Bijeta Lamichhane
News Editor
The College is developing a new program called “Pathways,” which aims to focus on creating opportunities for students that help them explore their intellectual interests as well as professional aspirations. “For some students, these interests are the same,” President Sarah Bolton said. “But for others, they are quite different.”
This program will provide students with the opportunity to explore their areas of interest, regardless of whether those interests are related to the students’ majors or not.
“The Pathways approach is being developed to create opportunities for students to explore fields beyond their major through course work and experiential learning, and to have a notation on their transcript that describes what they have learned,” Bolton explained. “We will develop these new Pathways in areas that aren’t current majors, but where we know that students have interest. The Pathways are still being developed, but some ideas have included entrepreneurship, public health and leadership or civic engagement.”
A number of administrators, faculty and staff members have formed the Pathways Working Group, and they are c u r r e n t l y working to develop a new curricular structure called “Pathways” or “Integrated Pathways,” which will allow students to explore areas of career interest while they complete their major. Greg Shaya, a professor of History, is chairing this committee. “This program grows out of our strategic planning process and out of the work we did over the last few years in our college-wide curricular discussions,” Shaya said.
Shaya also shed light into the structure of this program, stating, “Every Pathway will have its own set of requirements, but these will consist of three common elements: courses, experiences and reflection. Typically, these will include: three to four courses chosen from a menu of courses, one to two experiential learning opportunities and reflection on the work they are doing.”
While most of the College community is unaware of the development of this program, some students have expressed their excitement in the possibility of its possible establishment. “I’m always looking to explore my career interests,” Pratisth Pradhan ’22 said. “But sometimes I feel like I’m deviating from the course requirements for my major. This program would definitely be helpful for students to explore their interests without feeling lost.”
Ezana Kiros ’22 agreed with Pradhan. “Sometimes I feel like I cannot take a course because, if I did,I would not be able to complete my major’s course requirements on time,” Kiros said. “This is why I am excited to hear more about this program — I think it will improve students’ experience at the College and help us in developing our professional paths.”
The students’ statements align well with Shaya’s sentiment, who said, “We hope that Pathways will appeal to all students, no matter their major. And we hope that Pathways will help students to explore fields that they might like to work in after graduation.”
Since the program is still under development, the Working Group is planning to hear more students’ feedback on their plans so far.
“We are eager to hear what students think about the possibilities of this new program,” Shaya said. “We are putting together a focus group of students and we’ve planned an open meeting for Wednesday, Feb. 24. Students should feel free to share their input with any members of the Pathways Working Group.”