The UNC System Common Ground Collaborative
The UNC System Common Ground Collaborative is a faculty-driven initiative designed to strengthen students’ oral communication, rational argument ability, and critical thinking skills through structured dialogue, discourse, and debate.
A Collaborative Framework
Systemwide, faculty are thoughtfully engaging students in examining multiple perspectives—whether through hypothesis testing in STEM disciplines, case analyses in business, interpretive inquiry in the humanities, or evidence-based argumentation in the social sciences. The UNC System Common Ground Collaborative aims to elevate this work by:
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- Bringing together small, interdisciplinary faculty teams to develop disciplinary or interdisciplinary content focused on evidence-based dialogue, discourse, dialectic, and debate pedagogies
- Building and sharing teaching resources across disciplines to support respectful dialogue and rigorous academic inquiry
- Providing stipends for course enhancements and new course development
- Facilitating faculty presentations and professional development workshops
- Providing support to student organizations interested in hosting related events or developing programming guidelines
This initiative does not prescribe viewpoints, ideological balance, or specific content. Rather, it supports faculty and students in applying dialogue and debate methods consistent with disciplinary standards, professional judgement, and existing academic freedom protections.
Join the Common Ground Collaborative
There are multiple ways for faculty to engage in dialogue-based teaching, scholarly collaboration, and Systemwide professional development through the UNC System Common Ground Collaborative.
Scholarly Contributions
Contribute to a shared community of practice through course development, peer review, webinars, and documentation of teaching outcomes, alongside research-informed assessment of student learning.
Funding Opportunities
Access funded opportunities and professional development resources, including course enhancement stipends, new course development funding, teaching awards, workshops, and collaborative scholarly activities.
Inaugural Convening
Join UNC System faculty and staff at the inaugural Common Ground Collaborative convening at UNC Charlotte on May 14, 2026, to share expertise, engage in professional development, and build an interinstitutional community of practice.
How To Apply
Full-time UNC System faculty are encouraged to apply through their provost offices, consistent with institutional curriculum oversight practices, and ensure alignment with campus-level academic processes.
Upcoming Deadlines:
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- Course enhancement proposals are due to the System Office by April 30, 2026.
- New Course development proposals are due to the System Office by April 30, 2026. Note: Institutions may set earlier deadlines to meet the System Office deadlines.
For additional information, please contact Dr. Michelle Solér, associate vice president for academic and faculty affairs, at mlsoler@northcarolina.edu.
Participation Expectations
Building Systemwide Community of Practice
The UNC System Common Ground Collaborative is designed as a funded scholarly teaching initiative that brings together faculty from across the UNC System to strengthen dialogue-based pedagogy within disciplinary teaching. Participants contribute to a shared community of practice by developing course materials, engaging in peer collaboration, and reflecting on teaching outcomes that support students’ communication, argumentation, and critical thinking skills.
Through these activities, the initiative aims to foster cross-institutional collaboration while contributing to the broader scholarship of teaching and learning.
Course Development and Implementation
Faculty participating in the initiative will either enhance an existing course or develop and teach a new course that integrates dialogue, discourse, or debate as a structured component of student learning.
Developmental Peer Review
Participants will engage in developmental peer review of course materials developed by one or two fellow faculty members in the initiative.
Knowledge Exchange
Faculty will participate in a Systemwide webinar, during which they will present outcomes from their courses and reflect on instructional approaches, challenges, and lessons learned.
Course Documentation
Following course implementation, participants will submit a brief course write-up documenting their instructional approach and outcomes.
Student Learning Assessment
As part of the initiative’s scholarly focus, participating faculty will administer an IRB-approved pre- and post-course student survey designed to assess changes in key student learning outcomes, such as:
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- Students’ confidence in oral communication
- Their ability to engage constructively in academic disagreement
- Growth in evidence-based reasoning and argumentation skills
Survey findings will be aggregated across participating courses and may contribute to future research and publications related to the scholarship of teaching and learning.