| |
For more than 35 years, Smith has
had an open curriculum, leaving students free to choose courses outside of their
majors. Faculty, students, and alumnae have all expressed concern about whether
the current curriculum ensures a coherent liberal arts education responsive to today’s
world. We need to determine what capacities students should develop in their time
at Smith and how best to shape the curriculum to that end.
Giving greater consequence to our choices is the fact
that half the faculty are likely to retire or otherwise leave the college in the
next decade. We have
the opportunity to think anew about our disciplinary organization, creating incentives
for cooperation and coordination across disciplines and between departments and
programs. As staffing and curricular needs shift, we urgently need to talk
to each other across the curriculum, to think beyond departmental losses toward
new connections and a reconfigured core.
An ongoing faculty discussion about
the curriculum seeks to define the core capacities that every Smith graduate should
develop in her time here, including critical reasoning, writing, public speaking
and presentation, and quantitative skills. In the
course of their college years, Smith students report significant growth in their
skills and capacities. Smith compares very well relative to its peers in regard
to student perceptions of their own growth in writing, public speaking, learning
on one’s own, leadership, placing issues in perspective, foreign languages,
arts appreciation, and awareness of social issues. Students report less growth
relative to their peers in the areas of quantitative skills, identifying moral and
ethical issues, and understanding the process of science and experimentation.
Achieving
the goals we desire for our students depends significantly on the experiences and
support that students receive outside of the classroom. As a residential
college, Smith can develop programs through residence life and through extra-curricular
activities that help build essential student capacities. We already link student
life with educational experiences in a wide range of programs -- pre-orientation,
internships, and interterm. Smith has the potential to make this integration
even more purposeful and focused.
 |
|
|
 |
Provide students with
alternative “roadmaps” for structuring the 64 credits outside
the major in meaningful ways, including integrative and interdisciplinary
courses and experiences. |
|
|
|
|
|
Ensure the strength
of the multiple learning communities (e.g., libraries, museum, academic support
centers, etc.) on campus and that students understand how each can contribute
to their educations. |
|
|
|
|
|
Teach students how to navigate
the academic and other resources at Smith, providing more transparent communications
about opportunities, rethinking support systems, and revamping pre-major advising. |
|
|
|
|
|
Create a coherent and integrated
curriculum where the arts and humanities, natural sciences, engineering,
and social sciences all play important roles. |
|
|
|
|
|
Encourage courses and projects
that develop complex thinking in response to complex problems. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
Planning Process
Re-imagining
the
Liberal Arts at Smith
Strategic
Directions
Strengthen
essential student capacities
Promote
a culture of research, inquiry,
& discovery
Encourage
purposeful engagement with society’s challenges
Deepen
students’ awareness &
appreciation of
other cultures &
global issues
Prepare
women for rewarding lives in a rapidly changing world
Support & promote
environmental sustainability
Open
doors to
women of promise
Extend
Smith’s
impact on the world
Committee
on
Mission & Priorities
|
