Faculty/Advisor FAQs

UNI Foundational Inquiry (UNIFI), our new general education program, is an exciting transformation for all of us! But we know that means students will have questions, and likely turn to faculty as their trusted ally in matters like these.

We've included a few frequently asked questions below, with answers concerning process information. For student concerns, please also see our Student FAQs. If you receive a question you feel that you cannot answer, please do not hesitate to direct students to The Office of Academic Advising (ITTC 007). Academic Advising can assist students Monday - Friday between 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on a drop-in basis. An advisor can help students to review their course history and determine how many credits they may have remaining if they switch to UNIFI.

If you are part of the College of Business or work with elementary education and early childhood students, put them in contact with your respective advising offices:

College of Business:
College of Business advisors will be doing drop-ins from 8:30 a.m. - 4 p.m. starting on March 7. Students should stop by the front desk of the Curris Business Building, Room 5, or hop on the Zoom link!
Elementary Education and Early Childhood students:
The College of Education Advising and Teacher Education Success (CATS) Office (Schindler 151) will offer drop-in advising the week of February 28. Workshops will be held for students in their first year at UNI the week of March 7.

Have more questions?

Creating and submitting a course for General Education

CAN CLASSES HAVE PREREQUISITES?

No. Courses cannot have prerequisites, including junior standing. However, ALEKS scores and language proficiency can be used for placement purposes.

ARE EXPERIMENTAL COURSES ALLOWED?

Yes. To encourage new and creative courses experimental courses can apply to be part of the program.

DOES MY COURSE HAVE TO ADDRESS ALL THE OUTCOMES LISTED FOR A CATEGORY?

Yes. For example, if you propose a class for inclusion in the Communication category, it must address outcomes 3, 5 and 6. Those will be assessed in all courses in the category.

CAN MY COURSE MEET ADDITIONAL OUTCOMES?

Yes. We assume that instructors will have their own specific, additional outcomes for their courses. The UNIFI committee will not assess them.

How the General Education Program works

HOW MANY COURSES WILL BE INCLUDED IN EACH LEARNING AREA?

This depends on faculty interest in teaching in each category. We anticipate some will have relatively long lists of options, and others will be shorter.

CAN COURSES BE DOUBLED COUNTED FOR A MAJOR?

Yes. As with the previous LAC, courses may be double counted for the major and the general education program. The decision to count a general education course toward a major is at the discretion of the major department.

CAN COURSES BE DOUBLE COUNTED WITHIN THE GEN ED PROGRAM?

Yes. In some cases, a course in a Learning Area will fulfill a requirement in a certificate. Each of these requirements is considered to be fulfilled, but students will still need 37 credits to complete the general education program.

CAN THE SAME COURSE BE IN THE DISCOVER AND THE CONNECT TIERS?

Yes. A course in a Discover tier learning area can also be offered as part of a certificate. However, a student cannot double count that single course for both categories.

HOW OFTEN MUST GENERAL EDUCATION COURSES BE OFFERED?

Departments should be ready to offer a minimum of one section per year. We hope to accommodate a mix of courses that serve large numbers of students, i.e., multiple sections per semester, or large sections and courses that serve fewer students.

Transitioning from the current LAC

CAN I PROPOSE MY CURRENT LAC COURSE FOR THE FUTURE PROGRAM?

Yes, if it addresses all the outcomes listed for a category in the new program.

WILL WE HAVE TO TEACH TWO PROGRAMS AT THE SAME TIME?

Yes, as a university we will have a temporary transition period between two programs, but the crosswalk creates equivalences to facilitate the transition.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO EXISTING LAC COURSES?

Current LAC courses will need to be readmitted into the new program. No existing courses are automatically included in the UNIFI program.

Assessment

HOW WILL THE GENERAL EDUCATION PROGRAM BE ASSESSED?

The UNIFI committee will collaborate with faculty teaching in each category to develop rubrics that will be used to assess student learning outcomes.