{"id":6142,"date":"2016-10-05T04:01:28","date_gmt":"2016-10-05T08:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/2021\/11\/19\/university-launches-the-furman-advantage\/"},"modified":"2022-11-06T20:31:23","modified_gmt":"2022-11-07T01:31:23","slug":"university-launches-the-furman-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/university-launches-the-furman-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"University Launches ‘The Furman Advantage’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Visit The Furman Advantage website<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The Furman Advantage in the News<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Furman University today announced an ambitious effort to transform the student experience and address critical community issues. The new strategic vision\u2014called The Furman Advantage\u2014will guarantee every incoming student the opportunity for an engaged learning experience that is tracked and integrated with their academic and professional goals.<\/p>\n

\"The

The Furman\u00a0Advantage will have a strong community component.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Launched with $47 million from The Duke Endowment, The Furman Advantage combines a liberal arts education with immersive experiences outside the classroom, creating a personalized pathway that prepares students for lives of purpose, successful careers, and community benefit.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurman pioneered the concept of engaged learning in the late 1990s, an idea which has since been emulated by many other universities,\u201d said President Elizabeth Davis. \u201cToday we\u2019re taking another step to reimagine a Furman education\u2014one that adds value and addresses community needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s global uncertainties and disruptions reveal more than ever the need to produce educated and thoughtful leaders who have broad-based knowledge and practical expertise to address real issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will guarantee every student the opportunity to engage in real-world experiences that connect back to classroom learning,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThese enhanced experiences not only will help students discover their passions, but also create a superhighway to their future careers, graduate study, and contributions to the well-being of their communities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The launch of this guarantee is made possible by The Duke Endowment\u2019s support. The Endowment\u2019s newest commitment of $25 million, announced today, will significantly increase the number and quality of global experiences, research opportunities, internships, and community-centered projects at Furman. The Endowment\u2019s earlier gift of $22 million, announced in November 2015, fully funded the James B. Duke Scholarships, providing additional support for students to benefit from Furman\u2019s dynamic education model.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Duke Endowment fully supports Furman\u2019s strategy for providing life-changing experiences for its students,\u201d said Minor Shaw, chair of the Endowment\u2019s Board. \u201cThe grants announced today illustrate our continued commitment to the university and its ambitious vision for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Furman

Furman has one of the strongest undergraduate research programs in the nation.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cOur founder, James B. Duke, believed in the enduring impact of education,\u201d said Wilhelmina Reuben-Cooke, chair of the Endowment\u2019s Committee on Educational Institutions. \u201cThe Furman Advantage will help ensure that all Furman students graduate with vitally important knowledge, skills and transformative experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so grateful for the tremendous support and confidence from The Duke Endowment, a partner that has been by Furman\u2019s side for all of its most strategic moves over the last century,\u201d President Davis said.\u00a0\u201cFor The Furman Advantage to achieve sustained success, though, there is so much more that needs to be done.\u00a0We need our alumni, parents, and friends to engage the university like never before, through their philanthropy, hosting internships or research projects, mentoring students, hiring young graduates, networking with fellow alumni, and helping us raise Furman\u2019s profile all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to guaranteeing and increasing the breadth of experiences available to students, Furman will build a four-year pathway that integrates co-curricular experiences with classroom work and helps students chart a course from their interests and skills to life after college. Building on successful pilot programs, the university will offer students new tools for assessing their strengths and connecting the dots.<\/p>\n

Universities for many years have offered engaged learning opportunities\u2014internships<\/a>, mentored research<\/a> and study abroad<\/a>, for example\u2014but few if any have guaranteed them for all students and integrated them fully with the learning experience.<\/p>\n

In 2014 and again this year, Gallup and Purdue University surveyed recent college graduates across the country. They found that students who experienced faculty mentorship and relevant professional practice, connected to classroom and project-based learning, are the most likely to be positively engaged at work and thriving in all aspects of their lives. Yet only 3 percent strongly agree that they experienced all of these elements during college.<\/p>\n

\"Furman

Furman students work closely with professors during their academic careers.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cFurman has the ability to accomplish this,\u201d said George C. Shields, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost. \u201cWorking in our favor is Furman\u2019s size and an outstanding faculty that is devoted to the success of our students. It\u2019s going to be hard work, but we are absolutely committed to our students\u2019 success.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outcome will be an unparalleled educational experience that combines an intimate campus focused on students\u2019 needs with the breadth of opportunity afforded by a larger university.<\/p>\n

Many of these opportunities will be coordinated through a community-centered infrastructure and a growing set of public-facing institutes, including the Richard W. Riley Institute, the David E. Shi Center for Sustainability, and the newly formed Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (a partnership with the Greenville Health System). These structures will help launch project teams focused on areas of community need identified by communities and aligned with Furman\u2019s expertise that will allow students to explore and address real-world problems.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is much more than community service,\u201d said Angela Halfacre, Professor of Political Science and Earth and Environmental Sciences, Special Adviser to the President, and immediate past Director of the Shi Center. \u201cWe are creating a more robust and enriched model of community-centered learning, where students, faculty and community members work side-by-side to take on problems of real importance and find solutions. Everyone will be learning together, and as we discover what works, we can put that into practice in communities across the region and around the world.”<\/p>\n

\u201cWith our faculty and student expertise and educational mission, we can be the \u2018go-to\u2019 resource for Greenville and beyond,\u201d Halfacre added. \u201cOur ultimate hope is that our students will engage with the communities in meaningful ways, and that after they graduate they will want to continue to contribute locally and globally.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFurman\u2019s institutes create unique resources and connections that students cannot get from peer schools,\u201d President Davis said. \u201cFurman is the only liberal arts university that is connected with an academic health center, for example, and our Riley Institute gives students extraordinary access to policy leaders in South Carolina and in Washington, D.C. Our Shi Center, with its student-centered academic sustainability focus, is considered to be one of the best in the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The

The Furman Advantage will transform the student experience at the university.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Ken Peterson, the John D. Hollingsworth Professor of Economics and Interim Dean of the Faculty, and Connie Carson, Vice President for Student Life, co-chair the Strategic Vision Advisory Council, a campus-wide group of faculty and staff who are charged with implementing The Furman Advantage. The faculty voted unanimously Sept. 20 in support of the strategic vision.<\/p>\n

One aspect of The Furman Advantage that is important to Peterson is the chance for students to be immersed in diverse communities beyond campus, better preparing them to live and lead in a complex, global world by demonstrating the power of different cultures, identities, and perspectives. By learning from both differences and commonalities, Peterson said, students will gain a new set of tools for navigating a rapidly changing world.<\/p>\n

He also noted that Furman faculty members have long been dedicated mentors to their students, becoming deeply involved in their choices and opportunities, and staying in touch many years after graduation. The Furman Advantage will expand this notion to build a community of mentors\u2014giving students access to a team of advisors and an expanded network of faculty, staff, alumni, and community members who will provide wise counsel along with a broader array of professional and academic opportunities.<\/p>\n

Carson said one very distinctive aspect of the Furman experience has been the use of self-reflection, helping students to discover their strengths, aspirations, and sense of purpose. The Furman Advantage will expand on this notion, creating for every student a guided journey of self-discovery. This will allow students to design a pathway that achieves their goals and will document the skills they are gaining from their experiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Furman, self-reflection is already part of the journey for many students,\u201d Carson said. \u201cBy purposefully and consistently incorporating self-reflection into the experience for all students, across all four years, every Furman student will graduate with a strong sense of what\u2019s important to them and what they\u2019re good at doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Furman

Furman pioneered the concept of engaged learning in the late 1990s.<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n

Peterson praised The Duke Endowment for supporting another key component of The Furman Advantage: best-in-class tools that allow the university to track the student experience in real time, giving each student\u2014as well as parents, graduate programs, and prospective employers\u2014proof of progress and outcomes. Tracking will begin immediately with existing systems that will be improved and expanded over the next several years.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are developing new tools that will give our students a better understanding of and capacity to articulate the value of their Furman experience to employers and graduate and professional schools,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cEqually exciting, the data these tools provide will be combined with student reflection, feeding faculty research on student learning and outcomes and allowing us to develop models that can be shared with other universities.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Furman Advantage will transform the opportunities available to our students,\u201d said President Davis. \u201cWe believe we have figured out how to stay true to our mission as a liberal arts university while demonstrating the comprehensive value of a Furman education, both for students and for communities in South Carolina and around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based in Charlotte and established in 1924 by industrialist and philanthropist James B. Duke, The Duke Endowment is a private foundation that strengthens communities in North Carolina and South Carolina by nurturing children, promoting health, educating minds and enriching spirits. Since its founding, it has distributed more than $3.4 billion in grants. The Endowment shares a name with Duke University and Duke Energy, but all are separate organizations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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