Franklin College is stepping up efforts to engage freshmen with a redesigned curriculum, including faculty-designed seminars, professional development, student-led research projects and a requirement for each student to complete an internship.
Heading into his last academic year as Franklin College president, Thomas J. Minar sees the new curriculum as one of the cornerstones of what will be five years as head of the liberal arts university. He credits top administrators and faculty, however, with crafting the new curriculum.
“In the fall of 2016 we commissioned a task force of faculty and staff to respond to the first pillar of our strategic plan in the creation of an outstanding curriculum, taking advantage of our experience and successes with engaged learning in particular,” Minar said. “We saw the curricular revision as a great opportunity for the college to create a more contemporary product and forward-thinking educational opportunities.”
Those opportunities start with Launch, encapsulating each student’s freshman year.
Franklin College’s freshman year program is titled Launch, and aims to get students fully immersed in their college experience starting on registration day, when students meet with a full-time faculty advisor to discuss their goals. During Welcome Week, the college puts students in situation where they can quickly make friends, including a student activities fair with more than 40 student organizations present, according to school officials.
During the process of crafting the new curriculum, administrators visited 12 campuses and studied about 100 colleges, looking at their best practices. The curriculum Franklin College came up with, however, is very much its own, Minar said.
When classes start, students are required to take a first-year seminar. In preparation for Launch, Franklin College administrators gave professors some creative liberty when creating their seminars. There are 15 seminars to choose from, including “A Dog’s Life: Lessons on a Life Worth Living,” “From Crosswords to Escape Rooms: Puzzles and Pop Culture” and “Myths, Magic and Marvel: Exploring Religion through the Marvel Universe,” said Keri Ellington, dean of student success.
In Myths, Magic and Marvel, for example, students look at themes of magic, mythology, masks, prophecies, apocalyptic beliefs and evil, and how those themes correlate to those seen in a variety of world religions, according to the course description.
“I see this as a way to get maximum potential out of our faculty,” Provost and College Dean Lori Schroeder said. “First-year students never thought they would go to a college that teaches a class about a dog’s purpose and the Marvel comic universe.”
Involving choice in a student’s college experience is key, especially in welcoming a new generation of students, Ellington said.
“Many of the pieces of Launch are about what Generation Z likes to see in education,” Ellington said. “Choices are provided in the educational experience all our first year students get to go through. It’s tailored to the needs of our generation of students, it’s not one-size-fits-all.”
Every student was granted either their first or second choice for freshman seminar, she said.
After that first semester, students will partake in an immersive term, a three-week window in January during which students can learn outside the classroom. Students can use this term for an internship, which is now required of all students during their time at Franklin College, for a study abroad opportunity or for inner-city missions opportunities, said Kathryn Coffman, vice president and dean of admissions and financial aid.
For missions, students go to Indianapolis and help non-profit organizations. Students can go to Wheeler Mission or Shepherd Community Center and connect homeless people with services around the city. Students also spend a night sleeping in a homeless shelter as part of the experience, she said.
“The great thing about the immersive term is there’s something for everyone,” Coffman said. “Across majors and academic disciplines, students can find something they’re passionate about or discover a new passion through their experience. For some students it’s the first time they’ve gone abroad or encountered a homeless individual.”
At the end of the immersive term, students will attend a personal development summit, including workshops focused on professional development, health and wellness, such as getting quality sleep and living with stress, and inclusivity, which covers how to discuss politics and religion in a level-headed way, according to school officials.
The new curriculum doesn’t just include freshman year. During their college careers, students can lead their own research projects, rather than being assigned to help a professor on one of their research efforts. Students will be able to lean on faculty members for advice and direction, but will do the majority of the work themselves. Students will also complete a second immersive term before they graduate, Coffman said.
Students will explore a professional development opportunity in their major. For a student who’s a philosophy major, for example, that might involve looking at different non-profit organizations they could work with, Schroeder said.
Implementing the new curriculum is a historic move for Franklin College, Minar said.
“This is among the most significant and biggest things we’ve done in the history of this college,” Minar said. “We’re in the midst of a new dimension. We’re trying to build a college ready for all the change around us.”
