Academic Learning Compacts – Gap Analysis

David R. Colburn, Provost

In April, the Florida Board of Governors adopted a resolution requiring each university in the SUS to devise an Academic Learning Compact (ALC) for each baccalaureate degree-granting program. See http://www.aa.ufl.edu/aa/alc/index.htm for a statement of the resolution and a one-page description of ALCs. UF needs to present its plan for ALCs to the FBOG in December 2004.

Departments will need to formulate an ALC for each major program leading to a baccalaureate degree in a manner that will mesh with the other plans in its college and in the university. It will also need to meet specifications of the FBOG. Deans may wish to coordinate the departmental responses in each college. We plan to assist departments and colleges in this effort by supplying templates and other guidance as the process unfolds.

I ask each Chair to fill out the Initial Program Questionnaire spreadsheet at http://www.aa.ufl.edu/aa/alc/index.htm and return it to your Dean by July 30, 2004. If your department has programs leading to more than one baccalaureate degree, please fill out a separate spreadsheet for each program. Deans are asked to collate the spreadsheets and return the College-wide spreadsheet by August 6, 2004 to Joe Glover (email: jglover@aa.ufl.edu). The questionnaire does not ask you to make any decisions at this time, but the information you supply will allow us to formulate a plan to assist you in this project. We will use the information to determine whether the foundation for an ALC is already in place and what gaps there may be which need to be filled.

It is important that UF move expeditiously to respond to the FBOG’s resolution. The project will require coordination by departments, colleges, and Academic Affairs, and a certain amount of data management. If you have any questions about the project, the process, or the form, please do not hesitate to contact Joe Glover at the email address above.

Thank you.