Foundations used in the development of the Residential Curriculum
· Miami University Strategic Goals
o Make the Miami Undergraduate Experience the Best in the Country.
o Ensure Excellence in Graduate Education. Raise the Level of Scholarly Accomplishment
o Increase the Impact of the Regional Campuses on the University and Their Communities Improve the Future of Ohio
o Elevate the National Profile of Miami University
o Strengthen our Identity as the Employer of Choice for Faculty and Staff
o Maximize the University’s Resource Base
o Create a Culture of Giving that Ensures Success for Miami's Next Century.
· Learning Partnership Model
o Introduces learners to those expectations. It is a framework for promoting self-authorship, "the internal capacity to define one's beliefs, identity, and relations with others" (p. 8). The LPM "portray[s] learning as a complex process in which learners bring their own perspectives to bear on deciding what to believe and simultaneously share responsibility with others to construct knowledge (p. xviii). Learning Partnerships: Theory and Models of Practice to Educate for Self-Authorship presents the LPM and practical examples from the college course, program, and institutional levels of how to prepare young adults for the professional, civic, and personal challenges of their lives.
· Miami Plan for Liberal Education
o Purpose
§ The diverse educational communities of a comprehensive university have a common interest in liberal learning: it nurtures capabilities for creatively transforming human culture and complements specialized work by enlarging one’s personal and vocational pathways. Liberal education involves thinking critically, understanding contexts, engaging with other learners reflecting and acting, habits that extend liberal learning through a lifetime to benefit both the individual and society.
o Thinking Critically
§ Thinking critically promotes imagination and intuition along with reasoning and evaluation. These diverse abilities contribute to achieving perspective, constructing and discerning relationships, and gaining understanding. Confidence in working with data and materials, skepticism in analyzing arguments or presentations, persistence in engaging complex problems and facility in communicating about technical matters are central to thinking critically. A skillful use of written and spoken languages, and informed use of mathematics and an ability to employ contemporary information sources are integral to thinking critically.
o Understanding Context
§ Liberal learning cultivates the perspective that present cultural circumstances are an historical and a changing situation. Decisions about what is to be studied, the forms in which knowledge appears and the ways reasoning develops are to be continually examined. Ways of knowing need active attention: gender, class, racial identity, ethnicity, economic status and regional identity condition our understanding; temporal and spatial relationships, institutional traditions, religious commitments, philosophic perspectives, and political objectives shape our assumptions; influences originating beyond geographic and social boundaries affect what we know. Crucial to our future is knowledge of the conceptual frameworks and achievements of the arts, sciences, and technology, as well as understanding of the earth’s ecosystem and the character of global society.
o Engaging with Other Learners
§ A healthy exchange of conflicting ideas and differing viewpoints encourages rethinking of accepted perspectives; it requires making choices and taking risks. Diversity among learners, a supportive atmosphere of group work, active listening, opportunities for presenting and criticizing the results of inquiry and creative effort encourage learning, aid growth and stimulate imagination. Thoughtful and systematic inquiry about the learning process supports shared efforts, and positive advising situations and experiences outside the classroom reinforce them.
o Reflecting and Acting
§ Thinking critically and understanding contexts for knowledge in an engaging learning situation lead to reflection and informed action. Making thoughtful decisions and examining their consequences enhance personal moral commitment, enrich ethical understanding, and strengthen civic participation.
· Values from the Department of Residence Life
o Respect, Compassion and Peaceful Relationships
o Integrity and Ethics
o Meaningful Partnerships
o Staff Development
o Student Learning and Development
o Creativity and Intentionality
o Diversity
o Celebration
· Office of Residence Life – Mission
o The Office of Residence Life collaborates with other offices to facilitate students' successful adjustment to and transitions through their collegiate experience. We try to provide a safe and supportive environment promoting academic success, personal development, involvement in campus life, and understanding of intercultural issues. We support the University's commitment to build citizen leaders for the future.
· Living Learning Communities – Mission
o The mission of Living Learning Communities at Miami University is to create and extend student learning opportunities outside of the classroom that heighten student intellectual and personal growth. Living Learning Communities are purposeful attempts to integrate curricular and co-curricular experiences that complement and extend classroom learning. These communities foster faculty and resident interaction that enhances both intellectual and personal growth of the residents. Each community is built around a specific field of study or area of interest and is structured so students have a high degree of involvement in its formation
· ACUHO-I Ethical Principles for College and University Housing Professionals (selected)
o The Housing Professional:
- Acts with integrity, dignity and competence.
- Has a responsibility both to the resident and to the institution.
- Has an obligation to understand the educational goals and academic mission of the institution and to aid in support and realization of these goals through residence hall programming, alternative living options, leadership training, student governance, faculty involvement, and sound fiscal management.
- Accepts students as individuals, each with rights and responsibilities, each with goals and needs and, with this in mind, seeks to create and maintain a community living environment in which optimal learning and personal development can take place.
- Strives to establish an open, diverse and multicultural residential environment that promotes the appreciation, understanding and respect for differences.
· Miami University – Mission
o Miami University, a student-centered public university founded in 1809, has built its success through an unwavering commitment to liberal arts undergraduate education and the active engagement of its students in both curricular and co-curricular life. It is deeply committed to student success, builds great student and alumni loyalty, and empowers its students, faculty, and staff to become engaged citizens who use their knowledge and skills with integrity and compassion to improve the future of our global society.
Miami provides the opportunities of a major university while offering the personalized attention found in the best small colleges. It values teaching and intense engagement of faculty with students through its teacher-scholar model, by inviting students into the excitement of research and discovery. Miami's faculty are nationally prominent scholars and artists who contribute to Miami, their own disciplines and to society by the creation of new knowledge and art. The University supports students in a highly involving residential experience on the Oxford campus and provides access to students, including those who are time and place bound, on its regional campuses. Miami provides a strong foundation in the traditional liberal arts for all students, and it offers nationally recognized majors in arts and sciences, business, education, engineering, and fine arts, as well as select graduate programs of excellence. As an inclusive community, Miami strives to cultivate an environment where diversity and difference are appreciated and respected.
Miami instills in its students intellectual depth and curiosity, the importance of personal values as a measure of character, and a commitment to life-long learning. Miami emphasizes critical thinking and independent thought, an appreciation of diverse views, and a sense of responsibility to our global future.
· Student Development Theory
o Student development theory refers to the body of theories related to how students gain knowledge in post-secondary education environments
o The earliest theory — or tradition — in Europe was in loco parentis. Schools acted on behalf of parents for the good of their students and concentrated on character development which mostly equaled to instilling students with traditional Christian values through strict rules and enforced by rigid discipline. The development of students' character was substantially more important than the development of their intellect.
o The first change came in the late nineteenth and early part of the twentieth century, with the increasing growth of universities and development of the social sciences like psychology. Theorists such as B.F. Skinner and Carl Rogers influenced the thinking about students and a new paradigm developed: the student services paradigm as the name indicates stated that students should be provided with services they require in order to better gain knowledge.
o In the middle of the twentieth century the student service paradigm started to be replaced by the student development paradigm. This paradigm was influenced by the growing body of psychological and sociological theories, reflecting the idea that students learn both in-class and out-of-class, and are influenced both by their genetics and social environment. Student development theories stress that every student is a different individual with unique needs.
o Basic assumptions guiding the student development movement:
§ The individual student must be considered as a whole.
§ Each student is a unique person and must be treated as such.
§ The total environment of the student is educational and must be used to help the student achieve full development.
§ The major responsibility for a student's personal and social development rests with the student and his/her personal resources.
· Developmental / Appreciative Advising
o Miami University academic advising is a developmental process that assists students in their academic decision making by linking students and designated faculty and staff together to communicate and exchange information that will contribute to students reaching their maximum potential.