Special Emphasis Criteria

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Criteria
Students must produce multiple spoken presentations and/or written texts
At least 1/3 of assignments must emphasize writing and/or speaking skills
A strong emphasis is placed on the drafting, feedback, revision process, and this process is explicitly built into the course, the course’s instruction, and course assignments
Explicit course content and instruction which focuses on all of the following: Rhetorical strategies Style of delivery Awareness of purpose and argument construction Awareness of audience Incorporation of sources and the ideas of others
Must meet Written Communication OR Oral Communication Learning Goal
Courses would not qualify for an A designation when oral communication is based solely on in-class discussions or one final presentation
Must be at the 200 level or above
May not carry any other special emphasis designation
May also be a capstone course

Criteria
Focus: The course materials, assignments, topics of discussion, and/or learning activities demonstrate that the course is helping students better understand the diversity of the human experience and is committed to encouraging a consideration of the multiplicity of differing worldviews.
Threshold Concepts: The course materials, assignments, topics of discussion, and/or learning activities demonstrate that the course is teaching these threshold concepts: 1) the existence of cultural differences and the complexity of social identities, and 2) that worldviews are constructed through our identities and cultures
Encouraging Student Reflexivity: Course assignments and/or activities demonstrate that students have had defined opportunities to reflect on their own identities, cultures, and worldviews; and to reflexively consider their worldviews as the product of their identities and cultures
Must meet Intercultural Knowledge & Skills Learning Goal
The Focus, Threshold Concepts, and assignments/activities that Encourage Student Reflexivity must constitute at least 1/3 of the course’s focus and graded assignments.
May not carry any other Special Emphasis designation nor may it be a capstone course

Criteria
Focus: The course materials, assignments, topics of discussion, and/or learning activities demonstrate that the class examines the real-world consequences of differing worldviews by giving students tools to analyze social inequities.
Threshold Concepts: The course materials, assignments, topics of discussion, and/or learning activities demonstrate that the course is teaching these threshold concepts: 1) privilege and oppression are part of larger social institutions and systems; and 2) Ideologies represent the values and interests of a particular group and they are the fundamental means through which systems of privilege and oppression are organized
Encouraging Student Reflexivity: Course assignments and/or activities demonstrate that students have had defined opportunities to practice metacognition
Must meet Intercultural Knowledge & Skills Learning Goal
Transferable academic skills for productively engaging with difference are an explicit and primary component of the course: The Focus, Threshold Concepts, and assignments/activities that Encourage Student Reflexivity must constitute at least 1/2 of the course’s focus and graded assignments.
May not carry any other Special Emphasis designation nor may it be a Capstone course
Must be at the 200 level or higher

Criteria
The course must explicitly, and with a significant degree of emphasis, address at least three of the following five elements of quantitative reasoning: Confidence with Mathematics. Being comfortable with quantitative ideas and at ease in applying quantitative methods. Individuals who are quantitatively confident routinely use mental estimates to quantify,interpret, and check other information. Confidence is the opposite of “math anxiety;” it makes numeracy as natural as ordinary language. Interpreting Data. Reasoning with data, reading graphs or maps, drawing inferences, and recognizing sources of error. This perspective differs from traditional mathematics in that data (rather than formulas or relationships) are at the center. Making Decisions. Using mathematics to make decisions and solve problems in everyday life. For individuals who have acquired this habit, mathematics is not something done only in mathematics class but a powerful tool for living, as useful and ingrained as reading and speaking. Mathematics in Academic and Practical Contexts. Using mathematical or numerical tools in specific settings where the context provides meaning. Notation, problem-solving strategies, and performance standards all depend on the specific context. Knowing how to solve quantitative problems that a person is likely to encounter in a civic, professional, or personal environment. Number Sense. Having accurate intuition about the meaning of numbers, confidence in estimation, and common sense in employing numbers as a measure of things.
Must meet Quantitative Reasoning Learning Goal
The quantitative reasoning material must comprise 30% or more of the course
The course may not carry any other special emphasis designation, nor may it be a capstone course

Criteria
Course design is informed by the following Information Literacy concepts: 1) Authority is Constructed and Contextual; 2) Information Creation as a Process; 3) Information Has Value; 4) Research as Inquiry; 5) Scholarship as Conversation; and 6) Searching as Strategic Exploration. Digital Information Literacy Toolkit
Digital Citizens need foundational skills that prepare us to work with and evaluate new technologies—like artificial intelligence—and to be ready for future technologies. Course develops transferable and applied skills necessary for the current and emerging workforce: the course teaches specialized tools and practices for finding, evaluating, and using digital information effectively, efficiently, safely, thoughtfully, and ethically
Strengthening student agency, the course involves students in actual practice with rhetorical thinking through opportunities to access, communicate, create, and distribute information.
Course provides opportunities for metacognition: opportunities for students to reflect on their own learning
Developing a digital citizen who is aware of the ways society and culture interact with technology, the course teaches critical thinking skills and interpretive strategies across modalities, helping students critically evaluate information, its contexts and availability.
Productively engaging with digital information is an explicit and primary component of the course: The Digital Information Literacy material must comprise at least 1/3 of the course’s focus and graded assignments.
Must meet Information Literacy learning goal
May not carry any other Special Emphasis designation nor may it be a Capstone course
Must be at the 200 level or higher