Volume 7, Issue 1

To be consistent with our emphasis on authenticity, in our book on Encouraging Authenticity and Spirituality in Higher Education (With Jon Dalton and Liesa Stamm, Jossey Bass, 2006), I thought it would only be fair to share several propositions that define the basis for my own spiritual orientation. They anchor my work in higher education and have given purpose and meaning to my professional life for the last fifty years.

Marcia B. Baxter Magolda, is a featured speaker at the 2006 Institute on College Student Values that will focus on the topic of "Finding Wholeness: Students' Search for Meaning an Purpose in College." She responded to questions posed by JCC's associate editor Pam Crosby about her research on college student learning and development and on how higher education encourages maturity an identity integration.

The article describes two programs designed to help students codify their beliefs in a spiritual, not religious, context. The group experience, designed to draw upon collective wisdom, exposes them to spiritual language and practice.

This exploratory study of 354 college sophomores was designed to determine if there was a relationship between a student's activities on a college campus and his/her sense of purpose in life using a model based on psychologist Viktor Frankl's (1959) work.

The role of the practitioner/mentor is addressed in relation to college students' search for self, the human spirit, and inner peace. Often the practitioner/mentor is pursuing the same search.

On this imagined campus, respectful dialogue about public issues resonates through residence halls, public spaces, and classrooms. A sense of commitment and purpose is palpable among students, as well as among administrators, staff, and faculty. Students find ways to contribute to the public good that they enjoy and find fulfilling and that often intersect with their course of study. There is constant activity around campus as students and others work on service projects, advocacy campaigns, and community based research.

We live in an increasingly complex society where much of education is highly proscribed, and imparting specific knowledge is often seen as more important than emphasizing human connections. The variety and volume of information in the 21st century are staggering, often creating a sense of urgency and speed, which threatens to undermine depth and meaning for both students and professors. W

In spring 2004, three administrators co-developed and co-taught an honors seminar called "Life Choices: The Search for Meaning." This article describes the development and content of the course and includes student quotes to show the depth and breadth of learning. One student stated, "I certainly enjoyed the seminar, and consider it one of the highlights with the Honors Program. College is a time when many students start thinking on their own and breaking away from what their parents told them to believe. In the end, they might go back to that belief, but they are given the chance to make the choice on their own."

Anne Colby is a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, where she co-directs the Political Engagement Project and the Preparation for the Professions Program. Prior to joining the Carnegie Foundation in 1997, she was director of the Henry Murray Research Center at Harvard University. She is co-author of four books: A Longitudinal Study of Moral Judgment (1983), The Measurement of Moral Judgment (1987), Some Do Care: Contemporary Lives of Moral Commitment (1992), and Educating Citizens: Preparing America's Undergraduates for Lives of Moral and Civic Responsibility (2003). She is co-editor of Ethnography and Human Development: Context and Meaning in Human Inquiry (1995), Competence and Character Through Life (1998), and Looking at Lives: American Longitudinal Studies of the Twentieth Century (2002). She holds a B.A. from McGill University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University. While not a "new scholar," she has some interesting new scholarship under way. She was contacted about her research.

Why is it important for church leaders to support university ministry? Nathan D. Wilson, a minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), answers that question with five unmistakable characteristics of faithful university ministry.

Young adults living outside the U.S. tend to be more globally aware than most young adults living in the U.S. A representative poll of 18-24 year-olds indicated that U.S. residents of this age group have considerably less knowledge about international issues and geography in comparison to their counterparts living in other countries (i.e., Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Mexico, Japan, Italy, and Sweden) (National Geographic, 2002). The poll found that in comparison to their international counterparts, U.S. young adults scored far worse in locating countries on a map. For example, only 42 percent of U.S. 18-24 year-olds was able to locate Japan compared to 69 percent of 18-24 year-olds from other countries. This poll also reported that only 13 percent of U.S. young adults correctly located Iraq on a map while over double the number (34 percent) correctly indicated that that the reality television show, "Survivor," was located in the South Pacific. For the most part, young adults in the U.S. may know a good deal about domestic politics, issues, and culture, but know far less about the perspectives of (much less the location of) other countries. This U.S.-centric focus is perhaps well reflected in the same poll that also found nearly one-third of young adults in the U.S. think that the U.S. population is between 1 and 2 billion, mistakenly supposing that the U.S. constitutes nearly one-third of the world's population. Such results are disconcerting and indicate the lack of global perspective among young adults in the U.S.

The use of technology as a teaching tool at the university level is becoming increasingly popular. Graduate students aspiring to become educational leaders engage in weekly on-line discussions and assignment submissions through various platforms. These graduate students are also employed by school districts as classroom teachers. Over one semester, graduate students' electronic submissions of assignments in six courses were monitored to review the time of day during which students were submitting assignments. Results of the monitoring revealed that 51% of their assignments were submitted during the school day, thus creating an ethical dilemma for both the students and professors who are receiving the assignments. Who's managing their classrooms while teachers are submitting assignments on-line for their graduate courses?

Consistent with the main hypothesis, social work students (n = 41) were more distrusting toward a community agency following reports of unethical worker-client sex than reports of alcohol or other personnel problems. Students were somewhat more likely to increase follow-up of a male rather than a female supervisor. Trait forgiveness was largely unrelated to level of trust.

Showing remorse is a skill that every individual, especially leaders, must develop. It allows individuals and nations to move on and grow; it can repair relationships that have been long thought to be dead.

Research and publication on America's seven hundred plus faith-based colleges and universities are generally scarce within academe. Recognizing this gap, Harvard graduate and contributor to The Wall Street Journal, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The New York Times, Naomi Schaefer Riley shares her insights on religious postsecondary education in God on the Quad. Riley's ability to provide a sympathetic, yet critical, tone throughout the book is evident throughout.

The first weekend of the Spring Semester serves as PC's Freshmen Honors Seminar (FHS) Retreat at Earthshine Mountain Lodge (www.earthshinemtlodge.com). This wonderful retreat center sits high atop a mountain adjacent the Pisgah National Forrest—just a bit northwest of Brevard, North Carolina. The scenic mountains, hiking, and an educational program complete with a high element ropes course and an unbelievable "Flight thru the Tree Tops" Zip Line Course provides the perfect location for students, faculty, and staff to bond, rejuvenate, and discuss substantive issues and ideas. T

With this book, Parker Palmer erects an important landmark for all who practice the art of teaching and for anyone concerned with education today. In an educational landscape riddled with deliberations on general education reform, pedagogical approaches, and student needs, Palmer's essential point is that good teaching cannot be reduced to technique because "good teaching comes from the identity and integrity of the teacher" (10). Good teaching, he contends, is a courageous act that results both from the teacher's intimate relation with the subject matter as well as the teacher's humility and openness to discover and learn. Learning for both teacher and student, then, is also a courageous act, for teacher and student alike must be willing to confront "great things" together that cannot be reduced to the lowest common denominator of any single perspective of an individual or group. W

In a number of recent reports, conservative students enrolled in college courses from various disciplines have complained about having their political views and values ridiculed by liberal professors. Some have even asserted that their grades have been lowered and their participation in academic programs hindered because of professors' political bias. These students have found a strong champion in conservative activists like David Horowitz and his organization "Students for Academic Freedom," which advocates that state legislatures should adopt an "Academic Bill of Rights" to protect students from biased academics. Opponents claim that these students and their supporters refuse to consider the validity of perspectives and ideas that differ from their own, and that their legislative proposals will restrict academic freedom and a classroom environment that fosters open and critical dialogue.

College students' growing interest in spiritual quest topics and activities is one of the reasons many college educators are exploring ways to make new connections between learning and spirituality in collegiate life. Through most of their history American colleges and universities have recognized and advocated the integration of mind, body, and spirit as an important aspect of higher learning.