Vocation, Application, and Learning in the Undergraduate Experience for Students
Mission Statement
A Chowan University education prepares students to consider questions about values (“How should I live?”), identity (“Who might I become?”), and purpose (“How do I reflect, integrate, and apply approaches to vocation from my exposure to a Chowan education?”). In addition to meeting standards of excellence in a major field, students gain insights into the content and skills of a variety of academic disciplines. They use their integrated learning to inform their education and their lives, both personal and professional.
The Chowan University VALUES Core is an interdisciplinary curriculum designed to develop the whole, educated person, one who has developed knowledge and skills beyond those expected in the area of specialization. This breadth of training is based on a liberal education that provides students a broad exposure to the arts and sciences, integrates multiple perspectives, helps students form essential skills of critical thinking and problem solving, fosters a spirit of ethical and social responsibility, develops a questioning mind, cultivates freedom of expression, and enables students to apply their learning to a wide variety of vocations.
The VALUES Core
- allows students to develop self and identity and explore the individual’s role in and impact on society;
- engages students in critical analysis of the past to understand how knowledge of history helps them to navigate their future;
- encourages students to ask critical questions about global issues and challenges;
- enables students to develop the skills necessary to employ the scientific method and assess the way evidence-based knowledge affects the understanding of self, others, and the world;
- encourages students to explore the physical, natural, and behavioral world;
- prepares students to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and thrive in an interconnected world;
- introduces students to an understanding of diverse cultures, arts, and communities.
The VALUES Core extends from the first year experience, which fosters personal, social, and academic growth and develops the skills necessary to be a successful student, through the capstone experience, which encourages students to pursue a deep integration of their major and the perspectives, values, concepts, skills, and knowledge they have attained throughout the entire VALUES Core curriculum.
Core Competencies and Goals
Competency I: Communication: reading, writing, verbal, non-verbal
Goal 1 - To demonstrate effective conveying and receiving of information.
Competency II: Critical Thinking: analysis, evaluation, application
Goal 2 - To analyze information and ideas carefully and logically from multiple perspectives and develop reasoned solutions to problems.
Competency III: Wholeness: intellectual, physical, spiritual, inter-personal
Goal 3 - To demonstrate the importance and value of personal well-being and responsibility for intellectual, physical, spiritual, and inter-personal growth.
Goal 4 - To demonstrate an understanding of ethical issues and personal values necessary for personal and corporate responsibility.
Competency IV: Knowledge and skills: arts, science, technology, mathematics
Goal 5 - To demonstrate an understanding of social science theories and concepts that analyze human behavior and events from historical, social, political, cultural, and economic perspectives.
Goal 6 - To demonstrate an understanding of the nature of literature, art, music, theater, religion, and philosophy.
Goal 7 - To demonstrate an understanding of the principles and methods in science, technology, and mathematics to solve problems.
The core competencies and goals are interactively connected across the VALUES core curriculum.
General Education Requirements for a Bachelor’s Degree
VALUES Core (36 credit hours)
Chowan VALUES (18 credit hours)
*Personal and Civic VALUES (6 credit hours)
These 6 credit hours must be from 2 different disciplines. Disciplines are designated by prefixes.
Personal and Civic VALUES courses allow students to develop self and identity and explore the individual’s role in and impact on society.
Personal and Civic VALUES courses are designated in the Academic Catalog and designated in the Class Schedule with PV.
Choose from the following:
*Historical and Global VALUES (3 credit hours)
Historical and Global VALUES courses engage students in critical analysis of the past to understand how knowledge of history helps them to navigate their future. These courses also encourage students to ask critical questions about global issues and challenges.
Historical and Global VALUES courses are designated in the Academic Catalog and designated in the Class Schedule with HV.
Choose from the following:
*Scientific VALUES (3 credit hours)
Scientific VALUES courses enable students to develop the skills necessary to employ the scientific method and assess the way evidence-based knowledge affects the understanding of self, others, and the world. These courses encourage students to explore the physical, natural, and behavioral world.
Scientific VALUES courses are designated in the Academic Catalog and designated in the Class Schedule with SV.
Choose from the following:
*Cultural and Diversity VALUES (6 credit hours)
These 6 credit hours must be from 2 different disciplines and at least 3 of these 6 credit hours must be 200 level or higher. Disciplines are designated by prefixes.
Cultural and Diversity VALUES courses prepare students to interact with people from diverse backgrounds and thrive in an interconnected world. These courses introduce students to an understanding of diverse cultures, arts, and communities.
Cultural and Diversity VALUES courses are designated in the Academic Catalog and designated in the Class Schedule with CV.
Choose from the following:
*These 18 credit hours must include 3 credit hours of social or behavioral science and 3 credit hours of humanities or fine arts. Social or behavioral sciences include geography, history, sociology, political science, psychology, or economics. Humanities or fine arts include philosophy, music, literature, drama, art, or religion.
Students can “double count” up to 6 credit hours of these 18 credit hours for both their major and general education. However, students cannot use a course to fulfill both the VALUES Core and the Global Learning Core.
To qualify for a baccalaureate degree, a student must complete a minimum of 120 credit hours, meet the university’s VALUES Core requirements, and meet any specific requirements of the major.
The Capstone Experience
Each degree program requires a capstone experience. The experience provides students the opportunity to synthesize and apply disciplinary knowledge and skills, foster reflection on undergraduate learning and experience, demonstrate emerging professional competencies, and explore areas of career interest. Examples of capstone experiences include, but are not limited to, senior project or research paper, thesis, practicum, internship, field experience, portfolio, student teaching, clinical assignment, and other culminating experiences. The capstone experience can be implemented as a course or as an experience that is spread out in several courses in a degree program.
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