Office of Academic Compliance
Academic compliance refers to policies, procedures, and practices in place to ensure that actions regarding degree and certificate programs – from the content of the offerings, to how and where they are delivered – adhere to institutional, state, accreditation, and federal requirements and standards.

How will we use this information?

How do we improve students’ educational experiences?

The faculty committee for quantitative reasoning assessment convened in Winter 2025 and reviewed the results. Committee members were encouraged by the results considering the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disruption to education. The comparable participant performance from this assessment to the previous assessment was noted. They expressed concern that some populations underperformed.

Individual reports are shared with each of the schools and, when appropriate, reports are shared with each program that participates in the assessment. Programs are asked to consider this information alongside their disciplinary definitions of quantitative reasoning and their authentic assessments within the curriculum. Programs are asked to develop action plans if students are not meeting expectations.

Strengthening Reasoning at UVA

The university sought out and was awarded two large grants from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in 2022. Both initiatives complement the university’s goals to strengthen scientific and quantitative reasoning skills at scale. 

Driving Departmental Change

Through the Driving Change Initiative, UVA aims to build collaborations across the university to ensure that all students have opportunities to excel in STEM. Through this model, faculty are supported by an implementation team to create and execute pathfinder projects that are designed to improve student experiences and outcomes. Here are a few examples of what these projects look like: 

Chemistry 

  • Developed a learning community of first-generation students to provide additional support during the pivotal transition to college as a STEM major. 
  • Developed STEP (Science Transparency, Engagement, and Participation) videos that will reveal to first-year students the hidden information for engaging in undergraduate research. 
  • Generated testimonials and motivational and instructional materials to encourage transfer students to seek out RA and TA positions in Chemistry.    

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

  • Increased undergraduate student access to experiential learning and extracurriculars, as well as enhanced academic advising practices. 

Driving Change Within Introductory Courses

As part of a Learning Community Cluster with 13 other institutions, UVA faculty across five departments – applied Math, Biology, Chemistry, Math, and Physics – worked on redesigning introductory STEM courses to facilitate student success. They engaged in a range of learning opportunities and translated those into new ideas for reimagining their courses. HHMI closed the Inclusive Excellence 3 Initiative in Spring 2025.  

Here are a few examples of how faculty aimed to support student learning in introductory courses: 

  • Integrating Pre-calculus - The Applied Mathematics program incorporated a pre-calculus component into introductory Calculus courses to create a solid foundation for future courses. Students received review materials and opportunities to pass a pre-calculus test.
  • Standards-based Grading - The Applied Mathematics program created a standards-based (a.k.a. mastery) grading scheme for Calculus I.
  • Expanding Active Learning - The Biology program developed interactive elements, such as escape rooms, to help students engage directly with course materials, review lecture topics, and increase data literacy through real-time visualization of datasets.
  • Developing Highly Effective Exams – The Biology program revised exam questions to reflect learning objectives, address all levels of Bloom’s taxonomy, and be equitable and effective for an introductory course.
  • Meeting Students Where They Are in Math - The Chemistry program incorporated math skills into introductory chemistry curriculum using assignments that develop and refresh math skills throughout the semester.
  • Redesigning Math 1190/1210 – The Math program improved students’ growth mindset through growth-based assessments and purpose mindset using math-in-context application days.
  • Making Physics Relevant – The Physics program redesigned worksheets for pre-health courses to include conceptual and computational questions specific to life science topics.