population.

How will the curriculum work for students entering with AP credits?

The Office of Admissions, in partnership with academic departments, determines whether or not Advanced Placement (AP) credits fulfill Liberal Education requirements. This is not a change in practice. 

Can students take classes in more than one Focus Area? 

Yes, just as under the current Liberal Education requirements: students often take more courses than the minimum required in the current Core and Theme requirements due to their program requirements and individual interests.

What happens if a student wants to change midstream?

They are welcome to do so. There is no need for a student to formally declare a change in Focus Area, rather a student would just be sure to take 3 courses in their new Focus Area of interest.

Instructors have seen student learning habits change post-pandemic. Has there been thought to the pedagogical/didactic side of things? 

The curriculum will infuse the best principles of pedagogy and learning.

Would this support department plans for future faculty hires? 

Department hiring plans are established based on many variables and contingencies. The Core Curriculum represents a change to the current undergraduate curriculum but is just one aspect to be considered when hiring faculty.