It is our belief that colleges which succeed will be those that innovate in ways that are in keeping with who they are and with full appreciation of the goals, aspirations and worries of their students.  We are a faculty that embrace the breadth of the liberal arts and understand that importance of excellence in scholarship to excellence in teaching.  We understand that our goal is not to replicate ourselves, but assist students in finding their passion while they become critical and independent thinkers, strong communicators, and citizens of the world who can work across differences.  Our students are talented, and they come to UVM for its reputation as an excellent institution.  However, they are concerned about their future.  Students and families want to know how their education helps to prepare them for a career and what jobs will be available to them when they graduate.  While UVM does a remarkable job of making our education affordable, we have to acknowledge that many of our families are worried about debt, the “value” of a College of Arts and Sciences education and how that education prepares their student for a career.

We must acknowledge that a liberal arts education does not prepare a student for a specific career in the way that pre professional programs do.  Nevertheless, the liberal arts education provides students with many skills that employers desire.  To ensure that our students acquire these skills and the critical co-curricular experiences that not only guide them to a career but make them competitive in the marketplace, the College has invested heavily in creating and supporting a robust internship program.  To further support students’ career development, we will create a certificate in “Career Readiness.”  The Certificate will include career preparation courses that encourage students to design their bachelor degree course work toward with a career in mind and help them to curate and articulate their curricular and co-curricular (e.g. interneship) experiences that make them career ready.