Pathways 10-Year Program Review
Pathways General Education is embarking on a full program review. The program launched at Virginia Tech in 2018, and this will be its first comprehensive review. Over the next two years, we’ll gather data from students, faculty, and staff, bring people together to make sense of it, and use what we learn to recommend improvements through shared governance.
We’ll be looking at what’s working in the program, what isn’t, and what should be improved. This will be a dynamic, campus-wide process, so this page is your home base for information on the review: what’s being examined, what we hope to learn, how to share your perspective, and regular updates as the work moves forward. Based on the data collected and the community feedback received, the goals, process, and timeline of the review are subject to change. Any such changes will be posted here.
Have questions about the review that aren’t answered here? You can contact the Office of General Education by emailing Jenni Gallagher or calling her at 540-231-1691.
A 10-year review is a chance to step back from day-to-day administration and take a comprehensive look at how Pathways is working. What’s working great, and what can be improved? What’s in the scope of the review? Basically, everything about the program, including:
- The Core and Integrative Concepts — A close look at each of the Pathways concepts — the six current core concepts and two integrative concepts — to determine whether each should be revised, removed, or recommitted to as-is.
- Concept 7: Critical Analysis of Identity and Equity in the U.S. — Concept 7 has been suspended as of October 1, 2025. The review will determine a path forward, which could mean revising it, reimagining it around a different focus, or removing it.
- Student learning outcomes and rubrics — Whether the outcomes and the rubrics used to assess them still reflect what a Pathways course should deliver, informed by four years of assessment data.
- Pathways Minors — Whether the minors are reaching the students they’re designed for, and where participation could grow.
- Enrollment and course distribution — How students fulfill Pathways requirements, and whether enrollment is distributed in ways that serve the program’s goals.
- High-impact Pathways — Opportunities like study abroad and service learning that fulfill Pathways requirements, and how participation in them might expand.
This scope may be refined as the review progresses. Check Review Updates for the latest information.
This review is organized around three goals:
- Understand where the program stands today, by gathering data from a wide range of Pathways stakeholders — students, faculty, staff, and the broader community.
- Engage faculty directly with that data, through working groups, campus events, and other formats designed to bring people into the analysis rather than just report findings to them.
- Recommend program improvements through shared governance, working through the University Curriculum Committee for General Education (UCCGE) and, where appropriate, broader governance processes.
What kinds of improvements might come out of this?
Recommendations coming out of the review could touch any part of the program, including:
- Revising or recommitting to the Pathways program as a whole
- Revising, removing, or recommitting to individual core and integrative Concepts
- Determining the future of Concept 7
- Improving student learning outcomes and assessment rubrics across all concepts
- Improving how Pathways enrollment is managed and distributed
- Expanding student participation in Pathways minors
- Expanding participation in high-impact alternative Pathways like study abroad and service learning
The review runs through 2029, with the goal of launching the revised Pathways program in fall 2030. See the Proposed Timeline below for the full timeline.
A successful review depends on hearing directly from you, those who are teaching, taking, and advising for Pathways courses, about what’s working, what isn’t, and where you’d like to see change.
Ways to participate:
- Faculty and staff survey — We have developed a survey to gather input on what’s working, what isn’t, and how much appetite there is for change (big, small, or none). Anyone in the campus community (faculty, students, staff, administrators) can take the survey. We will link the survey here in mid-August, once it goes live.
- Assesstival — A full-day event on October 9, bringing faculty together to dig into assessment data by concept area, in small groups, alongside a full-program overview. Participants are recruited by concept area based on their experience with Pathways. Apply to participate. The deadline for applications is September 15, 2026. Selected participants will receive $350 and lunch.
- Campus listening sessions — Drop-in conversations open to the broader campus community. Dates/locations TBD.
- Department and committee visits — Request a Pathways review presentation for your department, committee, or student organization. Email Jenni Gallagher to request a presentation.
- Pathways office hours — Share your thoughts during office hours, held every first and third Friday of the academic year from 10:00–11:00 a.m. on Zoom.
- Direct contact — Email the Office of General Education at jennigal@vt.edu.
Input gathered through surveys, working groups, and events will be compiled and shared with UCCGE. Any recommendations for program improvement drafted by the UCCGE will be shared with the campus community for feedback before they are presented to university governance.
Fall 2026 — We’ll be looking at the assessment data collected from the prior two years. The program self-study also gets underway, gathering data into a formal self-assessment.
Spring 2027 — An external review team examines the program from the outside. UCCGE continues to gather feedback from the university community.
AY 2027-28 — Recommendations move through shared governance, including a decision on the future of Concept 7.
AY 2028-29 — Approved changes to the curriculum are implemented.
Fall 2030 — The new and improved Pathways program is live for students.
- Concept 7 still suspended for all students. All students’ DARS will reflect that their requirements for concept 7 have been met.
- There is a governance moratorium on new or revised Pathways courses and Pathways minors (some exceptions may apply).
- The UCCGE will continue to review study abroad and special study proposals.