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In November 2005, UCF's president John Hitt and presidents from four-partner colleges signed a joint resolution, which eventually led to the DirectConnect to UCF program. This program guarantees entry into UCF once certain criteria are met for both the Associate in Arts and Associate in Science degrees. As a result, UCF has become the number one destination for transfer students in the nation. Soon after the resolution was signed, the curriculum alignment initiative began. In 2006, partner colleges, K-12 and UCF faculty and administrators chose to focus on the disciplines that support national, state and local initiatives to graduate more students in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics). Math, Chemistry, Biology and Physics were the first four disciplines that faculty and administrators identified as priorities. In addition, Computer Programming was added in 2012 and Engineering joined the list of STEM disciplines in 2013. College and UCF faculty from each of the disciplines meet with their peers twice each year to review curriculum and discuss ways to align content so transfer students are better prepared for upper division courses at the university. The curriculum alignment effort has resulted in an unprecedented level of cooperation between K-12, partner colleges and UCF, and most importantly has improved student success rates. The first UCF Regional Campuses Curriculum Alignment Conference was held in October 2010 and included faculty and administrators from K-12, partner colleges and UCF. Conferences are held annually and each time has taken curriculum alignment to a new level of cooperation and engagement. At the February 2013 conference, participants heard how STEM and the arts combine to play a key role in the next knowledge revolution, which is 3D manufacturing. It is the catalyst that will bring together a variety of technology-based applications including medical, aerospace, electronics, telecommunications and entertainment to name a few. This helped participants connect the academic world to graduates finding employment and high-paying jobs. This website is a resource and a mechanism for faculty, administrators, curriculum designers, and area specialists to share information, best practices, issues and solutions, standards, and syllabi. This site is provides a place for open communication to support the curriculum alignment work. For more information about the curriculum alignment initiative, please email regional@ucf.edu. Curriculum Alignment Conference Summary - Feb. 21, 2013 |
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