Comets to the Core is a co-curricular requirement that began in the fall semester of 2017 for all first-time in college freshmen. Comets to the Core is completed during the fall semester of students first and third years at UT Dallas through the UNIV 1010/2020 course sequence. In UNIV 1010, each student is placed in a group with four other students from their school-specific Freshman Seminar course (e.g., BA 1100), whereas UNIV 2020 students participate in groups with students from various majors across the university. In both UNIV 1010/2020, group members will work together to propose a multi-faceted solution to a problem within one of four topic areas–1) good health and well-being, 2) decent work and economic growth, 3) reduced inequalities, 4) peace, justice and strong institutions–which are all part of the
United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Comets to the Core is designed to help students showcase skill-sets in the areas of critical thinking, oral and written communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and social and personal responsibility, providing UT Dallas with an opportunity to determine what students know with respect to these skill-sets, as is required by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Students complete the project during their first semester at UT Dallas and again during their third year to allow the University to measure changes in students’ skill-sets after they have completed two years of their core curriculum, and thus providing information that can be used to make improvements to core curriculum courses and other student experiences across campus. Learn more about UT Dallas’
core curriculum assessment process.
Student Learning Outcomes
Comets to the Core will enable students to:
- Collaborate with students to develop a solution to a real-world problem.
- Analyze research to identify how they can alleviate social problems in the real world.
- Identify the social, political, environmental, and economic components of a complex world problem, and will provide a solution that addresses sustainability in each of these areas.
Project Details
A suggested timeline of weekly tasks can be found here. This information is also available on the UNIV 1010 and UNIV 2020 course homepages in eLearning. You may also want to review the frequently asked questions for more information.
