Reimagining the Core Curriculum

• The high number of credits required for the core (34-40) may be too large and may slow degree completion.

• The existing core can create barriers for transfer students, such as redundant coursework, unclear applicability of credits, and misalignment with Colorado's GT Pathways general education curriculum.

• The existing core does not prioritize integrated learning or durable, transferrable skills. 

• The core has not kept pace with some emerging societal and technological realities.

The updated core curriculum addresses each of these attributes in various ways.

The updated core curriculum is grounded by educational objectives of awareness, advocacy, and action. These reflect the key perspectives, dispositions, and behaviors students will need to participate and thrive in rapidly changing work and community environments, and are described further on page 7 of the Working Group Report.

This contrasts with the existing core, which offers a general education philosophy but does not specify objectives.

The updated core curriculum reflects a holistic, integrated approach to learning outcomes. Collectively, the proposed core is intended to inculcate students with integrated problem solving, effective and strategic communication, critical and creative thinking, data analysis and application, artificial intelligence analysis and application, and teamwork and collaboration. These learning outcomes are described further, with related durable skills, starting on page 8 of the Working Group Report.

This contrasts with the existing core, for which each required knowledge area (such as math, arts, or English composition) had its own learning objectives, but in isolation from the other curricular requirements.

Both the current and the proposed core curriculum are based on a series of competencies to be developed through a selection of required courses—mostly lower-level courses to be emphasized in a student’s first year or two on campus. The updated core requires fewer credits (30 or 31) than the existing one (34-40) and more closely aligns with Colorado's 31-credit Guaranteed Transfer Pathways core curriculum.

This chart compares the existing core curriculum requirements with the updated one. In some ways, the updated core curriculum increases student flexibility. In other ways, it increases direct alignment with important transfer standards.

Easing student transfer to CU Denver is a big advantage of the proposed core curriculum. The new categories (and underlying courses that qualify as core courses) align intentionally with GT Pathways, Colorado’s general education curriculum. This will better ensure that lower-division courses that students may have taken outside CU Denver will qualify for CU Denver credit, reducing student cost and accelerating their graduation path.

These concepts remain key to the CU Denver educational experience, and the updated core's knowledge areas and learning outcomes include them. Cultural Diversity will no longer be a 3000-level-only requirement; instead, the Cultural Diversity requirement will include 1000- and 2000-level courses in the Arts, Humanities, Behavioral, and Social Science areas that are designated CD (for Cultural Diversity). The current 3000-level cultural diversity courses will also be moved into the knowledge areas and marked CD. The same will be applied to International Perspectives courses, and students will continue to be able to meet the International Perspectives requirement through study abroad classes and prior learning.

Upon approval of the curricular framework, the Core Curriculum Oversight Committee (CCOC) will be charged with implementing the core. There are various operational details that would not be fully determined until after the vote (though they were contemplated within the Working Group, which includes CCOC representation to support continuity). CCOC approval of the core framework is an important precursor to the April faculty vote.

We intend to establish, in partnership with the Office of Institutional Research and Evaluation (OIRE) and the CCOC, a series of performance indicators that will help us not only review and evaluate internally whether we are succeeding (or will require further adaptation and reconsideration), but also document to accreditors such as the Higher Learning Commission that we are fulfilling our mission as a university. This is in contrast to the existing core, for which we have relied largely on anecdotal information about the efficacy of the curriculum.

The Higher Learning Commission, a primary accrediting body, requires universities to have a shared set of courses and/or outcomes required of every graduating student, regardless of major. CU Denver fulfills this requirement—as many universities do—by offering a core curriculum that gives students a common set of intellectual experiences and encourages them to explore complex ideas, make connections across disciplines, and develop intellectual and other habits that help them succeed in society.