Foundations of American Democracy (FAD)

Background

At its April meeting, the UNC Board of Governors (BOG) approved a new policy stating that, beginning in fall 2025, all students in the 16 public schools in the University of North Carolina system will need to take at least one course covering foundations of American democracy. Rather than prescribe a specific course that students must take, the Board of Governors has given each university discretion to offer a variety of courses as long as they meet the two stated learning objectives.
Dean White formed an ad hoc advisory committee made up of College faculty to focus on how we will administer this course at UNC-Chapel Hill. The advisory committee’s report, which included four (4) learning outcomes, was approved by the General Education Oversight Committee (GEOC) on August 23, 2024 and by the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) on September 27, 2024.

Learning Outcomes

Course syllabi for the FAD requirement must include the following learning outcomes:

• Identify and analyze the political, historical, and cultural impact of founding documents on governance and democracy in America.
• Identify and analyze the political, historical, and cultural impact of key milestones in American history on the evolution of democratic republicanism in America.
• Evaluate key concepts, principles, arguments and contexts in founding documents of the American republic, including the United States Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and a representative selection of the Federalist Papers. [BOG outcome #1]
• Evaluate key milestones in progress and challenges in the effort to form “a more perfect Union,” including the arguments and contexts surrounding the Gettysburg Address, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Letter from Birmingham Jail, as well as other texts that reflect the breadth of American experiences. [BOG outcome #2]

Additional Information

• All sections of an approved course will meet the FAD requirement. (This cannot be a section-level attribute.)
• To maintain the current credit-hour footprint of the General Education curriculum, the College strongly recommends that FAD courses meet an additional requirement in the IDEAs in Action curriculum, such as a Focus Capacity.
• A student can use a single course to meet both the FAD requirement and one FC requirement.
• A student can use by-examination (BE) credit (e.g., AP exam) for an approved FAD course to fulfill this requirement.
• A student completing an Associate in Arts (AA) or Associate in Science (AS) degree at a North Carolina community college according to the Comprehensive Articulation Agreement (CAA) will be considered to have completed the FAD requirement.

Course Proposal Deadlines

• Phase #1, November 1, 2024
  • For classes that will be offered in fall 2025
  • Only existing permanent courses that already meet an IDEAs in Action Gen Ed requirement (e.g., no new courses, no additional Gen Ed requests)
  • Processed outside of CIM (using a special form)
  • Please do not submit a separate CIM-Course proposal for these courses
• Phase #2, February 1, 2025
  • For new courses to be offered in fall 2025
  • Processed using CIM-Course form
• Phase #3, April 1, 2025
  • For new and existing courses to be offered in spring 2026
  • Processed using CIM-Course form
• Phase #4, October 1, 2025
  • For new and existing courses effective fall 2026
  • Processed using CIM-Course form

Next Steps

• Phase #1
  • A faculty committee will review the course proposals, and the College will notify departments about course approval decisions by the end of the fall 2024 semester.
  • For courses that are approved for the FAD requirement, the course attribute will be added in ConnectCarolina prior to registration for fall 2025 courses.
• Phase #2 – Phase #4
  • The Course Committee will review proposals using the CIM-Course form. Approval decisions will be provided through CIM.

Additional Resources

• UNC Policy Manual: Regulation Related to Fostering Undergraduate Student Success
• College-Wide Messages (June 4, 2024): An update to College faculty on the new foundations of American Democracy course policy