Volume 13, Issue 4

Are colleges and universities doing enough to prepare students for careers and lives that encourage the ethical consumption of earth's resources? Should higher education do more to promote the knowledge, skills, and behaviors that contribute to a benevolent and sustainable world? These and other questions about higher education and sustainability are examined in this issue that includes several papers from the 2012 Dalton Institute on College Student Values at Florida State University.

This article examines what colleges and universities are doing, and failing to do, to prepare students for careers and lives that encourage the ethical consumption of resources that benefit individuals, society, and the environment. Are colleges and universities promoting the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and values that contribute to a benevolent and sustainable society and world? How should higher education prepare students for lives of personal, social, and environmental responsibility that makes possible a sustainable world for future generations? The authors argue that the college setting can provide one of the best opportunities, in today’s world, to encourage young people to adopt a sustainable lifestyle.

Social entrepreneurs work to find concrete solutions to large-scale problems that are scalable and sustainable. In this article, the authors explore what the framework of social entrepreneurship might offer those seeking to positively engage religious diversity on college campuses, and highlight two programs that offer examples of what such engagement looks like.

American democracy is in disarray. While many colleges and universities have responded to the democracy crisis, their efforts are falling short. This article reviews the current situation of civic education in higher education, explores its promise and current shortcomings, and provides a radical proposal for deepening civic education and reinvigorating our democracy.

Faith-affiliated colleges and universities confront a special challenge in assessing students’ development relative to dispositional learning goals. Since 2007, three New England Catholic colleges have collaborated to evaluate students’ religious, spiritual, moral and ethical growth. A four-part mixed-method study resulted in qualitative as well as quantitative data. The findings prompt some legitimate concern but also suggest ways to enhance these campuses’ success in following through on the commitments they make to educating the whole person.

What does it mean for college men to be authentic? How can we support their efforts to transcend their own immediate needs? And what roles do trusted others play in one’s construction of identity? This article describes a preliminary new theoretical model—a Transcendence Model of Identity Construction—based on original research studying intersections between spiritual and gendered (masculine) identity among college men. Practical extensions of the theory open discussion of both its limitations and applicability.

The Gigot Center for Entrepreneurship, supported by the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame, launched a Microventuring Certificate Program in the fall of 2006, designed to engage upper-level undergraduate business and nonbusiness students in the provision of technical assistance and other consulting services to low-income entrepreneurs. This article outlines the structure of the program, discusses the program’s successes and challenges in delivery to both the students and the microentrepreneurs, as well as makes recommendations for further study in order to realize the program’s mission—that is, poverty alleviation and self-reliance among disadvantaged entrepreneurs in domestic and international communities.

Social entrepreneurship, while not a new term, does not have a universal definition. Teaching entrepreneurship in a comprehensive university capstone course often includes a formal business plan project. By incorporating concepts of social entrepreneurship, students develop an awareness of entrepreneurship beyond a more traditional approach. This article addresses how one entrepreneurship professor developed a social entrepreneurship approach, why it was done, and how it was done in an entrepreneurship capstone course. Content includes the incorporation of social and ethical audits, social entrepreneurship as a profitable venture, and a review of lessons learned by students and the instructor.

Developing character, ethical values, social responsibility, and productive citizenship is identified in the mission of many colleges and universities. However, accomplishing and measuring such growth in students is often questionable. This article describes Northern Michigan University’s Student Leader Fellowship Program, discusses development and implementation of the program, identifies several of the program’s learning objectives, presents quantitative and qualitative outcomes assessment data demonstrating the program’s impact on students, and discusses factors key to the twentyplus years of program success.

Despite increased attention for environmental sustainability programming, large-scale adoption of pro-environmental behaviors has been slow and largely short-term. This article analyzes the crucial role of ethics in this respect. The authors utilize an interdisciplinary approach drawing on virtue ethics and cognitive development theory to construct an ethic of environmental sustainability and discuss its implementation in higher education. A meta-review of research on sustainability initiatives indicates that long-term adoption of pro-environmental behaviors requires the cultivation of sustainable persons. The authors argue that colleges and universities have a unique ability to cultivate sustainable persons through practices and policies that embody a sustainable campus.

The author, a millennial college student, describes how his international service experiences positively influenced his social and moral development. He suggests ways educators may inspire students to develop core character values. He also argues that promoting these core values has been a primary purpose of the academy in the United States since its colonial beginnings.

This article describes the development of the Dorothy Day Social Justice Community, a sophomore, social justice-focused living–learning community at Marquette University. The authors describe the administration of the community, discuss various elements of the community, and share assessment results. They also detail lessons learned from three years of administering the community, namely that support should be built throughout the university, barriers removed to student participation, a voice given to students in the administration of the community, and assessment done to guide practice.

How can evangelical Christian colleges prepare their students to lead lives of Christian faith in a postmodern world characterized by cultural heterogeneity? Fallibilist Christian spirituality is presented as an orientation that empowers students to be receptive to the insights of diverse perspectives while maintaining their personal faith commitments. Drawing on the author’s previous empirical research on fallibilist Christian spirituality and its institutional predictors, this article provides practical suggestions regarding how faculty and administrators at Christian colleges can create learning environments in which students both grow in their commitment to Christian faith and become more engaged with the pluralism of postmodernity.

This article argues that there are inherent problems in athletic competition relating to character development in college student athletes. A review of the research supports the claim that athletic competitions do not build character. The author proposes ways to address this problem and provides personal observations and published research to support her position.