Hi All
Is anyone in a department where spirituality is an explicit part of
the departments' mission or vision; student learning outcomes; etc.?
Our department is going to look at issues related to mission and
vision, and I'd like some help conceptualizing how spirituality could
fit into the picture. I know how it can fit in at the course level,
but what about the level of a department?
It is funny that this should be such an unanswered question, when you
think about the conclusions of the UCLA's Higher Education Research
Institute's study, "The Spiritual Life of College Students"
The national freshman survey indicates that students are very
interested in spiritual and religious matters and have high
expectations for the role their institutions will play in their
emotional and spiritual development. About two-thirds consider it
“essential” or “very important” that their undergraduate experience
enhances their self-understanding (69%), prepares them for responsible
citizenship (67%), develops their personal values (67%), and provides
for their emotional development (63%). Moreover, nearly half (48%) say
that it is “essential” or “very important” that college encourages
their personal expression of spirituality.
Despite the students’ high level of interest in spiritual matters,
findings from the pilot survey of third-year undergraduates show that
colleges and universities appear to be doing little either to help
students explore such issues or to support their search in the sphere
of values and beliefs. For example, more than half (56%) of the
students who completed the pilot survey say that their professors
never provide opportunities to discuss the meaning and purpose of
life. Similarly, nearly two-thirds (62%) say professors never
encourage discussion of spiritual or religious matters. While 39
percent indicate that their religious or spiritual beliefs have been
strengthened by “new ideas encountered in class,” 53 percent report
that the classroom has had no impact. Nearly half (45%) report
dissatisfaction with how their college experience has provided
“opportunities for religious/spiritual reflection.”
Overall, findings to date suggest that college students place a
premium on their spiritual development and many of them hope—indeed,
expect—that the college experience will support them in their
spiritual quest. The challenge for higher education is thus to
understand the priority that students place on these issues and to
examine how the students’ quest can be supported.
When I think about facilitating students’ spiritual development,
providing opportunities for discussing the meaning or purpose of life,
developing moral character, and helping students clarify and develop
their personal values; I wonder to what degree should these be part of
a department's mission, and if so, what form does/should it take?
- Don
---
Don McCormick
Department of Management, College of Business and Economics
California State University Northridge, Juniper Hall 4218
18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge CA 91330
http://www.csun.edu/~dmccormick (818) 677-2418
"Choose your corner, pick away at it carefully, intensely and to the
best of your ability, and that way you might change the world." -
Richard Feynman
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