The General Education Assessment Committee was tasked with assessing the general education curricular reform efforts undertaken by the University of Virginia College of Arts & Sciences during academic years 2017-2019, that is, the pilot implementation of the New College Curriculum. Central to our mission was assessing the ability of the program to achieve its stated goals and determining its effects (and what effects it will likely have in the future) on faculty and students both directly and indirectly involved with the program.

The main findings of this committee are, in brief:

• Program sustainability & investment: While the sustainability and scalability of the New College Curriculum have been a concern for many College faculty and staff, we found no evidence of any significant present issues, financial or otherwise.
• Impact on departments & faculty: College faculty have a number of concerns about the impact of the program, especially how faculty becoming College Fellows affected (or may affect) department or program teaching needs.
• Experience of the College Fellows: The College Fellows that have served in the program have described a positive experience, highlighting course design, teaching outside of their disciplines, new interactions and relationships with faculty across Grounds, and student engagement and diversity.
• Student experience: The students who participated in the New College Curriculum pilot were, in general, excited, engaged, and had positive experiences to share. They enjoyed the smaller class sizes, more direct and meaningful interactions with their professors and peers, and were excited by the opportunity to engage in profound conversations during the first semester of their first year.
• Student academic progress & navigation: While the New College Curriculum requires five more credits of students than the Traditional Curriculum, our investigations revealed that pilot program students are still on track to finish their General Education requirements and graduate from every major in the College. That said, the Engagements courses can be a logistical and scheduling hardship for students in some cases.
• Enrollment effects across the College: We conducted a comprehensive 10-year review of the student enrollments of every department in the College and did not observe any enrollment changes in any department that could be reliably attributed to the pilot implementation of the New College Curriculum specifically.

Overall, and as described more fully in the report, our studies reveal that the pilot of the New College Curriculum met its intended goals and seems well-positioned for future success. In addition, our studies reveal support and enthusiasm for the program by external reviewers, College faculty associated with the program, and most students who participated during the pilot period. Our studies also identified concerns from both faculty and staff regarding the long-term sustainability of the program, and the impact it may have, if fully adopted by the College faculty.

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