This fall, Mount St. Mary’s University is introducing the Ethical Leaders Program, designed to fully incorporate experiential learning, leadership and service into academic life at the university.
As the name implies, the program seeks to help students truly live out the ethics they’re taught in the Core Curriculum, and that form the basis of the Mount’s mission.
Four virtues will be paired with four experiential learning opportunities the Mount provides—the virtue of justice corresponds with service learning, courage with student leadership, integrity with internships and humility with study abroad. Additionally, Origins of the West, Foundations of Philosophy, and Theological/Philosophical Ethics, all core classes that explore these four virtues in the classroom and add assignments that explicitly connect with learning outside of the classroom.
Associate Provost for Academic Affairs and Professor of Theology Love Sechrest, Ph.D., and Assistant Athletic Director and Cross Country and Track & Field Director Jay Phillips, C’05, MT’08, led the development of the program
“The Ethical Leaders Program represents the culmination of a great deal of work by faculty and administrators to integrate the values of our core curriculum with formative experiential learning,” shared Sechrest. “We believe that every student can be an ethical leader by developing one's own character and we are committed to investing in our students’ character growth inside and outside of the classroom.”
Students will choose which “tier” of the program they’d like to complete. The Holistic Tier, which will be required to graduate and integrated into the curriculum, will involve participating in an activity tied to one of the experiential learning opportunities. The Medallion Tier, an optional honors track, requires two experiential learning activities, service learning and student leadership, along with active engagement on campus.
The benefits of the program are manifold. Mount students will have more opportunities than ever to get involved in campus life and grow their community. They will put into practice what they learn in the classroom before they even graduate, discovering what they’re truly passionate about and learning in a new way. Students will encounter a variety of challenges and new experiences that empower them to become conscientious leaders.
Character- and skill-building activities such as internships, study abroad, and service can even change the course of a student’s career.
Surveys of employers show that nearly 25% would give preference to an applicant who had completed a study abroad program over an equally qualified applicant, and 41 percent would consider offering a higher salary to a candidate who has studied abroad. Similarly, a whopping 82% of surveyed employers said they were more likely to choose an applicant who has volunteered, and it has been estimated that 57.6 percent of interns go on to work full-time at the company they interned for after graduation.
But perhaps most importantly, the Ethical Leaders Program is a tangible promise of Mount St. Mary’s commitment to forming and inspiring ethical leaders, who live their lives with respect for God and their community. “I look forward to the good work of our community in supporting the Ethical Leaders Program, and I am excited to welcome the Class of 2028 as the inaugural class to graduate with having completed the Ethical Leaders requirement as a part of their journey through the core curriculum,” said Sechrest.