The grant, a Professional Development Award, will help faculty members assist students with exploration to find their purpose and explore their options throughout college.
Marian University has received a Professional Development Award from the Council of Independent Colleges’ Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education, funded by Lilly Endowment Inc. The funding will allow the university to create a year-long initiative that will help instructors and faculty members answer the question, “How do we help students understand who they are, and who they’re becoming, through their education?”
According to an article on Marian University’s website, Adam Setmeyer, the university’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry, was quoted as saying of the initiative, “This initiative will deepen Marian’s mission of forming transformational leaders. By equipping our faculty to accompany students in discovering how their gifts can serve the world, we strengthen our entire community and live out our Franciscan values.”
The project will involve interdisciplinary faculty members coming together throughout the year to discuss the ways a student’s experience at college affects the way they feel about themselves and their purpose in life. These faculty members will brainstorm new ways to approach career exploration through teaching and mentoring, helping those students feel a meaningful sense of exploration.
There are 10 participating faculty members in the project, from the departments of English, Mathematical and Computational Science, Biology, Philosophy, Education, Engineering, Biomedical Sciences, and Psychology.
NetVUE’s Professional Development Award has been awarded to 43 institutions this year, all of which will in some way assist students as they explore meaning and purpose in their lives.
Robert Pampel, the NetVUE Grants Program Officer, said, “Each grantee brings a unique approach to vocational formation. I am eager to see how these campus teams convert their curiosity and thoughtfulness around vocation into inclusive, reflective, and purposeful initiatives that lay the groundwork for transformational vocation work in the future.”
For more information about Marian University, visit the school’s website.