Applications to the Liberal Education Core

The Liberal Education Core is designed to develop in students the skills, knowledge and values they will need to engage with and navigate in highly diverse communities and in a global society. Through the liberal education core, UWEC hopes to foster in every student the ability to think with intellectual rigor, creativity, and independence, to integrate and apply their knowledge, and to act as humane, thoughtful leaders in the community, the workplace, and the world of ideas.

Guidelines for Inclusion in the Liberal Education Core

Consistent with this purpose statement the University Liberal Education Committee (ULEC) invites applications for learning experiences that:

• Identify with one or more Liberal Education Learning Core Outcomes. It is anticipated that a single experience will identify with one or two outcomes, although the University Liberal Education Committee (ULEC) will consider proposals on their merits that seek to identify with more than two outcomes. 
• Are broadly accessible to students from all programs of study at the university. As such, it is expected that prerequisites will be minimal. That said, ULEC realizes that in some cases prerequisite skills such as mathematics, writing, and foreign language competencies are critical for success. The need for the presence of any prerequisites must be articulated in the application.

In ULEC's efforts to assess the effectiveness of the Liberal Education Core, all learning experiences included in the core will be required to identify an example of student work from the experience that relates to an identified outcome. The student work will be collected, assessed, and results submitted to the University Assessment Committee to assist the University Liberal Education Committee in evaluating the effectiveness of our Liberal Education Core.  All learning experiences will be assessed at least once during a 5-year cycle.  

Application for Inclusion in the Liberal Education Core

Courses applying for the liberal education core should follow the directions below:

• College of Arts and Sciences' (CAS) and College of Education and Human Sciences' (CoEHS) Programs and Departments
  • Log into the Course Inventory Management (CIM) System at https://nextcatalog.uwec.edu/courseadmin/. Follow the directions for editing an existing course or proposing a new course.
  • If requesting to add a Liberal Education Core designation to an existing course, choose "Major Revision" from the "Change Type" drop down menu and complete relevant sections of the form. (Note that the CAS GE to LE Core Application does not exist in the CIM System.)
  • For new courses, complete all relevant sections of the form, including the Liberal Education Core application.
  • Once a form is completed and saved, start the workflow. Following department/program level approval, the form will be submitted to CAS/CoEHS for review and subsequent placement on a CASCC/CoEHSACC agenda. Applications approved by CASCC/CoEHSACC will be forwarded to ULEC for consideration.
• College of Business 
  • First consult with the department chair before initiating the application form. Proposing an LE designation to a new/existing course requires departmental- and college-level approval.
  • Log into the Course Inventory Management (CIM) System at https://nextcatalog.uwec.edu/courseadmin/. Follow the directions for editing an existing course or proposing a new course.
  • If you are requesting to add a Liberal Education Core designation to an existing course, choose “Major Revision” from the “Change Type” drop down menu and complete relevant sections of the form.
  • For new courses, complete all relevant sections of the form, including the Liberal Education Core application.
  • Once a form is completed and saved, start the workflow. Applications approved by the COB Curriculum Committee will be forwarded to ULEC for consideration.
• College of Nursing and Health Sciences
  • First consult with the chair of the Nursing Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UGCC), the Nursing Department Chair, and the Nursing Associate Dean before initiating the application form.
  • Log into the Course Inventory Management (CIM) System at https://nextcatalog.uwec.edu/courseadmin/.  Follow the directions for editing an existing course or proposing a new course.
  • If requesting to add a Liberal Education Core designation to an existing course, choose “Major Revision” from the “Change Type” drop down menu and complete relevant sections of the form.
  • For new courses, complete all relevant sections of the form, including the Liberal Education Core application.
  • Once a form is completed and saved, start the workflow.  Applications approved by Nursing will be forwarded to ULEC for consideration.

Sample Applications Received by ULEC

• BIOL 180 - Conservation of the Environment (LE Core Learning Designations Approved - R3, I1)
• ENV 330 - Waste & Society: Energy, Food, and Efficiency (LE Core Learning Designation Approved - R3)
• ES 385 - Social Foundations of Human Relations (LE Core Learning Designation Approved - R1)
• FLG 165 - Amish in North America - Amish in North America (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - I1)
• GEOL 102 - Oceanography (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - K1, I1)
• GEOL 110 - Physical Geology (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - K1, I1)
• HIST 315 - The Age of Reformation (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - K3 and R2)
  • Supporting documentation provided: HIST 315 Syllabus and HIST 315 Discussion 11
• HIST 345 - Civil Rights and American Memory (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - R1 and I1)
• HIST 366 - History of Middle East Since Muhammad (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - R2 and I1)
  • Supporting documentation provided: HIST 366 Syllabus
• HUMS 210 - Voices of Color in America (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - R1)
• IDIS 100 - Introduction to Social Welfare Services (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - R2, I1)
  • Supporting documentation provided: IDIS 100 Syllabus
• MATH 380 - Research Methods (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - S3)
• MUSI 103 - Introduction to Electric Guitar (LE Core Learning Outcome Approved - S3)
• MUSI 225 - World Music (LE Core Learning Outcome Designations Approved - K4 and R2)
  • Supporting documentation provided: MUSI 225 Syllabus
• PSYC 100 - Introduction to Psychology (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - K2)
  • Supporting documentation provided: PSYC 100 Syllabus
• SOC 101 - Introduction to Sociology (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - K2 and R1)
  • Supporting documentation provided: Understanding Privilege, People Like Us Essay, and Cultural Analysis Activity
• THEA 125 - Introduction to Theatre History (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - K4)
  • Supporting documentation provided: THEA 125 Syllabus
• THEA 335 - Drama in Education (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - S3)
  • Supporting documentation provided: THEA 335 Syllabus
• THEA 336 - Theatre for Youth (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - K4 and S3)
  Supporting documentation provided: THEA 336 Syllabus
• WRIT 116 - Blugold Seminar in Critical Reading and Writing (LE Core Learning Outcome Designation Approved - S1)