In order for Missouri State University students to be educated and successful in the fullest sense, the process of incubating new ideas must also be accompanied by informed discussion, debate, and understanding of the uses, values, and purposes of new discoveries and creative products. What implications will such advances have for how individuals live and work? How will they affect our local communities and our global partners? What risks might they pose, and what dangers could they reduce? How should new discoveries be regulated, by whom, and for what duration of time?
Missouri State must assure that its education of students prepares them to confront these and many other vexing questions. To do so, the University must provide educational experiences that:
- Stimulate informed dialogue and scholarly engagement about public policy
- Afford students the best that can be offered in terms of global education
- Support special research efforts that will address the most substantial problems our local communities are likely to confront in the future
Ultimately, to imagine a well-conceived future, the University should insist on rigorous expectations for its students, and it must be clear about what it means to be well-educated for the 21st century. There are five traits of educated students:
They cultivate their aesthetic tastes – Educated students push their creative limits and stretch their aesthetic appreciation. The University years are a great time for students to sharpen their eyes for art, tune their ears to music, and turn their minds to all kinds of dramatic and creative expression.
They become critical thinkers – They can discern what is a sturdy basis for knowledge and beliefs versus what is mere bias or preference. Universities should recruit people away from illusions and toward truth. One of the main goals of a first-rate university is to teach students how to think and reason well, and that is what we will ask students to embrace as a personal goal.
They are serious readers who become broadly literate – Reading is the vehicle by which students travel and learn their own interiors. It introduces them to the life of the mind, and it opens windows on their own lives. Habitual reading remains one of life’s single most empowering and liberating activities.
They dedicate themselves to becoming curious and contributing citizens – Students need to find a personal intellectual interest that captures their hearts and drives them to approach each day eager to learn a little more. Students need to grow an obsession for some area of knowledge where they insist on being an expert and through which they make a difference for others. This specific expertise also should be complemented by an understanding of the global issues that effective citizens need to develop throughout their lives. Further, students need to develop the skills necessary for successful collaboration and teamwork.
They balance an in-depth mastery of at least one academic discipline with a broad appreciation of the liberal arts – By the time they graduate, students should be extremely capable in the academic field of their choosing. But that specialty should be built on a broad educational foundation to help provide context and understanding.