Strategy One
Strategy One
DEMONSTRATE THE VALUE OF THE LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES FOR CAREER PREPARATION
INITIATIVE ONE - ESTABLISH THE CENTER FOR CREATIVITY AND CAREERS
This Center will emphasize the connections between liberal education and careers and between Coe College and our region, known as the Creative Corridor. Through programming including internships, grants, experiential learning opportunities, sponsored visits from entrepreneurs and innovators, and expansive partnerships with local businesses, arts organizations, and nonprofits, students will explore career options associated with all areas of study. The Center will focus on the concept of creativity—the key to innovation in the arts, technology, and business—and students will be equipped to demonstrate to employers and graduate schools the value of critical thinking, communication, independent research, and integrative learning that are the hallmarks of their liberal arts experience. The Center will significantly expand Coe's connections with regional alumni and leaders of businesses and other organizations in order to assist students with planning and carrying out projects, forming professional networks, and putting their Coe experiences to work in the wider world.
INITIATIVE TWO - ESTABLISH THE CENTER FOR HEALTH AND SOCIETY
This Center will prepare students to enter the healthcare fields, including clinical professions (pre-medical, nursing, mental health, and more) and other areas essential to health care management (business, technology, writing, communication, the arts, and more). Coe will become known as a premier destination for students interested in health care by offering experiential learning in partnership with nearby hospitals, and through our multidisciplinary approach to studying health and society, drawing on the full range of the liberal arts curriculum to examine historical, cultural, social, economic, spiritual, and ethical issues related to human health—thereby making our students more humane and effective health care providers. As part of this initiative, Coe’s nursing program will be expanded and the physical education curriculum will be transformed into a modern kinesiology program.
INITIATIVE THREE - ENHANCE THE PERFORMING ARTS
The performing arts represent a key opportunity for residential colleges, because performance experiences cannot be replicated through technology and opportunities are generally limited at large universities for students who are not majoring in music or theatre. Coe has a unique opportunity due to the thriving arts community in our region. We will add programs such as musical theater and vocal jazz, increase opportunities to participate in vocal and instrumental ensembles and theater performance and production, and establish partnerships with local performance organizations for students to work onstage and behind the scenes. As a starting point, Coe will become the summer home of the Revival Theatre Company, which will offer students internships and May Term opportunities in professional musical theater.
INITIATIVE FOUR - ENHANCE ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAMS
Environmental Studies and Environmental Science are growing nationwide in terms of student interest, and a liberal arts institution is ideally suited to teaching and learning in these fields because of their interdisciplinary nature (drawing on biology, chemistry, business, economics, political science, visual arts, writing, and more). We will hire our first-ever dedicated Environmental Studies/Science faculty member and expand the curriculum in this area. We will also transform our physical campus into an Urban Field Station through a variety of sustainability initiatives (including energy reduction, renewable energy generation, water management, and organic/edible landscaping), allowing the campus to serve as a living laboratory. As the home to both Wilderness and Urban Field Stations, Coe will be unique in offering students the opportunity to study sustainability in a natural setting and an urban environment.
INITIATIVE FIVE - CREATE A SOCIAL AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE PROGRAM
Prospective students cite criminal justice as the single most-requested major among programs that Coe does not offer. In an atmosphere of increasing national concerns about security, the role of law enforcement, gun control, and other pressing issues, Coe has the opportunity to bring a unique liberal arts approach to this field by teaching it within the context of social justice. We will expand the Sociology Department and create an interdisciplinary program in which students study social and criminal justice through the lens of history, philosophy, economics, psychology, the arts, and more.
