"UNC should educate its students to be personally and professionally successful in the 21st century and, to do so, should enhance the global competitiveness of its institutions and their graduates."
- UNC Tomorrow Commission Final Report and Recommendations, Sec. 4.1
HOW UNC IS RESPONDING > > >
At General Administration:
The University Council on International Programs (UCIP), under the leadership of Dr. Harold Martin and Bonnie Derr, is working to develop strategic approaches to leverage existing programs/resources with international focus across the system, increase campus collaborations that can achieve better efficiencies, and prevent unnecessary program duplication in an effort to address the global readiness priorities articulated in the UNC Tomorrow report – in ways mutually beneficial to students and faculty on all UNC campuses.
On UNC's Campuses:
- Fostering international collaborations through innovative and cost effective strategies: The Language Resource Center at UNC Charlotte supports language learning through innovative and cost-effective programs. The program sponsored an online seminar with a faculty member from a fully online university in Spain who led a discussion about his university and about teaching literature online. The seminar was broadcast live and available to all interested parties on campus.
- Communications Across the Curriculum (21st Century Skills): UNC Charlotte has moved ahead on this project in three ways. First, it has formed a Task Force that has submitted a draft report for consideration by the faculty to integrate writing and speaking more fully in the curriculum across majors. Second, the campus is launching a pilot program in connection with General Education in Fall '09 in which it will offer writing seminars in conjunction with its liberal studies classes so that students are writing about what they are studying. Finally, the campus has initiated a redesign of its freshman composition program to reduce dependence on part time faculty and to offer a single introductory course that prepares students for participation in the writing across the curriculum program.
- General Education Curriculum reform (21st Century Skills): The Faculty Senate at UNC Wilmington is expected to act this spring on a 60-page committee report that recommends extensive revisions to general education, including new requirements on information literacy, diversity, and living in a global society. Explicit student learning outcomes have been established for general education, and a comprehensive assessment process being piloted this semester is slated for full implementation in the fall.
- Update on Western Carolina University’s Quality Enhancement Program (QEP): To date, eleven (11) academic programs have begun to implement the learning model. These programs have developed written plans that outline the realignment of their curriculum with the stated outcomes of the integrative learning model and the means by which they will evaluate student achievement of the outcomes. Additionally, the campus has developed and is in the process of refining the longitudinal portfolio system (Education Briefcase) that will be an integral component of the learning model.
Check back here for more "In The Spotlight" features on how UNC's campuses and faculty are responding to the Global Readiness needs of North Carolina through teaching, research and scholarship, and public service.