University Senate

Academic Advisors

Guidelines for Foundational and Embedded Outcomes (Core) Curricula - Fall 2013 and thereafter

In the Fall of 2013, all undergraduate programs of study implemented new curricula which embodied foundational outcome-based core and identified courses and activities to meet embedded outcomes for each student. In addition, many moved to a graduation requirement of 120 credits. This document provides guidance to all undergraduate students regarding curricula beginning Fall 2013 and after.

1. New Beginners, Continuing Students and Purdue Students Changing Major

All students will follow the curricula in place at the time of matriculation to college. Continuing, degree-seeking students will by default remain on the same curriculum they have been following. However, students who began before Fall 2013 and who choose to change to a curriculum that began in Fall 2013 or later, will be required to meet all graduation requirements of the curriculum including the foundational and embedded outcomes as well as credits required for graduation. Advisor contact is critical for these decisions. When changing majors, students will follow the curriculum in place for the date of their matriculation to the University. Alternatively, they may choose to follow the curriculum in effect for new beginning students at the time of the change.

2. Transfer Students

Students should work with the academic advisors who submit the required material to the Undergraduate Curriculum Council (UCC) which then decides if the transfer course satisfies the foundational outcome. If the course is subsequently approved by the UCC, the decision will be reported to both credit evaluation and the registrar, so that the course can become part of the approved list and consistently be used by other students.

Academic Advisors may submit requests for review of transfer courses via this link.
(Requests are reviewed monthly, including summer months. Submissions received by the last business day of the month will receive a decision around the 15th of the following month. For example, a request received by September 30th should have a decision around October 15th. Decisions are communicated via the advisor listserv monthly.)

Before completing this form, please have the following information available:

  • Name and PUID of the affected student OR purpose of request (i.e., transfer pathway, articulation agreement, etc.)
  • Name of institution at which the course was taken EXACTLY as it appears in Transfer Credit Database.
  • Course number and title at institution at which the course was taken EXACTLY as it appears in Transfer Credit Database.
  • PWL course number and title EXACTLY as it appears in Transfer Credit Database.
  • Foundational Outcome(s) to be satisfied (up to 2 per course).
  • PDF including the following:
    • Syllabus
    • Course description
    • Course objectives
    • Course textbook
    • Assessment information
    • Topic list or course schedule
    • NOTE: The UCC strongly recommends having the student notate (or notate yourself) where the specific criteria of the Foundational Learning Outcome(s) are addressed in the course description, course syllabus, or other submitted materials of the transfer course under review.

The criteria for each of the Foundational Learning Outcomes may be found here.

Courses may be submitted for review for no more than two of the following Foundational Learning Outcomes:

  • Written Communication (WC)
  • Information Literacy (IL)
  • Oral Communication (OC)
  • Science (SCI)
  • Math/Quantitative Reasoning (QR)
  • Science, Technology, and Society (STS)
  • Humanities (HUM)
  • Behavioral/Social Science (BSS)

Please note that only Academic Advisors may use this form to submit courses. Before submitting a course for evaluation, Academic Advisors should ensure that students have not already met the outcome with another course, and that the student will not meet the outcome with a course required by the student's plan of study.

Email and paper submissions will not be accepted. Please use the Qualtrics form.

When transferring to Purdue University, students will follow the curriculum in effect for new beginning students at the time of the transfer. They cannot be placed on a retroactive plan of study.

If a student transfers to the University, any courses taken within the last ten years that are deemed equivalent to PWL courses on the approved list will be used to meet Foundational Outcome requirements.

Transfer courses that are not considered equivalent to any Purdue courses (i.e. undistributed credits) may be reviewed for meeting foundational outcomes. The UCC Transfer Credit Review Form is for the submission of transfer course credit for consideration by the UCC. Courses MUST appear on the student's transcript before submitting for review.

Courses eligible for submission include:

  • Undistributed transfer credit from an institution other than a Purdue affiliated campus. The course must appear in the Transfer Credit Database.
  • Numbered courses taught only at a regional campus or IUPUI (may include IU course numbers). These must be listed in the Course Catalog.

PWL courses are not eligible for submission using this form. PWL courses must be nominated for consideration as a Foundational Outcome by a PWL faculty member via a separate process.

Similarly, AP and CLEP test results are not eligible for submission. If AP or CLEP test results come in as a PWL course that has been approved as meeting a particular foundational outcome, students will get credit for meeting that outcome. Otherwise, AP or CLEP results do not fulfill foundational outcomes.

Stand-alone lab courses are not eligible for submission. Lecture courses with associated labs may be submitted for evaluation.

Be sure to check the current approved list to avoid duplicate submissions.

*Please note that transfer credit (appears as TR on the transcript) may meet the foundational outcomes but might not meet program requirements.

3. Embedded Outcomes

Embedded outcomes will be managed at the program level and will not be tracked at the individual student level. Unlike the foundational outcomes, which are satisfied by coursework and are portable across campus, the embedded outcomes are addressed throughout—or threaded through—a program's curriculum. A program's curriculum taken as a whole contributes to achieving the embedded outcomes. Faculty in each program will determine how their students will meet embedded outcomes.

4. Course Applicability and Course Exemptions

Note that the CC currently recognizes transfer credit (TR) and credit by examination (CR) as meeting foundational outcomes. The CC does not recognize departmental credit (DC) or exemptions (EX) as meeting foundational outcomes.

A master course list of transfer courses that have already been submitted and reviewed to meet foundational learning outcomes is available here. Before submitting a course for review, advisors should check the master course list to ensure that the course has not already been approved.

A. Course Applicability: Courses approved by the Undergraduate Curriculum Council (CC) as foundational courses fall into two effective date categories.

1. Courses approved for the foundational outcomes that are considered unchanged from recent history: Many courses approved for the core curriculum are unchanged from recent history. These courses taken within the last ten years (per university regulations) at Purdue, including regional campuses, or at another institution when transferred to Purdue as an equivalent course will be considered as meeting the foundational outcomes. For example, a student taking ENGL 10600 (or its transferred equivalent) within the last 10 years will meet foundational outcomes for written communication and information literacy.

2. New courses or courses which underwent significant change to meet CC foundational outcomes will have effective term associated with them (see the Master Course List). These courses will not be applied retroactively to meet foundational learning outcomes. For example, MA 13800 changed substantially to meet the Quantitative Reasoning (minimum college algebra) foundational outcome effective Fall 2013 and thus, will not count towards the core except if taken Fall 2013 or later.

3. Students must pass the course in which the foundational outcome is addressed based on Purdue's approved grading scale (including a grade of P). Passing the course indicates that the student has satisfactorily met the foundational outcome.

B. Course Exemptions

Effective Only from Fall 2013 to Fall 2014

Historically, some programs allowed course exemptions based on high school student GPA and/or class rank and/or SAT & ACT scores. An exception was made regarding exemptions and departmental credit for one year to accommodate Fall 2013 beginners. Beginning Fall 2014, exemptions and departmental credit will not satisfy these foundational learning outcomes.

Effective from Fall 2014 and Beyond

  • Credit by exam—appears as CR on the transcript—will count towards meeting the affiliated foundational outcome as will AP and CLEP equivalent course credit. Departmental credit and exemptions appear as DC and EX on the transcript—will no longer be allowed for meeting foundational learning outcomes.