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Transformative Learning

Inspire Students Through Transformative Learning

Shenandoah University will focus on rigorous, innovative programs and engaged student learning.

  1. Develop a vibrant environment that fuses liberal and professional learning to produce a world-class education that is broad, inspiring, and relevant.
    1. Articulate and operationalize clear and compelling goals for general education
    2. Use high-impact practices to embed liberal learning in professional and pre-professional curricula
    3. Engage students in learning and service activities in partnership with communities and organizations external to the university
    4. Demonstrate practical applications and career opportunities for all degrees
    5. Invest in the College of Arts & Sciences as an academic foundation of the university
    6. Further develop the advising system to foster collaborative relationships that support students in setting and achieving educational and career goals
  2. Build on existing strengths to create new interdisciplinary and interprofessional programs that will graduate students who are competitive, forward-thinking and prepared to meet societal needs.
    1. Increase avenues for faculty interactions between programs and schools
    2. Allocate administrative support to identifying and shepherding such programs
    3. Create IPE opportunities at the undergraduate level and intertwine IPE throughout graduate HP, nursing and pharmacy curricula
    4. Launch new programs that align with mission, build on strengths, are resource positive or neutral, and meet societal needs
  3. Employ creative delivery models and emerging technologies to improve academic quality, access and affordability.
    1. Support development of online and hybrid courses and programs
    2. Continue to use emerging technologies to support programs at multiple locations
    3. Collaborate with other institutions to expand offerings, such as the VFIC l language consortium
  4. Build and support a faculty and staff that educate and inspire students through innovative, rigorous, student-centered teaching and advising.
    1. Strengthen faculty development for teaching in disciplinary and general education courses
    2. Strengthen support for faculty scholarship
    3. Improve faculty salaries in areas where they are below national medians for similar institutions
  5. Engage our students through experiences inside and outside the classroom that bring theory to practice, develop intellectual capacity and higher-order thinking, and engender transformative learning in career and life skills, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and cultural competency.
    1. Develop general education to broadly incorporate experiences outside the classroom
    2. Strengthen connections between Academic Affairs, Student Life, and Enrollment Management to support synergistic and mutually supportive programs
    3. Expand international experiences with specific goal of increasing the number of students studying abroad
    4. Expand opportunities and recognition for student research
    5. Connect with expanded Career Center to integrate career skills into academic programs as appropriate
  6. Position ourselves to maximize student learning with leading-edge assessment.
    1. Create institutional structure to facilitate and integrate the planning and assessment process
    2. Improve monitoring of student retention
    3. Create dashboard for senior administrators and trustees