The Colby-Sawyer Academic Experience

A liberal education is never complete. It is a continuing process of discovering one’s talents, developing one’s abilities and adapting to change. A liberal education involves development of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Liberal education takes place through all of the experiences of college life, both in and out of the classroom. Liberally educated persons understand that they are part of a broader community. They appreciate the need to serve in that community and be responsible for themselves, for others and for the natural environment.

Colby-Sawyer College students will:

• Learn and use a broad body of knowledge with depth in their major fields
  Through their liberal arts education, students will acquire knowledge produced by their experiences and the scholarly disciplines and will develop interdisciplinary understanding. Through their major program of study, students will gain significant depth of disciplinary knowledge, integrating the liberal arts and sciences with career preparation.
• Enrich and deepen their self-knowledge
  Students will explore the elements of their private and public selves and integrate their personal, social and academic experiences. They will explore the roles of intellect, emotion, body and spirit in a person’s well-being and strive to lead lives that demonstrate responsibility to themselves, their society and the earth.
• Think creatively and critically
  Students will analyze, evaluate, understand and synthesize new information and respond to it in considered and creative ways. They will develop qualitative and quantitative skills and use evidence to support and question opinions, ideas and beliefs in personal, public and professional life. They will be able to put ideas together in new ways and to engage in hypothetical reasoning — to imagine that which does not yet exist.
• Communicate and interact effectively
  Students will articulate and understand their experiences through speaking, reading, writing, listening, movement and the various modes of artistic appreciation and expression. They will develop competence with new and traditional methods of communication. They will apply these skills, demonstrating effective collaboration in their personal, social and professional lives.
• Act ethically and professionally
  Students will understand the ethical standards of their society and professions, make considered choices in their academic, personal and professional lives and accept responsibility for those choices. Students will develop effective ways to make moral distinctions, attain the qualities of character required to act on their ethical principles and behave in a professional manner.
• Understand and employ multiple perspectives
  Students will understand how diversity affects perspective. They will use personal, disciplinary and interdisciplinary skills to explore the complexity of the past, present and future. Through their understanding of diversity and history, students will develop an active sense of themselves as members of varied local and global communities. They will interact successfully with people whose experiences and world views differ from their own.

Our Liberal Education Program — a set of ten types of courses that students in all majors take — equips you with versatile skills needed to complete successful college-level work as well as exposes you to a variety of disciplinary areas and interdisciplinary approaches. These versatile skills are also applicable and transferable in the ever-evolving professional world — and sought out by employers.

The writing proficiency initiates you into the rigors and rewards of academic writing. In the Introduction to Academic Writing course, you’ll develop critical reading skills and foundational writing skills and processes (such as prewriting, drafting and rewriting) that you’ll continue to develop throughout your college career — including in a writing-intensive course in your major.

Your First-Year Experience course is an opportunity to tackle a global issue head on. In this class, you’ll look deeply at how experts from different disciplines think about a thorny global problem. You’ll collaborate with your classmates and various faculty members to ask questions and break new ground. The goal isn’t to solve a complex global issues by the end of the semester. Instead, this class is an opportunity to ask deep questions, think about them from a variety of perspectives and begin coming up with potential solutions. You’ll be challenged to think critically, to collaborate and to think about where your life fits in with the complex world around you. It’s your first step in your academic career at Colby-Sawyer and the first step in your journey to become an active citizen who can lead a healthy, thoughtful and fulfilling life in our global community.

At Colby-Sawyer, you broaden your knowledge in areas outside of your major by exploring subjects across the curriculum. Some courses may also fulfill requirements in your major.

You will choose one course of interest to you from each of the following areas:

• Arts
• Historical Perspectives
• Humanities
• Literature
• Mathematics
• Science
• Social Science

The skills you develop in these classes will be crucial to your professional success. These core courses will teach you to write and communicate more clearly, to think critically and creatively, to navigate quantitative information and to analyze and solve problems. These skills will help lay the groundwork for the specialized thinking you will do within your major. But they will also help you prepare for a dynamic and evolving professional world after graduation. A well-rounded disciplinary background will help you to be flexible, marketable and adaptable in your professional career.

The challenges of the 21st century underscore the need for connection and integration in student learning.

Here at Colby-Sawyer College, we want you to be engaged, intentional and mindful in your intellectual development and academic growth so that you can contribute positively to an increasingly complex and challenging global community.

The Integrative Experience class is an interdisciplinary course that is purposefully designed to give you the opportunity to look at a complex problem and apply a potential solution. These classes look outward to the world — through field studies, community-based projects, course simulations or other major projects — and give you an opportunity to integrate, synthesize and apply the skills and knowledge you’ve gained from your other liberal education courses by applying them to a complex topic. Like the First Year Experience, course topics are diverse, and we encourage you to choose one of interest to you so you can connect to the world around you in a deeply personal way.

Internships are credit-bearing, hands-on learning experiences that connect classroom knowledge with professional practice. Working alongside employers, faculty and career services staff, students gain meaningful experience, build professional networks and develop the skills employers seek in today's workforce. 

As part of our graduation requirements, every student completes at least one internship in a local, national or international setting. These experiences help students explore career paths, strengthen their résumés, apply their learning in real-world environments and graduate with practical experiences and skills that position them for success after college. 

The learning portfolio is an opportunity to exhibit your personal and professional growth, as well as to record how you have met Colby-Sawyer's learning outcomes.

Learning portfolios include samples of your work and reflections on your experiences in your major, the Liberal Education Program and across the college.

The learning portfolio also provides us with an assessment of our academic programs.

The Capstone experience is the culmination of your academic experience and is proof that you have undergone a rigorous, multi-disciplinary education with depth in your major area and are ready for success in the workforce or graduate school.

Before graduating, you must complete a Capstone research project unique to your major and present the results to faculty, administration, staff and the community at the annual Susan Colby Colgate Scholars' Symposium.

Colby-Sawyer's approach to education recognizes that engaged learning takes place in and outside the classroom and that it is a lifelong adventure. Facets of the educational process — the courses, the learning portfolio, advising and cocurricular activities — combine to achieve the learning outcomes, which reflect the college's mission and values.

Orientation

You are introduced to the college experience in the orientation program. In addition to social events and cocurricular programming, the orientation program introduces you to the higher education environment in general and Colby-Sawyer in particular.

Residential Education

Programming in the residence halls focuses on helping you become more independent by exploring various aspects of campus and community activities and making connections with other students, as well as faculty and staff.

Leadership Development 

Leadership development is integrated throughout the student experience. Whether you're leading a student organization, completing an internship, participating in research, serving your community, competing in athletics or collaborating in the classroom, you'll strengthen key career-readiness competencies valued by employers, including communication, teamwork, critical thinking, professionalism and leadership. These experiences help you build the confidence, skills and adaptability needed to lead with purpose and succeed in an evolving workplace. 

Experiential Learning 

Learning extends beyond the classroom. Through internships, study-away experiences,  community-based learning, student organizations, service projects, research and leadership opportunities, you'll connect theory to practice, explore career interests and develop the skills employers seek in today's workforce. 

Career Planning 

Career planning is a continuous process of exploration, reflection and preparation. Through career coaching, assessments, internships, networking opportunities, employer engagement and professional development programs, you'll identify your strengths, explore career pathways and develop the career readiness competencies employers seek, including communication, critical thinking, professionalism and leadership.