Students Work Toward Fulfilling ACT-In Requirements Beginning with the graduating class of 2008, William Jewell will acknowledge completion of the college's 38-hour liberal arts core, plus three "applied learning experiences," as a recognized major in Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry (ACT-In). This means that virtually all students will now graduate with double majors and some with triple majors. "One of the great things at Jewell is watching our students mature intellectually to the point that by their fourth year most of them truly value and appreciate that our rigorous, integrated core curriculum is what distinguishes a Jewell education from other colleges," says Dr. David Sallee, college president. Some colleges and universities call their core curriculum the general education (Gen-Ed) requirement. At William Jewell, the core is much more than that. For the past ten years, Jewell has required its graduates to engage a rigorous interdisciplinary core in addition to their major area(s) of concentrated study. This intentional and progressive series of courses requires every student at the college to study concepts and disciplines from multiple fields and sources, confronting diverse and often contradictory perspectives that regularly challenge the students' political, moral, spiritual and civic assumptions. This course of study was termed "The Responsible Self." The Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry major (ACT-In) requires that students complete the 38-hour core and participate in three applied learning experiences before they graduate. The applied, experiential options of the ACT-In major include: Disciplinary Scholarship, an experiential project in an academic discipline such as undergraduate research, a recital and/or a formal presentation; Reflective Citizenship, including projects designed to actively engage students with the challenges of our contemporary world through study abroad, mission trips and service-learning; and Active Engagement, which requires students to actively connect with their communities, local or on-campus, through leadership experiences, internships and participation in college-sponsored co-curricular endeavors. "With a new major in Applied Critical Thought and Inquiry, William Jewell College becomes the first institution of higher education in the United States to formally recognize the importance of the liberal arts in providing a context for making informed career and life decisions in an increasingly complex global community," says Dr. Sallee. "Most successful college graduates and employers already know that asking students to study a series of unrelated, general education courses and focus their education narrowly on their major does not adequately prepare young Americans to succeed in the job market and in the evolving world economy," notes Dr. Sallee. All students who choose to make ACT-In a major will also be required to have a major in a particular academic discipline. With the introduction of the ACT-In major, William Jewell makes it possible for many students to graduate with three majors in four years. All Jewell students will continue to take the core curriculum. Those choosing the ACT-In major will add the three required experiential pieces during their career at Jewell. To encourage student participation in the new major, the college will guarantee every student an internship opportunity and a study-abroad opportunity. The William Jewell core curriculum and ACT-In major is not just a selection of requirements from different disciplines. It was designed by the college's faculty to lead to specific outcomes including critical thinking, ethical decision-making, problem-solving and communication skills, as well as enhancing students' ability to engage in quantitative reasoning, analytic reading and independent research. As many studies have revealed over the past ten years, these are life-enriching skills sought by today's employers. Do you know of a student who would benefit from a Jewell education as well as participation in ACT-In? Click here for more information and for student referral details.