For Instructors
General Education Courses:
- provide an introduction to the habits of mind and engaging problems associated with a field of study;
- develop essential skills by equipping students with the tools they will need as undergraduates and after graduation;
- communicate that, while a subject may be difficult, all students can succeed if they complete the work and take advantage of course and university resources;
- use inclusive language and present inclusive assignments;
- incorporate high impact practices such as undergraduate research and community engaged learning;
- offer access and referral to support resources, including Academic Advising by College or School; Student Learning Support at the Center for Teaching and Learning; resource centers to address support, belonging, or affinity connections; help with crisis or challenges such as food insecurity via Dean of Students; and Student Health and Counseling and mental health resources.
Proposing a New General Education Course
Departments can propose that a new course or an existing course become a general education course by submitting the course through UNM's Kuali Curriculum Flow and Catalog system for review by both UNM and the NM Higher Education Department NMCAC.
Programs to Help Faculty Develop and Strengthen General Education Courses
UNM Resources for General Education Instructors
If you teach courses in the general education program or any lower-division course (numbered 1000- and 2000-), we encourage you to participate in General Education success workshops. Students can be catalyzed to engage in your classes when they can identify why and how something they are learning in a general education course prepares them for the world. These workshops are co-developed by the Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office of Assessment and APR.
The Office of Assessment and APR has developed a General Education Essential Skill Assignment Collection (relying on UNM instructor assignments) that makes it easier for you to assess essential skill development.
Equity Practices and Sharing Teaching Ideas with Colleagues:
The Student Experience Project offers faculty easily implemented tools based in social psychological research to support students in the classroom by creating an inclusive environment for resilience and persistence. Faculty fellows participate in a community of practice and receive access to research validated modules and a SEP Resource Hub. Instructors who used SEP tools from Spring 2020 to Fall 2022 measurably improved academic outcomes for students, including students of color, high financial stress students, transfer students, and women under-represented in certain disciplines. To become involved at UNM as a UNM SEP Fellow, please contact Joe Suilmann at suilmann.unm.edu.
Integrating Research into Student Experience:
Expanding Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (ECURE) introduces students in STEM general education courses to entry-level undergraduate research experiences with the goal of providing equitable, engaging and inclusive access to research and investigation. For this purpose, STEM is defined as those disciplines which can be supported by NSF funding (which includes economics, sociology, psychology and anthropology, in addition to engineering and traditional science disciplines). For more information, please see UNM ECURE or contact Tim Schroeder, Director, Undergraduate Research, Art, and Design network, at timschroeder@unm.edu.
The Center for Teaching and Learning offers Student an award-winning learning assistance program available to all UNM students enrolled in undergraduate classes. CTL provides peer tutoring and academic support services for over 800 classes each semester. Regular CTL users graduate faster, more often, and with better grades than students who don't use Student Learning Assistance.
Peer Learning Facilitators are undergraduate students who are invited to join instructional teams in courses where they have previously been successful. PLFs bring equity to large-enrolled courses by increasing access to the instructional team both during and outside class time, assisting instructors in using active learning pedagogies and serve a “near peer” mentor who normalizes life and course challenges and increases help-seeking behaviors from students. Instructors may apply for PLF assistance and nominate students to serve as PLFs by contacting Tim Schroeder, Director, URAD network, at timschroeder@unm.edu.
