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Academic Improvement Plan

Academic Improvement Plan

As part of Federal Compliance and Student Consumer Information USAO is required to notify all enrolled and prospective students when an institution has a plan for improving an academic program.

The programs listed below are part of USAO current improvement plan:

Interdisciplinary Studies

In order to facilitate student learning and to increase retention and graduation rates, the following curriculum changes in the Interdisciplinary Studies sequence have been made:

  • A three-hour First-Year Seminar (FYS)  is now required. This course emphasizes community building and both practical and specific skill attainment. Topics range from financial literacy to successful notetaking to course enrollment.
  • The Rhetoric and Critical Thinking course has been deleted with a logic component being placed in the Math in the Modern World class; speeches will be required in FYS as well as in at least two courses in each major (designated as speech intensive in the USAO catalog course description) and critical thinking being emphasized in all IDS courses. 
  • Senior Seminar has been deleted with intensive writing being required throughout the IDS courses as well as in at least two courses in each major (designated as writing intensive in the USAO catalog course description).