Achievement-Centered Education requires that students “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. Two ACE learning outcomes help students achieve this goal:
ACE 8 outcome: Use knowledge, theories, and analysis to explain ethical principles and their importance in society.
ACE 9 outcome: Exhibit global awareness or knowledge of human diversity through analysis of an issue.
Because active military duty requires individual and social responsibility and cultural awareness, students may request that nine months of active duty military service fulfill either the ACE 8 or ACE 9 requirement.
To receive ACE 8 or ACE 9 outcome completion waiver for military service, the student must have served a minimum of nine months of active duty and complete a short essay reflecting on the experience as it relates to the outcome requested. The experience of being in the military would satisfy ACE 8 or ACE 9. The co-curricular experience, as described in this document, then meets the spirit of the outcome requested and upholds the integrity of the ACE program.
The use of veteran’s experience for one of the two outcomes is a special case of the Co-Curricular Experience. According to the ACE Governing Documents (ACE Governing Documents 4: Governance & Assessment, page 4), a Co-Curricular Experience can only be used one time to complete only one ACE outcome. Therefore, a student can complete either the Co-Curricular Experience or the Education Abroad Experience or the Veterans Experience for completion of one ACE outcome, but not more than one of these.
Requirements:
- The student must have served on active duty in the military for a minimum of nine months, as the UNL policy awards 1 credit of military science for every three months of active duty up to a total of 4 credits and the ACE governing documents require that each ACE outcome must be fulfilled by completing the equivalent of three credit hours.
- Students may select which ACE outcome (ACE 8 or ACE 9) they want to satisfy. The military service experience can only be applied to one of the two outcomes, not both. Students should talk with their adviser about appropriate transfer of other credits earned while in the military to see what might transfer to UNL.
- ACE outcome completion is to be granted for the experience of the active duty military service.
- The veteran student must work with the UNL Transfer Coordinator (325 Seaton Hall) to initiate this process. The student will be asked to complete an essay and the paperwork with the student’s home college associate dean.
- If a student seeks to fulfill the ACE 8 requirement, the essay must explain how the military service helped teach ethical principles and their importance in society.
- If the student wishes to fulfill the ACE 9 requirement, the essay must reflect on some type of global or diversity issue (or both) they encountered during the military service.
Steps to complete this process:
- The student must indicate his or her intention to receive ACE 8 or ACE 9 credit for the veteran experience with the UNL Transfer Coordinator.
- The student must complete the Veteran’s Experience ACE Completion Form. The form requires a veteran to request the outcome for which he/she seeks credit along with a short paper reflecting on how the experience relates to the outcome.
- The appropriate Associate Dean (of the student’s home college) signs and forwards Veteran’s Experience ACE Completion Form to the Office of the University Registrar (ADMS 002) to document completion of the appropriate ACE outcome in the Degree Audit System. A copy of the form and the student’s reflection paper are sent to the Undergraduate Education Program office (220 Seaton Hall) for assessment purposes.