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Academic Catalog Addendum: Foundations of American Democracy Requirement
Effective Date: July 1, 2025
Approval Date: April 18, 2024
Governing Body: UNC Board of Governors
Policy Reference: UNC Policy Manual, Section 400.1.5
Overview
On April 18, 2024, the UNC Board of Governors amended Section 400.1.5 of the UNC Policy Manual to establish a new graduation requirement for all undergraduate students entering a UNC institution on or after July 1, 2025. This requirement mandates successful completion of a course or courses covering the Foundations of American Democracy as a condition for awarding a baccalaureate degree.
As a requirement for all students seeking a baccalaureate degree, this course is, by definition, a Core course. Fayetteville State University (FSU) embraces this classification and integrates it accordingly into the Core Curriculum structure.
Policy Requirements
All approved courses fulfilling the Foundations requirement must address both of the following UNC-mandated student learning outcomes:
- Founding Documents
- 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.
- Progress Toward a More Perfect Union
- 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.
Implementation Guidelines
- The requirement must be fulfilled by a single course that incorporates both student learning outcomes.
- This minimizes disruption to students’ degree progression and reduces the risk of incomplete fulfillment in multi-course sequences. A Foundations course may also satisfy another Core requirement.
- This dual fulfillment ensures that the Foundations requirement does not increase the total credit hours required for graduation.
Transfer Student Provisions
- Students transferring 60 or more credit hours are exempt from the Foundations requirement.
- Students transferring fewer than 60 credit hours may satisfy the Foundations requirement with a course deemed equivalent to a certified Foundations course, with no additional content review required.
The Foundations Core requirement takes effect with the 2025-2026 Catalog. Most of the courses approved to satisfy the requirement are already in the 2024-2025 Catalog. The courses below are new courses created to satisfy the requirement. To allow them to be scheduled in time for Fall 2025 registration, they are being added to the 2024-2025 catalog.
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