Welcome back! I hope you had a wonderful summer and beginning of the fall. Here the leaves are starting to turn and the weather is so perfect that getting the job done gets in the way of living! Fortunately, we have well defined, exciting goals and aspirations that keep us focused and productive.
If you are a habitual reader of our E-news series, you’ve probably realized that in my welcome message I normally share news of recent events, occasionally mixed with a heads up about new university or college initiatives and plans. Today I will elaborate more than usual to explain the challenge and the reason behind one of our initiatives and actions we are attempting to address.
This fall 2014 we have 1,094 new Arts and Sciences undergraduate students, which constitutes a modest and not surprising decrease from last year’s new class of 1,256. Our current grand total of new and returning undergraduates is 4,376. Since 2010 we have experienced a steady 2-point decline per year in the proportion of new UVM students who enroll in Arts and Sciences. In the fall of 2009, 57 percent of all UVM new undergraduates matriculated in Arts and Sciences. In the fall of 2014, only 47 percent of new UVM students were in Arts and Sciences. This relative drop in enrollment is a consequence of two primary factors. First, historically, the liberal arts share of the total number of degrees awarded at UVM has been much larger than is typical at other comprehensive, public research universities. Thus, as newer colleges and schools have emerged and grown at UVM, the Arts and Sciences share of the overall student enrollment has experienced a downward trend towards normalization. The second factor is that, nationally, proportionally fewer students are choosing to pursue liberal arts degrees, and we are not the exception. This latter phenomenon is in part influenced by the high cost of a postsecondary degree and the belief that investing in a liberal arts degree will not lead to a high paying job (and in part fueled by careless bad press and demagogues who have devalued or minimized the importance and practical contributions of the arts, humanities, and social sciences to society).
Whereas students and their parents are reasonably concerned about their investment in postsecondary credentials, I would like students and parents to understand that although a postsecondary degree is practically essential for upward social advancement, the specific major is not what matters most in predicting long-term career success. Yes, employers hire graduates with field-specific knowledge attained either through college study, concrete work, or internship experience. However, we also know that employers seek graduates who are critical thinkers, flexible problem solvers, adaptable to changing environments, effective autonomous learners, and excellent communicators—all hallmark characteristics and crosscutting capacities that a good liberal education nurtures and develops.
My hope is that the Student Success focus of our Strategic Action Plan will effectively enhance the success of our students in and after college. The Student Success plan identifies two main priorities and several specific major goals within each priority. The first priority is to ensure the curriculum is innovative, engaging, meaningful, and rigorous. To this end we have identified four goals, each aimed at increasing the types of academic experiences and opportunities that help students attain the broad knowledge and intellectual skills needed for success, as well as fostering hands-on learning in activities such as senior projects, undergraduate research, and internships. The second priority of our Student Success focus is to provide effective, rewarding advising and mentoring to all students.
One of a few first steps toward the implementation of the plan includes the reorganization of the Humanities Center, which now incorporates as part of its mission the goal of promoting the Liberal Arts as a pragmatic/practical education and providing greater attention to students and the surrounding communities. To fulfill the Center’s new vision, the co-directors of the Center, David Jenemann and Luis Vivanco have plans to improve the UVM academic experience through the creation of:
Additionally, I recently appointed Professor Abby McGowan to the new position of “Director for Strategic Initiatives.” Among other priorities, Abby will take on the task of assisting departments in developing specific plans to contribute to the college goals for student success, as well as a plan to insure that advising and mentoring of students incorporate UVM Career Center’s Four-Year Plan. For example, the leaders from the Career Center have conducted a number of workshops to train our faculty assigned to the college’s Teacher-Advisor Program.
As a final example, the college’s newly created External Board of Advisors, has taken as its first project the challenge of increasing the number of Arts and Science students who pursue internship. We dedicated substantive time to the topic during our first meeting in the spring and will dedicate our fall meeting entirely to the subject. Action items the Board will address include developing plans to increase the number of paid internships available to our students and enhancing students’ access to career and professional networks. The overarching, long-term goal is to expand job opportunities for Art and Sciences students.
If you are in a position to help us expand our UVM, College of Arts and Science network of prospective employers for internship or longer-term employment, please let me know.
Thank you for listening—your support is instrumental to the success of the college.
