Changes to Core Education Group and Multicultural Courses Reminder

November 9, 2018

Colleagues,

I wanted to remind you of the changes that were made to Core Education Group and Multicultural Courses, previously known as General Education Group and Multicultural Courses, in AY 2017-18. The changes approved by the University Senate last academic year will go into effect in fall 2019. However, any new course proposals submitted during AY 2018-19 will need to meet the new requirements to be approved by the UO Committee on Courses (UOCC). Existing courses approved in these categories will be grandfathered in until they are resubmitted for review. A process and timeline is under development for existing courses in these categories.

The University Senate established new criteria and outcomes for the Arts and Letters (A&L), Social Sciences (SS), and Natural Sciences (NS) “Areas of Inquiry” (formerly “group-satisfying”), and approved new learning outcomes, called “Methods of Inquiry.” It also replaced the existing Multicultural Requirement with two new requirements. Starting in fall 2019, each student will be required to take one course in the US: Difference, Inequality and Agency category, and one course in the Global Perspectives category.

The complete explanation of the changes can be found on the provost website: https://provost.uoregon.edu/changes-core-education-group-and-multicultural-requirements

The Office of the Provost is planning to host workshops to provide guidance to faculty developing courses to meet these new requirements. Look for information about workshops to be held beginning in winter 2019. In addition, I will be sending to each department head a list of courses that currently meet any of the existing requirements. I will be asking department heads to consider their courses currently on the books and which, if any, of the courses will likely not be submitted for approval under the new criteria. Look for that email soon.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.

Sincerely,

Ron Bramhall
Associate Vice Provost
for Academic Excellence
541-346-3028
rcb@uoregon.edu