Deep, critical thinking at the heart of campuswide initiative
JMU senior Abby Ware, a member of the Quality Enhancement Plan Task Force, talks about the plan's value to students in their personal, professional and civic lives during an Inauguration Week panel presentation.
"The Madison
Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action is aimed at creating critical, deep
thinkers," Dr. Josh Bacon, director of the Office of Judicial Affairs,
explained to a group of students, faculty and staff assembled to learn more
about JMU's Quality Enhancement Plan.
Bacon, Dr. Fletcher Linder,
professor and director of Interdisciplinary Liberal Studies, and senior Abby
Ware, who is majoring in political science and philosophy, provided an
extensive overview of The Madison Collaborative as part of JMU's Inauguration
Week activities. The three are part of the 19-member QEP Task Force, which
represents a broad cross section of the faculty, administration and student
leadership at JMU.
Development of the QEP, which
began in 2010, is required of JMU for its reaffirmation of accreditation by the
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools – Commission On Colleges.
"The purpose of this part of the SACS process is to give a jolt of change
to big institutions," said Linder, noting that such change can be
difficult to spark without an important catalyst.
"We want to make sure
the QEP aligns with JMU's core mission and values," said Ware. The QEP
mission statement – "The Madison Collaborative prepares enlightened
citizens who apply ethical reasoning in their personal, professional and civic
lives" – works well with JMU's mission: "We are a community committed
to preparing students to be educated and enlightened citizens who lead
productive and meaningful lives."
Eight Key Questions guide The
Madison Collaborative. "They do not teach ethics; they focus on enhancing
students' reasoning skills," Ware said. The questions were crafted to be
applicable to many situations and outcomes.
The Eight Key Questions:
- Outcomes – What are the
short-term and long-term outcomes of possible actions?
- Fairness – How can I act
equitably and balance all interests?
- Authority – What do
legitimate authorities (e.g., experts, law, my god[s]) expect of me?
- Liberty – What principles of
freedom and personal autonomy apply?
- Rights – What rights (e.g.,
innate, legal, social) apply?
- Responsibilities – What
duties and obligations apply?
- Empathy – How would I respond
if I cared deeply about those involved?
- Character – What actions will
help me become my ideal self?
"Immigration, gun
control, environmental issues, bullying are all ethical issues that we can
consider through The Madison Collaborative: Ethical Reasoning in Action,"
Bacon said.
"The process of forming
the QEP has been thorough and quite collaborative," said Linder. The QEP
will be reviewed by SACSCOC and JMU intends to implement the plan in fall 2013
to reach all students with the goal of developing people who can use the eight
key questions to reach better decisions.
More
information about the Quality Enhancement Plan is available at http://www.jmu.edu/qep.
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By Janet Smith
March 14, 2013
