ACE Program FAQs

ACE: The Program

1. What is ACE?
   
   
2. What are the ACE Student Learning Outcomes?
   
   
3. What courses are certified for ACE?
   
   

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1. What is ACE?

UNL's Achievement-Centered Education (ACE) Program is built on student learning outcomes that answer the fundamental question, "What should all undergraduate students—irrespective of their majors and career aspirations--know or be able to do upon graduation?"
ACE is a thirty-hour program and consists of the equivalent of three credit hours for each of its ten ACE Student Learning Outcomes.

Hallmarks of the Program include:

• ACE is outcomes-focused. Students will know why they are taking the class [and experiences] and what they will learn. ACE is designed to help students integrate what they learn throughout their education and in their lives.
• ACE is shared by all 8 undergraduate colleges - What works for one, works for all.
• ACE is simple for faculty and advisers to administer and for students to understand.
• ACE allows faculty to assess and improve their effectiveness and facilitate students' progress.
• ACE accommodates the full range of undergraduate students (e.g., transfer students, distance students, diverse students, rising achievement levels of incoming undergraduates, non-traditional students, etc.).
• ACE enhances the undergraduate experience by providing broad exposure to multiple disciplines, complementing the major, and helping students develop important reasoning, inquiry, and civic capacities.
• ACE gives students more responsibility for their own learning.
• ACE places responsibility for the success of the program with the faculty, who will create, govern, manage and teach the courses.

The *approved structural criteria for the ACE Program is available at: ACE Structural Criteria PDF
(*approved by UNL faculty January 2008)

2. What are the ACE Student Learning Outcomes?

There are Ten ACE Student Learning Outcomes which align with four Institutional Objectives (approved by UNL faculty January 2008). View these below or open the Ten ACE Student Learning Outcomes PDF.

Develop intellectual and practical skills, including proficiency in written, oral, and visual communication; inquiry techniques; critical and creative thinking; quantitative applications; information assessment; teamwork; and problem-solving.

ACE 1. Write texts, in various forms, with an identified purpose, that respond to specific audience needs, incorporate research or existing knowledge, and use applicable documentation and appropriate conventions of format and structure.

ACE 2. Demonstrate communication competence in one or more of the following ways: (a) by making oral presentations with supporting materials, (b) by leading and participating in problem-solving teams, (c) by employing a repertoire of communication skills for developing and maintaining professional and personal relationships, or (d) by creating and interpreting visual information.

ACE 3. Use mathematical, computational, statistical, or formal reasoning (including reasoning based on principles of logic) to solve problems, draw inferences, and determine reasonableness.

Build knowledge of diverse peoples and cultures and of the natural and physical world through the study of mathematics, sciences and technologies, histories, humanities, arts, social sciences, and human diversity.

ACE 4. Use scientific methods and knowledge of the natural and physical world to address problems through inquiry, interpretation, analysis, and the making of inferences from data, to determine whether conclusions or solutions are reasonable.

ACE 5. Use knowledge, historical perspectives, analysis, interpretation, critical evaluation, and the standards of evidence appropriate to the humanities to address problems and issues.

ACE 6. Use knowledge, theories, methods, and historical perspectives appropriate to the social sciences to understand and evaluate human behavior.

ACE 7. Use knowledge, theories, or methods appropriate to the arts to understand their context and significance.

Exercise individual and social responsibilities through the study of ethical principles and reasoning, application of civic knowledge, interaction with diverse cultures, and engagement with global issues.

ACE 8. Explain ethical principles, civics, and stewardship, and their importance to society.

ACE 9. Exhibit global awareness or knowledge of human diversity through analysis of an issue.

Integrate these abilities and capacities, adapting them to new settings, questions, and responsibilities.

ACE 10. Generate a creative or scholarly product that requires broad knowledge, appropriate technical proficiency, information collection, synthesis, interpretation, presentation, and reflection.

3. What courses are certified for ACE?

A current list of ACE certified courses is available to view on the ACE Certified Courses website.
You can perform a more specific search for ACE or other courses using the Curriculum Search tool.