1. The IDEAs in Action Curriculum
Faculty Council
March 8, 2019
Thanks very much, we’re happy to be here. I want to start by emphasizing that we have heard and listened to the concerns raised last time, and we will not be requesting a Council vote today as we had planned, though we do hope to move forward as soon as the faculty council is comfortable. We want to provide an update on progress, explain a bit more about process, and make sure there’s time for discussion. Before I start with a brief update, let me just ask the other members of the Coordinating Committee, an extraordinarily devoted and thoughtful group, to introduce themselves.
4.25

2. Why IDEAs in Action? Coherent and student focused
DISCOVER
Collect
Coherent and student focused
Navigation and equity
Alignment with UNC’s public mission and goals
Listen
Observe
Investigate
Experience
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Understand
Consider
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Communicate
IDENTIFY
EVALUATE
What should a curriculum do?
We like this model because:
<discipline agnostic>
<student-centered>
<educate the whole student to thrive in multiple post-college roles>
And it should do this for all students – those well prepared and less so, those committed to an academic path and those not, those from low-income families and first generation to attend college, and those not. All students should have the tools to make the most of the opportunities a great global public research university offers.
Create
Innovate
ACT

3. Moving Forward Collective rather than collected
Careful implementation and oversight
3 years, nearly 200 faculty
Express the collective, not just collected, ambition of the university. Organizational impediments to doing that; asking to be citizens of the university, not of discipline or department, and CC has been a great example.
Every single comment has been considered thoroughly; every request to meet honored; and the proposal is vastly improved due to that open, deliberative, consultative process. We want to honor the voices of the hundreds of people who have been involved, not just the loudest or most persistent.
When presented with a new comment, concern, idea, etc., we pay close attention to it; consider the case for it, the evidence and rationale, and the effects it would have on the curriculum as a system. That includes reference to the curricula of 27 other colleges and universities, not to try to imitate them but as a check. The question is never just “is it important” but “is it more important than anything else that could take its place” and “does it contribute to the broad ambitions of the curriculum?”

4. Early Pilot Comments: III Students
This course is awesome. I think the concept of having three professors teach a topic together and incorporate their different fields and ways of approaching the same ideas shows a way of thinking that can be taken and applied to all aspects of life and learning. This topic in general is so interesting and every class I find myself thinking about things I never even knew about and it just leaves me wanting to know more....I would and have been recommending this course to other people.

5. Early Pilot Comments: III Students
Through it being an interdisciplinary class...undergraduates will get critical thinking skills about how to look at a subject from multiple perspectives and know that it may be more complicated than what meets the eye. It also merges the science of a topic to the ethical dilemmas that may be present and pushes students to think critically about how to solve problems as well as figure out the details and complications of implementing these solutions.

6. Early Pilot Comments: III Faculty
The III has been an amazing experience in so many ways. It not only gives students an explicit opportunity to consider and appreciate the research methodologies of different disciplines but, I believe, also gives students a richer understanding of our topic, Death & Dying. As an instructor, it has also been inspiring and invigorating to learn from my talented colleagues, not only in terms of our topic but also with regards to teaching techniques and philosophies. These pedagogical benefits were a bit unexpected but very much appreciated! I cannot wait to improve upon this course and to teach it again!

7. Early Pilot Comments: III Faculty
The III course has been a wonderful opportunity not only for our students to learn from different perspectives, but also for us faculty as we learn a tremendous amount from each other while having a lot of fun together. It has truly been an amazing experience.

8. Early Pilot Comments: College Thriving
This course helped me open my eyes to campus life and give me a kickstart into what I need to do to be successful at UNC. I'm very glad I was recommended this course because it provided me with information that I know I will carry with me not only for the rest of my college career but in life as well.
This course exposed me to the unique resources UNC offers. I learned a lot about myself and how to navigate an undergraduate educational experience.

9. Committee Work Since February 8
Consider and integrate comments from faculty, students, staff
Clearer discussion of recurring capacities
Clarified several Focus Capacities
Plan implementation, oversight processes
Work with departments to ease transition
LISTENING
We hope to have a solid proposal out shortly after spring break, incorporating these changes and the conversations we're having.

10. Next Steps Implementation Team with faculty representation led by OUC
General Education Oversight Committee
Goal: Fall 2020 (if feasible), more likely Fall 2021
College has committed to support departments and the curriculum
We’re listening, and many of the concerns folks have raised are about how best to implement this so we want to emphasize that it should happen carefully and thoughtfully. Some departments are itching to go. Systems take time to adapt appropriately, and we need to make sure the university is ready.
OIRA says there are ways to implement the transfer plan that meet SACS requirements

11. Questions, Comments, Feedback
DISCOVER
Collect
Listen
Observe
Investigate
Experience
Notice
Understand
Consider
Synthesize
Communicate
IDENTIFY
EVALUATE
Create
Innovate
ACT