Northern Arizona University provost Karen Pugliesi presented information about a new general studies program at the Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) University Governance and Operations Committee meeting on Thursday.
NAU is nearing the end of a three-year process to implement a new general studies program as part of an assessment of general education across the three ABOR universities.
ABOR approved a framework for the new curriculum in November of 2022 and Pugliesi said NAU is 鈥渙n track鈥� to begin offering the program to incoming students next academic year for the fall of 2025.
鈥淣AU鈥檚 program is strongly aligned with your general education policy and our high expectations for baccalaureate graduates,鈥� Pugliesi said. 鈥淥ur general studies program will prepare graduates for success in a dynamic global economy, and our graduates will also have the knowledge and capacities for effective civic engagement and to have a positive impact on their communities.鈥�
The new program has three main elements: foundations in English and math, knowledge areas and universitywide requirements (writing and a capstone).
The knowledge areas include American institutions, scientific literacy and scientific methods, arts and humanities and social and political worlds.
Pugliesi described them as 鈥渟trands of learning around what we call inclusive perspectives that develop capacities for working in a pluralistic world through cultivation of understanding and respect for peoples with very historical backgrounds and contemporary experiences.鈥�
鈥淚ntegrated through general studies and our majors are universal skills,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e call them that because we see them as so foundational -- critical thinking, information literacy and ethics.鈥�
In response to a question from student regent Jadyn Fisher, Pugliesi said the university鈥檚 current version of the program (dubbed Liberal Studies) would continue in parallel to the new general studies program for a few years to allow current NAU students as well as some transfer students the 鈥渕aximum momentum to graduation.鈥�
Students starting at the university in fall 2025 or later, meanwhile, will begin in the new program.
Elements of the previous program are also included in the new curriculum, Pugliesi added.
鈥淥ne of the things that we try to avoid is 鈥� thinking about general studies and the major as two wholly separate things,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ometimes that can lead to the diminishment of the value of general studies as something that you have to get out of the way. ... We鈥檙e trying to emphasize the importance of the skills that transcend those different domains of learning that an undergraduate pursues on the way to a baccalaureate degree and how those add up to their preparation to achieve their goals and their careers and lives as they leave NAU."
NAU has designed its general curriculum around learning outcomes rather than providing a menu of courses for students to select from for year, Pugliesi said. She noted that the Council for Higher Education Accreditation gave NAU its institutional progress in student learning outcomes award in 2009 for its work on curriculum design and assessment.
Similarly, she said, NAU faculty has been designing courses for the new general studies program with learning outcomes in mind.
Course syllabi go through a peer-review process that focuses on learning outcomes and assessments, and the university plans to periodically review the general studies courses to assess their relation to learning outcomes and students鈥� progress toward graduation, according to Pugliesi.
A recording of the committee meeting can be found on ABOR鈥檚 YouTube channel. The presentation on NAU鈥檚 general studies program is the first item on the agenda.