ARCHIVES
2000 Annual Report
1999 Annual Report
1998 Annual Report
1997 Annual Report
1996 Annual Report

How Susquehanna is preparing students and the University for realities that do not yet exist

"Bon giorno."

It is the first session of Italian 101 and Assistant Professor Scott Manning is working the room with rapid-fire conversation. It becomes immediately clear that English is the second language here. Within five minutes, Manning has engaged each student in brief Italian dialogue. Some greet his questions with immediate comprehension. Others are clearly less comfortable, and that, says Manning, is a sign of progress too.

"Becoming familiar with another language or culture begins with difference," explains Manning, who teaches both French and Italian and also directs the University's study abroad programs. "I want students to see how to understand and value cultural differences to help them move in a diverse world - that is a more long lasting goal than language skills."

Across campus, students in an Introduction to World Affairs course taught by Assistant Professor of Political Science Andrea Lopez are analyzing the motivation behind the 1941 murder of 1,600 Jews as described in Neighbors, a new book by Jan Gross. Before the semester is out, her students will be playing the roles of international decision makers dealing with issues such as the ongoing conflict between North and South Korea or the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The common goal is to provoke thought.

"The actual dates, names and places play a relatively small role in my teaching," says Lopez. "Instead, the facts are used as tools to learn theories and analyze and apply what one reads," she explains. "The facts can be re-learned but critical thinking is a skill students can employ forever, whether they're selling widgets in China, assessing political issues, or making decisions about what to buy in the future."

Meanwhile, in Fisher Science Hall, Associate Professor of Biology Tammy Tobin-Janzen works to help students develop an understanding and appreciation of scientific methods in an introductory genetics course. "While technology changes rapidly, the fundamentals of science and how to think like a scientist and how to do science have not," she says. "Science is a way of investigating the physical world, proposing hypotheses about what you observe and performing experiments to test those hypotheses," she explains. Understanding that process, she says, can help equip students to critically evaluate the genetics behind the food, drugs and perhaps energy sources of the future.

In the Sigmund Weis School of Business, Associate Professor of Management David Bussard introduces first-year students to Business Awareness, the Susquehanna version of Management 101. Case studies, supplemental readings and weekly guest speakers replace the traditional textbook theory and concept approach. This year's project focuses on Chico's clothing company. The emphasis is on learning by doing, and students will end the semester with a team presentation to visiting executives. "The underlying purposes are to appreciate the decision making, competitive environment and technological developments that create the daily challenges for practicing managers," says Bussard.

Realities That Do Not Yet Exist

The classroom projects above are just a few of what Vice President for Academic Affairs Warren Funk describes as "real encounters in teaching and learning" at Susquehanna.

They are examples that illustrate Susquehanna's commitment to liberal learning, providing what the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU) describes as the true keys of liberal education: "substantial content, rigorous methodology and an active engagement with the societal, ethical and practical implications."

The ultimate goal is to equip students for not just today, but tomorrow; for not just a job upon graduation, but daily decisions and a lifetime of learning. "One of the key challenges is to try to be prepared for a future that will be shaped by realities that do not yet exist," says Funk.

"The future we seek to prepare for as an institution is no more certain than the future of the students whom we are trying to educate," says University President L. Jay Lemons. "In both, the knowledge and skills that are at the heart of the liberal arts are where we will place our faith."

Time of Transition

Today, Susquehanna and its students face a time of transition. A long-recognized leader among regional colleges in the northeast, the University is increasingly being compared to a larger, national group of peers. In its recent reclassification of American colleges and universities, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching placed Susquehanna in the newly named Baccalaureate Colleges Liberal Arts category. U.S. News and World Report recognizes the group as comprising the best 218 institutions for undergraduate learning in the country in its 2002 "America's Best Colleges" issue.

The new classification comes as Susquehanna is in the midst of a number of changes, including new leadership. Lemons arrived as Susquehanna's fourteenth president in February of 2001. Nicholas A. Lopardo became the chair of the University's board of directors in October of 2000. There has also been a major shift in the University's faculty responding to growth of the student body and faculty retirements. Forty-seven of Susquehanna's 106 full-time faculty have arrived within the last six years.

The future state of the economy and possible shifts in students' college choices following the September 11 World Trade Center tragedy may also pose challenges for Susquehanna and other institutions of higher education.

"The combination of all those factors will lead us to want to grapple with, in a serious way, issues that are about identity, about purpose and about the mission of Susquehanna," says Lemons, who is currently preparing the campus to embark on the University's next strategic plan.

"For me personally, one of the really important tasks is understanding and affirming a set of historical values and commitments that are a part of Susquehanna today in 2001," says Lemons. " Only then can we determine, 'Who is it we want to be next?' 'Where do we want to be a decade from now?' These are important, exciting questions."

Core curriculum review subhead

One effort already underway is a faculty review of the University's Core Curriculum, the framework of required courses taken by each student in all three schools. "It's important that this faculty have a sense of ownership of the Core, and that the Core is something that they are enthusiastic about, passionate about," stresses Funk.

The six-member faculty core review committee has recommended a mission statement, reaffirming the Core Curriculum as "the nucleus of the Susquehanna University liberal arts experience," that "creates context for advanced study in a discipline and establishes a pattern for lifelong learning."

The statement is among the first steps in what is likely to be an extensive Core review process. Several alternatives proposed for Core changes range from minor fine-tuning to a major overhaul, but all aim to fulfill longstanding Core goals to emphasize: · The interconnectedness of knowledge, encouraging students to cross boundaries between disciplines; · Critical thinking, preparing students to draw sound conclusions from observation and research, and to apply both logic and insight in seeking creative solutions to problems; · Education for citizens of the world, developing in students an experiential understanding of the diverse human community; and · Integration of the learning experience, cultivating each student's whole mind, talents and capabilities.

Academic Integration

A strong commitment to interdisciplinary programs is one way the University works to prepare both its students and the institution for the future. Susquehanna faculty and students in the departments of Chemistry, Biology and Geological and Environmental Science are collaborating for the second year to study the environmental effects of the underground mine fire in Centralia, Pa. A series of Focus programs combine study in sciences, humanities, business and the arts with short-term study abroad. The University also has formal interdisciplinary programs in International studies, diversity studies, women's studies, film studies, legal studies, and Jewish studies, along with a new minor in Health Care studies that includes courses in biology, ethics and business.

A new interdisciplinary Center for Law and Society to be named for prominent jurist Arlin M. Adams H'85 will provide a major additional learning and experiential resource for the Susquehanna community. Funded by gifts from the family of Sigfried and Janet Weis and both the Degenstein and Annenberg foundations, the center will be especially valuable for the University's prelaw students.

"One of the things that is so distinctive about Susquehanna is the integration of our fundamental commitment to liberal arts and sciences and our equally strong commitment to high-quality professional and preprofessional education," points out Funk. "We've managed to put those things together with great success and encouraged high student achievement."

Diversity Challenges

As the University pursues its core commitment to educating "citizens of the world," one of the greatest challenges will be to increase diversity in the campus community. "Demographics are always going to be an issue for us," says Sara Kirkland, who early this year was named to a new position as executive vice president for administration and planning. "We have to find ways to be attractive and affordable and accessible to people of color and people of different backgrounds."

Current efforts include a diversity studies minor, support for multicultural organizations including an Office of Multicultural Affairs led by new director Brian Johnson. There are also recruitment and retention goals in the University's strategic plan calling to increase representation by people of color to 10 percent from the current 7 percent of the student body and to 14 percent from the current 10 percent of the faculty by 2003-2004.

Special events, including an annual race relations forum and spring 2001 symposium on diversity awareness, also help to raise awareness of the issues. "We must continue to make progress in embracing diversity of all types," says President Lemons.

"We must be inclusive and responsive to the needs of individuals. We must reaffirm our commitments to caring for and about one another and we need to find new ways of celebrating as a whole community."

A Seamless Learning Environment

Supporting and enhancing the multiple and overlapping learning opportunities presented in the residential campus is yet another priority for Susquehanna. The goal is to help students thrive in a learning environment increasingly viewed as seamless. Today's Susquehanna students complement their coursework with co-curricular options ranging from internships, volunteer service, study abroad and off-campus programs to student-faculty research, music and art performances, and leadership in student organizations.

To help faculty develop a greater understanding of how students learn, the University's Office of Academic Affairs is also currently working with faculty to establish a new Center for Teaching and Learning at Susquehanna. In addition to formally recognizing and supporting excellence in teaching, the center will also explore how to make most effective use of innovative approaches to teaching. Such explorations will include ways to use instructional technology to enhance but not replace the fundamental nature of the Susquehanna educational experience.

This fall, 56 Susquehanna faculty teaching more than 100 courses are using a Web-based course management software called Blackboard to enhance communication with students. "This affords a relatively easy way for faculty to move course materials to the Web." says Funk. "It presents an integrated interface enabling electronic posting between faculty and students, among students, and across disciplines and institutions."

Critical Thinking for the Future

The Blackboard software purchase - obtained through a buying consortium with several other regional colleges -- is one example of how the University is working to maximize resources and seize opportunities, modeling the same critical thinking skills it seeks to instill in students.

"It's very important for us to take advantage of things like our size," says Kirkland. "We should be able to be very agile, to recognize what is going on, pull people together and come up with strategies and plans."

To adapt to future changes, she stresses, it will be crucial for Susquehanna to maintain a strong base of resources -- including endowment, facilities and students -- along with the ability to attract smart, thoughtful people. "Having those resources will allow us to make choices and control our destiny," she stresses.

"Susquehanna has seen good times and bad for nearly 150 years, and we are grateful we can go forward knowing that this institution is stronger than ever, well-positioned to confront a variety of issues, and with a mission that is extraordinarily relevant to meeting the challenges ahead."