Introduction
Welcome to the web site for Academic Affairs!
This part of the College is comprised of all academic departments and support offices and is responsible for maintaining the highest quality learning experience for Daemen students. An integral part of this commitment to excellence in student learning is the dedication to implementing the College's mission statement. To fulfill its mission, Academic Affairs constantly explores the proper balance between substantial innovation and important traditions. These offices and departments provide the leadership for the development of academic programs that carefully integrate a core curriculum emphasizing select skills and competencies with a major area of study to enable students to live productive and rewarding intellectual, personal, professional and civic lives.
Academic Affairs accomplishes its goal of graduating students ready to meet the profound challenges of life by providing a learning experience centered on the individual student. Students work with faculty to realize dreams, to cultivate the intellectual and practical skills necessary for personal fulfillment and professional success, and to develop a sense of responsibility for the health and well-being of the local, national, and global societies in which they live.
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As Daemen College moved into the new century, the administration and members of the faculty began a dynamic process of re-evaluating the mission of the college as well as the goals and objectives of the educational program. Recognizing that technology has altered the way we communicate, that globalization is an irreversible force, and that human interaction is incredibly complex and complicated, Daemen College has created a core curriculum designed to foster the skills that graduates will need to achieve success in the new millennium. The new core curriculum includes goals and competencies intended to help students meet the challenges inherent in living in a world in which individuals with college degrees will possibly change jobs up to 11 times in their lifetimes and change careers four to six times. The winds of change have propelled Daemen College on a journey that has lead to requiring service learning as a core requirement and to the adoption of learning communities as a primary vehicle in which students can achieve the core competencies.
Daemen College has moved beyond the one dimensional approach to teaching the core courses into one that recognizes that education needs to be more agile if it is to help prepare students for professional, intellectual, and civic leadership. Key to its approach is the new core curriculum, an exceptional and multi-pronged approach to providing students with a liberal arts education. The core is a common educational experience for all students, regardless of major, and it is designed to strengthen the student's abilities to become intellectually curious, to acquire professional rewards, to become responsible citizens and to deal with change and ambiguity. The hallmark of the core experience is the seven competencies identified as essential - critical thinking and problem solving, literacy in information and multimedia technology, communication skills, affective judgment, moral and ethical discernment, contextual competency, and civic responsibility. These seven skill areas were created with the idea that in today's world individuals need to be able to think in ways that integrate different approaches and cross disciplinary boundaries when solving problems. Students are introduced to the mission of the college and the core competencies in their first year experience. The learning communities (LC) format adopted by Daemen College is one in which classes are grouped together on a particular issue or topic of common interest that faculty members believe to be significant, challenging, and of interest to students. In the LC classes students finely tune the seven competencies as well as participate in service learning opportunities. This innovative approach to teaching allows faculty to engage students in activities that are both out in the community and on Daemen campus, such as the College's Academic Festival, a day reserved once a year for student presentations and a celebration of their work.
As students complete the core, they will have gained the skills and the ways of thinking that are commensurate with rapid change, solid thinking, and an ability to work well with a multicultural population. Honing these critical thinking skills fosters students' abilities to meet the challenges awaiting them as well as diminishes their tolerance for accepting simplistic answers. Linking the core curriculum with the myriad opportunities awaiting students in their years at Daemen College is just one way that Daemen College has met its mission and enhanced the education for all of its students. The mission of Daemen College is to prepare students for life and leadership in an increasingly complex world. Founded on the principle that education should elevate human dignity and foster civic responsibility and compassion, the college seeks to integrate the intellectual qualities acquired through study of the liberal arts with the education necessary for professional accomplishment. This integration which recognizes equal value in liberal studies and professional programs aims at preparing graduates who are dedicated to the health and well-being of both their local and global communities.
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MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of Daemen College is to prepare students for life and leadership in an increasingly complex world. Founded on the principle that education should elevate human dignity and foster civic responsibility and compassion, the college seeks to integrate the intellectual qualities acquired through study of the liberal arts with the education necessary for professional accomplishment. This integration which recognizes equal value in liberal studies and professional programs aims at preparing graduates who are dedicated to the health and well-being of both their local and global communities.
With a Daemen education, students will acquire the skill to solve problems creatively and think critically. They will be comfortable with diversity and will recognize the importance of a global perspective. They will be able to work with others and be invigorated by environments that present challenges and demand innovation. Daemen students are expected to be active participants in their own education and informed citizens who understand that learning is a life-long journey.
At the heart of Daemen's integrated learning experience is the relationship that can develop between the college's faculty and its students. Daemen prides itself on maintaining a student-centered atmosphere and a close professional and collaborative association among all members of the college community. Assisted by a supportive faculty, Daemen students are encouraged to pursue goals beyond their initial expectations, to respond to academic challenges, and to develop habits of mind that enrich their lives and their community.
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LIBERAL ARTS AND LEADERSHIP
The Liberal Arts often provide the keys that open the doors to leadership. Facts that support this reality abound, as do reflections by professionals on the value of their Liberal Arts training. Other Professionals lament not having the benefit of a Liberal Arts background.
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Important Facts
Fact
Liberal arts majors generally reach middle management positions faster than other majors (AT&T Management Study).
Fact
The liberal arts are more effective in teaching communication skills, general knowledge and information, an understanding of people, an appreciation of ethical concerns, an ability to organize and prioritize, and vital leadership skills (Fortune 500 study).
Fact
Fortune 500 CEO's believe that managers and CEO's of the future will need to be proficient in at least one second language and culture and comfortable in different cultural settings (Fortune 500 study and Hersh, "Intentions and Perceptions").
Fact
People in the professions will change careers two to four times during their working life and may change jobs every two to three years (Hersh, "The Liberal Arts College").
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Reflections
A joint study conducted by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and Portland State University found that seniors in college believe that a liberal arts education effectively helps them to understand the human condition; develop creative thinking skills; develop intellectual skills that can be applied to any endeavor; cultivate skills for lifelong learning; and develop interpersonal skills.
In "Educating Tomorrow's Doctors: The Thing That Really Matters is That We Care," published in Academic Medicine , Dr. Andrew G. Wallace argues that medical schools must work to regain the public trust and that one way to achieve this is to select and train professionals who are liberally [sic liberal arts] educated.
According to R. Hersh in Liberal Education , a national study reports that: "The CEO's and human resources managers in the survey were among the groups most appreciative of a liberal arts degree." The study also pointed out that "CEO's value the long-term outcomes of a college education - - those that prepare one not only for a first job but for a long and viable career."
In the same article, Hersh reported that in a recent survey, CEO's and human resources managers cited three groups of skills they looked for in new hires: (1) cognitive skills (problem solving, critical thinking, and continued learning); (2) presentation skills; and (3) "social skills...[such as] intercultural understanding, international experience, and foreign language facility are considered desirable."
In an alumni survey at the medium-size liberal arts Christopher Newport University in Virginia, "the clearest and most significant finding... is that graduates and employers found the skill dimensions of a liberal arts education to be extremely important."
A Ford Foundation representative argued for offering liberal arts to "young adults [who] went to college with sharply defined career interests but [who] have come to realize that their education lacked the breadth they now recognize as important to their careers and to a fulfilled life."
Bill Ziegler, the Director of recruiting in the U.S. for a large computer consulting firm, reported that liberal arts graduates " have the prerequisites to be successful. We give them top-flight training and make the investment [in them]."
A liberal arts graduate of William Smith took a position with a New York bank and reported, "[The bank managers] were targeting liberal arts graduates. They were looking for people with a broad range of experience... The job requires analysis. It's more than just the numbers." As the Director of Research for the secondary loan and trading desk at CIBC Woody Gundy Securities she said, "When I look at the people who have risen with the company, the majority of them have a liberal arts background."
Kenneth Green, author of After the Boom: Management Majors in the 1990s , notes that many business recruiters " have been complaining for some time now that business undergraduates are not as well prepared as their liberal arts peers."
What Are the Liberal Arts?
The Liberal Arts are comprised of the disciplines that make up five broad areas of study: Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Social Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, Humanities, and Second Languages and Cultures. Liberal Arts students develop depth through specialization in a particular discipline, topic, or theme and therefore exhibit both breadth and depth of knowledge. Generally, students graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree.
The Importance of the Liberal Arts
The Liberal Arts are critically important for career preparation and professional flexibility in the new millennium. They enable students to develop the following skills: written, oral, and visual communication; quantitative and qualitative reasoning; critical thinking and creative problem solving; use and understanding of information and multi-media technologies; a global perspective; and an appreciation of diversity. Given the fact that today's students are expected to change careers three to five times during their working lives, the flexibility of such an education is exceptionally suited to preparing them for that eventuality.
Daemen College students also benefit from a Liberal Arts education that teaches integrated knowledge and ways of thinking, team-work, perseverance, and a sense of responsibility for the well-being of the local and global communities in which they live.
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