University of Arizona Faculty Rush to Launch Improperly Structured Civics Curriculum

The University of Arizona (U of A) is facing accusations of rushing to launch an improperly structured civics curriculum.

The Arizona Board of Regents (ABOR) mandated civics curriculum in 2021, “the study of American Institutions,” approximately six years after the legislature made Arizona the first state to require high school students to pass a civics exam prior to graduation.

Per ABOR, the civics curriculum would include the following seven components at minimum:

• How the history of the United States continues to shape the present;
• The basic principles of American constitutional democracy and how they are applied under a republican form of government;
• The U.S. Constitution and major American constitutional debates and developments;
• The essential founding documents and how they shaped the nature and functions of American institutions of self-governance;
• Landmark Supreme Court cases that have shaped law and society;
• The civic actions necessary for effective citizenship and civic participation in a self-governing society — for example civil dialog and civil disagreement; and
• Basic economic knowledge to critically assess public policy options and to inform professional and personal decisions

U of A’s proposed civics curriculum, Civic Institutions, proposes to fit all these requirements within one general education class worth three units (aka “credits”).

That, on top of the existing university requirements for general education curriculum: diversity and equity, quantitative reasoning, world culture and studies, and writing instruction.

In order to make room for the civics course within its general education tract, faculty governance reduced three unit hours from the “Building Connections” course, which combines knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines and/or perspectives.

By contrast, Arizona State University (ASU) and Northern Arizona University (NAU) spread their civics curriculum across multiple courses. ASU requires an American Institutions course as well as a Governance and Civic Engagement course. NAU requires six credit hours within Social and Political Worlds, equivalent to two classes.

Despite several deans of U of A colleges submitting their concerns about the prematurity of the curriculum’s rollout, the University-wide General Education Committee (UWGEC) approved the civics curriculum in September and submitted it to the Faculty Senate for consideration.

In 2023, government and public policy professor Suzanne “Suzi” Dovi told Inside Higher Ed the civics tract would consist of multiple classes: one broad survey course followed by a course on a specific topic of a student’s choosing.

Dovi taught one of the piloted survey courses that year. She expressed a desire to depart from the requirements imposed by ABOR, which she indicated were repetitious given the high school civics test. To that end, Dovi had students engage in alternative assignments like writing their own, modern version of the Declaration of Independence and conducting a “democratic audit” of the country.

Dovi chaired the Civic Learning Task Force committee to develop the American Institutions and Civic Knowledge curriculum from 2021 to 2022. This committee produced civic learning and civic knowledge (CLCK) student learning outcomes.

Last February, U of A formed two faculty forums on Civic Learning to collect input. This was succeeded by the CLCK Advisory Group, led by the university’s coordinator for instructional support for intentional design, Treya Allen.

Some have alleged dozens of parliamentary and process violations in the Faculty Senate presentation and action on the proposed civics curriculum at the October meeting. This was addressed in a Monday opinion piece by economics professor and longtime UWGEC member Mark Stegeman, who regularly attended the discussion group created to discuss the civics curriculum.

Stegeman also accused the university of not properly assigning a formal membership or leadership structure to the groups charged with creating the civics curriculum. Stegeman noted witnessing a disproportionate representation of Provost Office or College of Social and Behavioral Science members.

“It was never charged to produce recommendations and was outside the normal decision chain,” said Stegeman.

Stegeman said none could answer him at UWGEC’s last meeting about seat capacity and course availability by spring 2027 — driving concerns about the ability for students to fulfill this graduation requirement.

Several weeks ago, ABOR touted Arizona’s three public universities as leading the nation in civic knowledge among undergraduates.