AMP Liberal Arts Identity Working Group (Spring 2023)
Charge from the Provost
As the only public liberal arts and sciences university in California and the CSU, the liberal arts identity working group will engage the campus in a discussion around what Sonoma State University’s liberal arts and sciences identity is within the CSU system and within COPLAC. This group will help determine what it means to be a liberal arts and sciences university in the 21st century; how a liberal arts and sciences education benefits students (both current and future); how current and new programs fit into this identity; and how to integrate liberal arts and sciences education into career preparation, using the COPLAC membership criteria as a base definition for these kinds of institutions. This group will identify the value proposition of a liberal arts and sciences education. Additionally, this group will explore the relationship between a public liberal arts and sciences education and interdisciplinarity and collaborate with the Current and New Programs Working Group to find new opportunities for interdisciplinary teaching and learning.
Objectives
- Create a clear identity statement that defines Sonoma State as a liberal arts and sciences university and how that identity can be leveraged to improve enrollment and retention of students, and to prioritize resource allocation within the university. This identity must include what makes Sonoma State a unique educational experience in the CSU and how it contributes to the education of first generation and underrepresented minority students.
- Determine the values of a liberal arts education and the values of Sonoma State University; where is there overlap between the two; where are there gaps; where are there opportunities for growth and improvement to help align the values of SSU with a liberal arts education
- Determine what values are important to students and how we can leverage them to increase student retention and enrollment through direct student outreach and engagement.
- Identify specific strategies emanating from our liberal arts and hispanic serving identities that can positively impact prospective enrollment.
- Coordinate with the Current and New Programs task force around opportunities for interdisciplinary joint hires and team teaching across departments and schools
- Examine how Academic Affairs as a division could enhance the liberal arts mission through resources and support.
- Suggest how the liberal arts and sciences identity might impact all levels of our institution from classroom activities to leadership priorities.
- Make recommendations about how this identity can reverberate throughout all units and divisions on our campus.
- Suggest how we clarify the value of our LAS identity to our community and regional partners.
Liberal Arts Identity Driving Questions:
- What does it mean to be a liberal arts and sciences university in the 21st century?
- What makes SSU a unique educational experience and how do we communicate it effectively to students and their families?
- What pedagogical approaches are appropriate for our experiential learning emphasis (leadership cultivation, active learning, internships/practical/fieldwork, service-learning, etc.)?
- How do our current programs fit within our identity as a liberal arts and sciences university?
- How do professional programs, graduate programs, self-support programs integrate with our liberal arts identity?
- How does “education into action” fit into our liberal arts identity?
- How can we make liberal arts an appealing term for first-generation college students?
- How can our professional and hard sciences programs benefit from getting a liberal arts foundational education?
- How can we leverage our liberal arts identity to increase enrollment?
- How do we integrate a liberal arts identity with workforce/career preparation?
- How does instructional modality, particularly around online and hybrid learning, combine with our identity as a public liberal arts university?
AMP Liberal Arts Identity Working Group Recommendations Report
Opportunities for feedback:
- Thursday, January 19th, 2023: Faculty Retreat
Presentations & Conversations:
Membership:
| Co-Chairs | Laura Alamillo & Wendy Ostroff |
| A&H Faculty | Wendy Ostroff |
| B&E Faculty | Tom Target (At-Large) |
| EDU Faculty | Chiara Bacigalupa |
| S&T Faculty | Daniel Crocker |
| Soc. Sci. Faculty | Missy Garvin |
| LIB | Laura Krier |
| Assoc. Students | Taneesha Porter |
| Staff Rep | Hope Emry Ortiz |
| Dean | Troi Carleton |
| Director of CTET | Justin Lipp |
| Center for Environmental Inquiry & Sustainable Programs | Claudia Luke |
| Staff to the Working Group | Meredith Spires |