The Carolina Core is a living curriculum and faculty members will continuously review the program and may suggest changes and improvements to keep the Core strong.

Each learning outcome of the Carolina Core will be fully assessed at least once before the university’s next SACSCOC accreditation visit. View the proposed Carolina Core Assessment Schedule [pdf].

New Core courses may be proposed at any time for review through the Faculty Senate course approval process [pdf]. Regular review (assessment) of student assignments will allow faculty to recommend ways to continuously improve student learning.

Carolina Core Assessment Process

This is a faculty-driven process that allows direct anonymous review of student assignments to see if the overall general education learning goals are being met; both OIRAA and the Office of the Provost aid in the process but faculty members perform the evaluations.

Evaluation results are not used for faculty annual review, tenure or promotion, or any other evaluation process.

The steps are simple:

1. The Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Studies alerts Department Chairs of the need to assess all Core courses in the department.
2. Department Chairs ask Core instructors of record in the department to identify an assignment that addresses one or more student achievements of the Core learning outcome.
3. Referring to the appropriate Core assessment rubric, Core instructors of record identify an assignment that can be used to assess one or more student achievements of the Core learning outcome and determine the method by which they will submit the following assignment details:
   1. Name of the assignment
   2. Assignment type e.g., paper, project, multiple- choice exam
   3. Assignment Instructions
   4. Assignment Grading Scale
   5. Student achievements addressed by the assignment
   6. Submission method
4. One month prior to the start of the semester, Core instructors of record will receive a “Carolina Core Assignment Survey” to obtain the assignment information outlined in Step 3.
5. At the end of the semester, OIRAA collects and organizes all the assignments submitted that previous semester. A representative sample of assignments is selected for evaluation.
6. Volunteer faculty and instructors of record of Core courses to be evaluated will be asked to assess the learning artifacts using the Carolina Core assessment rubrics.
7. OIRAA compiles the assessment results for each Core learning outcome and provides a report including the results and a summary of the results and forwards the report to the Chairs and Deans of the originating departments for faculty discussion and their recommendations for improving the Core and their particular Core courses. In addition, the OIRAA report is shared with the Carolina Core Approval Committee and various Faculty Senate Committees for discussion.
8. Recommended changes from departmental discussions are forwarded to the Carolina Core Approval Committee for review.
9. The Carolina Core Approval Committee reviews the assessment results, determines the degree to which the student achievements and learning outcomes have been met, and the recommendations from departments. They may propose any changes to learning outcomes that might be appropriate.
10. All proposed actions of the Carolina Core Approval Committee go to the Faculty Senate Courses and Curriculum Committee and if approved, then to the Faculty Senate.