Course Alignment FAQs

Course alignment is the process of evaluating the elements of a college course to ensure objectives, assignments, and assessments align and intentionally connect to the course description from the NC Community College Combined Course Library.

Course mapping refers to the process of planning, describing, and reviewing all course elements. This is the first step in the course alignment review process.

Quality Matters is an evaluative rubric system designed to measure the “quality” of a course.

The FTCC course alignment initiative has been carefully designed to simultaneously launch the larger, broader goal of ensuring Quality Matters alignment for every course taught at the College. This is a long-term project, requiring 2-3 years to review, map, align, and modify all College courses.

This initiative is spearheaded by the senior academic leadership of FTCC. The Center for Faculty Development has been tasked with supporting the process.

For each course, there will be a designated “Master Course Map” from which all sections of that course should be taught.

Each instructor, chairperson/program director/course manager, and dean has a role in the alignment process. Please review the 2022 Fall Course Alignment Timeline here.

Please review the 2022 Fall Course Alignment Timeline here.

The course map will be reviewed by the internal review team within the Center for Faculty Development.

Potential modifications may include but are not limited to rewriting course objectives to align with the official course description and/or rewriting module objectives to align with the course objectives; redesigning assignments with consideration for student engagement, alignment, potential issues, etc.; optimizing assessments to incorporate backward design principles.

Please review the 2022 Fall Course Alignment Timeline here.

Each dean will assess courses in their area to determine high impact courses (based on highest FTE’s and/or highest enrollment). Each dean will select those courses and notify their course managers and David Riddle, the Blackboard Administrator.

Missed deadlines may result in courses not being converted to Blackboard Ultra in time for them to be facilitated for Fall 2022.

The Quality Matters process will require ongoing evaluation and potential realignment if course elements, resources, materials, and/or descriptions are changed.

The Center for Faculty Development is available to support this process and to answer questions. Please be sure to follow the submission process outlined in the Fall 2022 Timeline.