2008 Woodie Awards
Larger schools realize liberal arts potential
Caitlin Dean
Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: News
Liberal arts schools will need to package themselves differently if they want to sell.
In an article from Insidehighered.com, Victor E. Ferrall Jr. cited a 2004 University of California at Los Angeles survey in which students gave their primary reasons for attending college. Three-fourths of participants listed receiving specific career training, getting a better job or making more money as their top initiatives, according to the article. However, liberal arts schools expose students to a wide array of disciplines rather than narrow, career-specific paths.
"The belief now is that students will change jobs seven or eight times in a lifetime, so the idea of coming out with one job to do one thing isn't what we're about," University President Barbara Dixon said. "It will be a rare person in the future that will be able to do that."
Truman's liberal arts program will benefit students by preparing them for more than one specific job upon graduation, she said.
"The highest goals of a liberal arts education are to ignite the individual's curiosity about the natural and social universe and then aid him or her in developing the skills and personal resources to channel knowledge into productive, satisfying activity," according to the University's mission statement.
Skills and experiences gained through Truman's liberal arts program will make individuals more flexible, Dixon said.
"We strive to fulfill our mission ... by offering ... small classes, individual attention and really striving very hard to move to broad-based skills," Dixon said. "Not only content knowledge but critical thinking, the ability to make connections, the ability to take in lots of information, analyze it, and to use that ... in creating both a lifelong learner who is never satisfied if they're not learning something new, and to provide leaders for the world and an educated citizenry."
One issue Truman now faces in recruiting new students is the fact that larger universities realize the positive values of a liberal arts education, and they are attempting to create similar set-ups such as small class sizes in their own schools, she said.
In an article from Insidehighered.com, Victor E. Ferrall Jr. cited a 2004 University of California at Los Angeles survey in which students gave their primary reasons for attending college. Three-fourths of participants listed receiving specific career training, getting a better job or making more money as their top initiatives, according to the article. However, liberal arts schools expose students to a wide array of disciplines rather than narrow, career-specific paths.
"The belief now is that students will change jobs seven or eight times in a lifetime, so the idea of coming out with one job to do one thing isn't what we're about," University President Barbara Dixon said. "It will be a rare person in the future that will be able to do that."
Truman's liberal arts program will benefit students by preparing them for more than one specific job upon graduation, she said.
"The highest goals of a liberal arts education are to ignite the individual's curiosity about the natural and social universe and then aid him or her in developing the skills and personal resources to channel knowledge into productive, satisfying activity," according to the University's mission statement.
Skills and experiences gained through Truman's liberal arts program will make individuals more flexible, Dixon said.
"We strive to fulfill our mission ... by offering ... small classes, individual attention and really striving very hard to move to broad-based skills," Dixon said. "Not only content knowledge but critical thinking, the ability to make connections, the ability to take in lots of information, analyze it, and to use that ... in creating both a lifelong learner who is never satisfied if they're not learning something new, and to provide leaders for the world and an educated citizenry."
One issue Truman now faces in recruiting new students is the fact that larger universities realize the positive values of a liberal arts education, and they are attempting to create similar set-ups such as small class sizes in their own schools, she said.
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