Three panelists – Risa Faussette, Warren Cook, and Nasihly Ortiz discussed the future of liberal education at Saint Rose. All of the panelists provided great insights about the importance and ways to improve liberal education at the College.
Faussette started the session with a wonderful presentation providing information about liberal education. Faussette outlined what liberal education is and how a liberal education provides students with learning outcomes that are essential for work and life. However, at Saint Rose, there are some shortcomings when it comes to liberal education. Faussette suggested that the Mission Statement at Saint Rose does not align with contemporary liberal education and should be updated to reflect the current times.
To strengthen liberal education at the College, Faussette outlined a possible action plan to improve liberal education at Saint Rose. The action plan is outlined below:
- Align the college’s mission statement to more tightly align with liberal education outcomes.
- Embed high-impact practices(HIPs) into liberal education.
- Revise liberal education goals to reflect the HIPs and to demonstrate the relevance of liberal education to civic engagement.
- Develop measurable, campus-wide benchmarked goals.
By implementing these action steps, Faussette believes that liberal education at Saint Rose can more closely align with the times.
Warren cook:
Warren Cook specializes in Organizational Behavior, Communication, and Ethics in the Department of Business. Warren suggests that having a liberal education is important, not just for students seeking a liberal arts degree but for students in other areas of study as well. He suggests that liberal art classes have practical applications in the real world. Students learn critical thinking and writing skills as well as developing broader views. Warren brought up a model that is implemented by other liberal universities across the country. The model focuses on both arts and sciences. If a student picks a major in science or business they will also select a minor with a more liberal arts focus. Warren suggests that this model would provide students with a more well-rounded education. Warren concluded by saying we, as a College, need to think about how we can build a strong alliance between other majors and liberal arts.
The last of our panelists was Nasihly Ortiz, a student at Saint Rose. Ortiz is currently receiving her undergraduate degree at the college. Ortiz suggests that a lot of students do not understand the importance of a liberal education. Often, students do not understand why they have to take classes outside of their intended field of study. Ortiz believes that it should be up to the school and faculty members to educate students about the importance of liberal education and why taking classes across disciplines is essential to a well-rounded education. Ortiz believes that a liberal education is vital because it provides students with skills outside of their intended discipline. She concluded her statements by saying that open conversations about liberal education should be more widely implemented.
The panelists sparked a great conversation about the importance of liberal education. Discussing ways liberal education can be more effective for students, and what the College can do moving forward to make liberal education more relevant. The participants asked questions such as: how can we help students to see the connection between the classes they are taking and the real-life applications. More so, there was discussion about making classes outside of a student’s intended major fulfilling. Professors can help students see the connection between the class’s content and real-life applications. A special thanks to our panelists.
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