Consistent with its mission and guiding principles, Florida Gulf Coast University is committed to academic excellence and continuous quality improvement, as supported by a sound teaching-learning process. Within this process, students and instructors share responsibility for learning that is a movement from the simple to the complex, the concrete to the abstract, and the dependent to the independent. The Academic Learning Compact (ALC) initiative supports the teaching-learning process by clearly identifying expected core student learning outcomes in the areas of content/discipline knowledge and skills, communication skills, and critical thinking skills; aligning curricula with expectations; and using assessment to guide continuous improvement.

Graduates will be able to:

1. Design and present IT solutions to address business challenges or seek new business opportunities.
2. Create an IT solution by implementing & building databases & applications.
3. Investigate information systems & technologies, relate them to business, & champion the IT solution among user groups.
4. Demonstrate knowledge in all areas of their College of Business course of study.

Content/discipline knowledge and skills are assessed at the college and departmental levels through ETS Major Field Tests and through papers, exams, and projects completed in courses in the major, including ISM 3230 Intro Business Programming, ISM 3232 Intermediate Business Programming, ISM 3212 Database Concepts & Administration, and ISM 3113 Systems Analysis & Design.

Graduates will be able to:

1. Employ the conventions of standard written English.
2. Select a topic, and develop it for a specific audience and purpose, with respect for diverse perspectives.
3. Select, organize, and relate ideas and information with coherence, clarity, and unity.
4. Explain an IT solution to both IT professionals and business people using commonly used IT methods--- including modeling techniques, diagrams, inline comments and prototypes, among others.

Communication skills are assessed as part of the General Education Program through papers, exams, and projects completed in ENC 1101 Composition I, ENC 1102 Composition II, and HUM 2510 Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts. Communication skills are also assessed in the capstone course GEB 4890 Business Strategy.

Graduates will be able to:

1. Select and organize information.
2. Identify assumptions and underlying relationships.
3. Synthesize information, and draw reasoned inferences.
4. Formulate an appropriate problem solving strategy.
5. Evaluate the feasibility of the strategy.
6. Use systems-thinking to understand and frame IT business problems.

Critical thinking skills are assessed as part of the General Education Program through papers, exams, and projects completed in ENC 1101 Composition I, ENC 1102 Composition II, and HUM 2510 Understanding the Visual and Performing Arts. Critical thinking skills are also assessed in the capstone course GEB 4890 Business Strategy.

Revised June 2010