Curricular Changes FAQs
The new Miami Plan 2023 was approved by University Senate in April 2021. Changes to the plan were a result of 18 months of input, review, and refinement by the Provost’s MP Redesign Committee stemming from the Miami Strategic Plan 2020.
The Office of Liberal Education oversees the Plan and its implementation. The policies and decisions of the Office of Liberal Education are guided by its advisory committee, the Liberal Education Council, a unit of Senate, who take into consideration the requirements and outcomes of the ODHE, HLC, MP assessment, and institutional accreditation. These policies and decisions do not affect unit and divisional requirements and are passed to Senate as consent items. For Senate deliberations relating to the Plan's development contact your representative.
When did the Miami Plan 2023 begin?
The new Miami Plan began in Fall 2023 and applies to all incoming students going forward.
Does the new Miami Plan apply to current students?
Current students (those admitted before Fall 2023) will continue to follow the Global Miami Plan (GMP) linked to their Bulletin year. Students may opt to switch to the new MP. However, they should do so in consultation with their academic advisors and CDAs.
All major/minor/divisional requirements fall under a student's Bulletin year, and those requirements may change from year to year.
What if my course already has Global, Intercultural, or some other Foundation or GMP designation?
Courses with existing Foundation or GMP designations will retain those designations in the new plan. However, courses submitted for revision in CIM, or legacy courses where a review is requested, will have to re-submit materials according to the new MP and LEC guidelines. "Legacy courses" are those with no existing paperwork, or courses not reviewed by LEC since 2017.
What are the "Four Pillars”?
The “Four Pillars” are a set of transferable skills and outcomes that are the backbone of a Miami Liberal Education. They guide all courses in the Miami Plan 2023; thus, all MP courses must meet each Pillar in some way.
The Pillars replaced the “12 LEAP Competencies” (e.g. written communication, critical thinking, quantitative analysis).
How have the Foundation courses and categories changed?
The new plan combines existing Foundation I-V, Advanced Writing, and Intercultural Competence - as well as the new DEI requirement - into four new Perspectives Areas. The "old" Foundations, IC, and ADVW will map directly onto the new Plan, just with a new name: Perspective Areas.
Existing courses with Foundation attributes, as well as IC and ADVW, will retain those attributes in the new Plan, and they will be good for both the old and new Plans.
What is the DEI (Miami Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) requirement?
Concurrent with Miami’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives, the Ohio Department of Higher Education (ODHE) now includes 3 hours Of DEI in their 36-hour General Education requirement. Miami’s DEI courses are focused on the United States (broadly defined) and will meet the SLOs posted in the DEI Course Proposal Criteria.
How are Thematic Sequences changing?
Thematic Sequences (TS) will continue to exist for several years for students who fall under the old Plan.
No new Thematic Sequences will be created.
If you make changes to an existing TS course, there will be no CIM box to check for TS since it is a part of the "old" GMP. However, courses currently in Thematic Sequences will remain TS for at least 4 years, until the TS is phased out.
How will the Miami Plan 2023 affect our department’s Senior Capstone?
Existing Senior Capstones will retain the SC designation. The LEC regularly reviews Capstones and other MP courses, which may require a course revision or curricular update. All Capstones will ultimately align with the new SLOs on the Course Proposal.
Why has my department been asked to submit a revised course proposal if courses will retain their Miami Plan attributes?
Miami Plan courses submitted for revision in CIM, or "legacy courses" where a review is requested, will have to re-submit materials. This is per the established Office of Liberal Education policy and not directly related to the new Plan.
"Legacy courses" are those with no existing paperwork in the Office of Liberal Education, or Miami Plan courses not reviewed by LEC since 2017.
What is “double dipping”? Is it the same as a course having “two designations”?
“Double dipping” is a student-oriented concept where one class could fulfill multiple Miami Plan requirements. “Double dipping” will only be allowed between Signature Inquiry and Perspectives Area courses in the new Plan, or with approved Capstones that also meet requirements for Experiential Learning. A Miami Plan course with “two designations” has, for example, humanities and global inquiry designations, but students can’t “double dip” those credits as they are both in Perspectives Areas.
In general, Miami Plan courses may not have "two designations" that are ODHE disciplinary designations (math, composition, natural science, arts, humanities, social science). Even if a course is "interdisciplinary," only ONE of these disciplinary designations can be chosen for any given course.
This rule does NOT apply to DEI (as it is not disciplinary), nor does it apply to Miami-specific attributes such as Global Inquiry, Intercultural Consciousness, Advanced Writing, or Experiential Learning. "Signature Inquiry" designation does not count as a stand-alone designation; thus a Signature Inquiry course could have e.g. Social Science and DEI, Humanities and Intercultural Consciousness, or Creative Arts and Global Inquiry.
Are lab credits required in the Natural Sciences Perspectives Area courses?
Students are required to have a lab credit in the new Miami Plan and in the Global Miami Plan, per ODHE Gen Ed guidelines.
However, as with current Foundations IVA and IVB, courses themselves may have labs - or not.
Should we propose Signature Inquiry courses at the same time as Perspectives?
We suggest that any course under revision for the new Miami Plan submit proposals for all designations at the same time.
Do my course SLOs have to be the same as the i.e. Perspectives Area Student Learning Outcomes?
NO. Course Student Learning Outcomes are distinct from any Miami Plan Student Learning Outcomes, and are entered into CIM regardless of a course's Miami Plan status.
The learning outcomes for Miami Plan attribute(s) are met by mapping the course assessments and Student Learning Outcomes onto the Miami Plan Student Learning Outcomes.
Thus in the CIM submission, you explain how activities in your course meet each learning outcome for the appropriate MP attribute.
Why did the Liberal Education Council roll back my course in CIM?
As of Fall 2021, Miami Plan 2023 course submissions in CIM are the first step (baseline) in Miami's new liberal education curriculum assessment process. Therefore, all CIM submissions for Miami Plan courses must be detailed in their descriptions; be precise in linking Student Learning Outcomes to assignments; and include an updated syllabus that reflects the new Miami Plan narrative.
In the case of a rollback, individual proposers will receive feedback in the CIM notes and an email directly from the Office of Liberal Education. The most common reasons for rollbacks have been:
- Incomplete or incorrect information provided in the text box where MP SLOs are supposed to be addressed
- The syllabus is outdated (e.g. reflects old Plans) or incomplete (lacks MP narrative)
If we make a change to our Program in CIM (i.e. major, minor), will that trigger a Liberal Education Council review of all courses in the Program?
No. Majors, minors, and certificates are not the purview of the Office of Liberal Education or the LEC. Only changes to existing Miami Plan courses in CIM will trigger a review of any specific course.
What does it mean that Miami Plan 2023 courses need to be "regularly offered"?
Students, advisors, and other programs/departments need to know that courses in the Miami Plan will be offered on a regular basis. This is crucial for e.g. degree track planning. It is a kind of "false advertising" to have courses that are rarely offered.
Therefore, as a baseline, courses in the MP should be available for students at least every two years (every four semesters), preferably more.
Are all Miami Plan 2023 courses required to be open to all students?
No. Many MP courses will be restricted to majors just as they currently are.
Only Signature Inquiries need to be open to the general population.
In the new Miami Plan, will Study Abroad/Study Away courses automatically be applied to Global Inquiry hours?
How will Study Abroad/Study Away courses be applied in the new Miami Plan?
- If a student participates in a study abroad program that awards Miami University credit for a course (e.g., Luxembourg, Faculty-Led Programs), and the course has been approved to apply to a Miami Plan requirement, then the course will automatically be applied to the requirement on the degree audit.
- If a student participates in a study abroad program that awards transfer credit through another college or university (e.g., Co-Sponsored, Exchange, or Approved Programs), then students will need to work with their academic advisor to have courses evaluated for equivalency and/or petition to apply the courses to Miami Plan requirements.
How will Study Abroad/Study Away courses be applied for students under the old Global Miami Plan?
- Courses taken through a Miami-approved study abroad program will continue to be automatically approved to count for FND IIIA (Global) hours for students who fall under the Global Miami Plan (students who entered before Fall 2023).
- If a student participates in a study abroad program that awards Miami University credit for a course (e.g., Luxembourg, Faculty-Led Programs), and the course has been approved to apply to a GMP requirement other than FND IIIA, then the course will count for FND IIIA OR the other GMP attribute in the degree audit.
- If a student participates in a study abroad program that awards transfer credit through another college or university (e.g., Co-Sponsored, Exchange, Approved Programs), once transfer credit appears on the student’s degree audit, the advisor should send an email to miamiplan@miamioh.edu confirming that the credits were earned abroad, and request that they be applied to GMP FND IIIA/B.
