Core Commitments: Educating Students for
Personal and Social Responsibility

Building Collective Institutional Commitment: Questions to Ask

Mission and Vision

What is your current institutional vision for undergraduate learning and where is personal and social responsibility situated in it (or in relation to it)?

What changes, if any, might you and your colleagues anticipate making to your institution's mission and vision statements to bring personal and social responsibility into sharper focus there, and in the roles and responsibilities of various campus constituents?

Current Efforts

What is your institution currently doing to foster personal and social responsibility among students?

What is the scale of these efforts (e.g., how many students are meaningfully engaged in activities; how many faculty and staff are involved)?

What specifically might suggest that your institution has achieved distinction in one or more of the five dimensions?

Future Work

How might you and your colleagues build upon existing strengths and address any gaps found in your institution's efforts to educate for personal and social responsibility?

What resistance or challenges, if any, do you anticipate, and what strategies might you employ to address them?

Assessment

What assessment measures (e.g., climate measures, engagement measures, direct measures of student learning) do you and your colleagues currently use that relate to education for personal and social responsibility?

Have the findings influenced how your institution structures student learning that is focused on excellence, integrity, and civic responsibility? If so, how?

What changes in assessment do you foresee needing in the future? What new assessment measures might you develop?

How prepared is your institution to conduct assessment to determine the longitudinal impact of your efforts to educate for personal and social responsibility?

Process

Assuming the need for a campus-wide team representing various constituent groups (e.g., faculty, student affairs, academic affairs, students, community members), what is already in place to facilitate collaboration and coordination among team members? How can you foster campus-wide commitment and action beyond the team?

What is the current level of commitment from administrators, faculty, and student affairs staff with regard to teaching for personal and social responsibility?

What level of openness exists on your campus to examine data honestly and to use results for educational improvement?