This course explores the major philosophic systems that have functioned as foundations for western higher education and investigates the interplay of theories of knowing and models of learning in the context of higher education. In either case, it pays special attention to the use of biblical categories to analyze and to direct the discussion toward the development of normative and practical alternatives for higher education.
This course provides a general overview of the historical development of American colleges and universities, beginning with the colonial period and continuing through the current scene. The course will also explore the interplay of Christian faith with the historical development of American higher education.
This course is designed to introduce students to what might be called the worldviews that shape and have shaped the academy. More specifically, students will uncover and analyze underlying assumptions, perspectives, and practices that are present in American higher education historically and presently. Students will also be introduced to a biblical worldview as a framework for examining other worldviews that are currently operating in the American academy.
This course examines the concepts of vocation, work, and faith commitment particularly as they take shape within the context of higher education. We will discuss biblical and theological perspectives on vocation and work in an effort to assess their merit and relevance for professional and personal life. In addition, we will consider the issue of leadership and its relationship to personal and professional development.
This course examines major human and student development theories that attempt to describe and explain the college experience. Taking into consideration student characteristics, experiences, and expected outcomes, the course offers a multifaceted overview of who is currently in college. In this context, the course considers the feasibility of a Christian theory of college student development.
This course is designed to provide a working knowledge of the theories, concepts and competencies necessary for students interested in pursuing a career in student affairs/higher education. In keeping with a scholar/practitioner focus, this course will provide theoretical underpinnings and practical tools associated with counseling, advising and mentoring college students including professional association guidance and standards, developing communities of care and a mentoring culture, emergency and crisis response, legal and ethical concerns, counseling diverse populations, counseling for life-calling, and academic advising.
This course provides an introduction to various research methods and design that enhance professional competency in research and assessment applied to higher education and student affairs practices. Students explore how data gathering and analysis contribute to effective decisions that enhance quality of practices, policies, and educational programs, that lead to meaningful outcomes for college students and their experience.
As a capstone course, this course is intended to provide integration, cohesion, and summary to the entire course of study. We will revisit and reflect upon the foundational hopes of the program for student learning. Likewise, students will complete a culminating project that illustrates their interests, knowledge, and proficiencies within the field of higher education.
This course explores practical leadership concepts in the life and professional practice of a student affairs educator. Through experiential learning and a case-oriented approach, students will consider concepts related to working collaboratively in the university setting. Students will also learn how to use a framework for decision making as they collaborate toward critical decisions that impact not only individual students but also life in an academic community.
This course will explore the complex issues facing university and college professionals when addressing diversity and multiculturalism. We will examine the development of dominant and dominated cultures in the United States and how an increased understanding in these regards might shape how higher education professionals do their work. A Christian perspective will ground and shape the dialogue with special attention to how Christians have attempted to address issues of diversity in the past. Distinctions will be made between individual and institutional diversity challenges, and we will examine specific policies in various areas of the academy. Specific attention will be given to dialogue on issues of gender, class, race, and religious affiliation.
This course studies the higher education systems of selected other countries in an effort to understand such systems on their own terms, as well as to utilize the higher education systems of other countries as a lens through which to understand the American system more clearly. This course will involve travel to selected countries to explore their higher educational policies, practices, and people first-hand while also examining relevant literature and research about each respectively.
This course aims at exploring selective higher education administration concepts, functions, and issues in the context of the broader landscape of professional practice in contemporary intitutions of higher learning. From a leadership prospective, the course considers how certain legal issues, institutional "politics," supervision, stewardship of budgets and finances, and other issues, inform and impact institutional life and, by extension, the student experience.