2022-2023, Summer Issue

Core Faculty Newsletter

2022-2023, Summer 2022 FAQs

Dear Colleagues,

Happy Summer 2022! You are receiving this Core Faculty Newsletter: Summer Edition because you are one of the 398 instructors from across Baylor University offering a course included in the College of A&S Core Curriculum this Fall 2022 semester. Some of you may be veteran professors of your core class, while others may be offering your first course in the core. Either way, I hope you find the information I provide to you in this Summer Edition of the Core Faculty Newsletter beneficial as you finalize your syllabi and class plan for the fall.

For more information on the core curriculum, including the Core vision statement, descriptions of the required course objectives for Common Courses and Distribution Lists, and a plan for Core assessment and faculty resources, visit www.baylor.edu/ascore.

Sincerely,

Lauren Poor, Ph.D.
Director of the Core, College of Arts & Sciences

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the A&S Core Curriculum?

The College of Arts & Sciences core curriculum is the foundation for a degree from Baylor University, serving to educate men and women to become informed and productive citizens of a democracy and servant leaders of faith communities. For this reason, the College of Art & Sciences maintains a robust core curriculum across diverse academic disciplines such as the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and fine arts. The core curriculum, taught within a community of Christian scholars, enables men and women to acquire the knowledge, skills, and virtues needed to uncover and recognize truth, deepen their faith, live virtuously, strengthen their communities, and affect the world in transformative ways. You can access the A&S core curriculum Vision Statement on the A&S core curriculum website.

What does it mean that my course is included in the A&S Core Curriculum?

The core curriculum of the College of Arts & Sciences comprises five common courses and nine distribution lists (DL). Each Common Course and DL has an Official Core Document that provides the details required of that course or DL (including the course description and course objectives). If your course is included in the core curriculum (whether a common course or a course within a distribution list), it should include the title, description, and objectives outlined in the Official Core Document for your common course or distribution list. The Official Core Document for common courses and the Official Core Document for distribution lists can be found on the A&S core curriculum website.

How do I know if the syllabus for my core course meets all of the requirements?

The Office of the Core has created a core course syllabus checklist for you. This core course syllabus checklist is available on the core curriculum website, under the Faculty tab, and linked here for your convenience.

What resources and additional information are available to faculty teaching in the A&S Core Curriculum?

Instructors across all ranks teach the core curriculum, and the Office of the Core believes in providing support and instruction for teaching these courses. Therefore, the Office of the Core created a Faculty tab on the core curriculum website (Link: www.baylor.edu/ascore) to provide instructors with additional resources and information about teaching a core class. Please use the navigation menu within the ‘Teaching Resources’ page to explore the different types of resources available.

Resources Include:

Assessment Rubrics & Resources on Shared Knowledge, Skills, and Virtues
A&S Course Design, including suggested syllabus language and course descriptions
ATL's Components of a Comprehensive Course Syllabus
The Academy for Teaching & Learning’s Course Design and Planning Resource page
The Academy for Teaching & Learning’s Syllabus Construction Resource page
The Center for Academic Success and Engagement’s Faculty/Staff Resources page
Teaching Core Virtues Resources page
Information on the Common Course readers

How will my course be assessed as a part of the A&S core curriculum?

The Office of the Core, in conjunction with the endorsement of the Core Curriculum Advisory Committee (CCAC), created the Core Curriculum Assessment Plan. The core assessment plan includes seven areas of analysis, two of which relate to assessing student learning within a core curriculum course, and core course adherence to CCAC guidelines and course requirements. What this means for you teaching a course in the core curriculum is:

Your department chair or undergraduate program director (UPD) may reach out to you to discuss the information they may need to complete the Curriculum Assessment Report on Learning Objectives (CARLO) form, which is required of departments every three years for each course taught in the core curriculum.
The Office of the Core will ask you to upload a copy of your core course syllabus to the core website each semester. The Office of the Core collects copies of syllabi for all courses taught in the A&S core curriculum. These syllabi are assessed to ensure core courses are taught consistently, as well as articulate the goals and objectives, and diversity and inclusion within individual courses, as described in the official Core documents and as endorsed by the CCAC. The Office of the Core recognizes that a syllabus is not a comprehensive analysis of the contents of a course. Core professors will receive individual feedback from the Office of the Core at the end of each year in which their syllabus was assessed. Any assessment based on the syllabi will not be punitive, and all feedback to the dean, department UPDs, chairs, and CCAC will be aggregated and anonymous.

The most recent comprehensive Core Curriculum Assessment Report is available within the faculty tab on the core curriculum website.

Who do I contact if I have additional questions about the A&S core curriculum?

Please contact the Director of the Core, Dr. Lauren Poor (lauren_poor@baylor.edu), with questions regarding the A&S core curriculum and teaching a class within the core.