Appendix 9: WHITTIER COLLEGE: ITS MISSION STATEMENT AND GOALS

MISSION: To Provide a Distinctive High Quality College Education

Faculty and students at Whittier College share a love of learning and delight in the life of the mind. They join in understanding the value of the intellectual quest, the use of reason, and a respect for values. They seek knowledge of their own culture and the interrelatedness of knowledge and the connections among disciplines. An extraordinary community emerges from teacher-scholars and students representing a variety of academic pursuits, individuals who have come together at Whittier in the belief that study within the liberal arts forms the best foundation for rewarding endeavor throughout a lifetime.

Whittier College, an independent, nationally recognized liberal arts institution, provides an important option in American higher education: a distinctive, high quality academic program based upon the liberal arts which also integrates selected professional and preprofessional programs into the core of the college through innovative interdisciplinary curricula.

The college's primary mission is to educate students in a small college atmosphere where they can learn, acquire skills, and form attitudes and values appropriate for leading and serving in a global society. It seeks to do this in the context of a diverse, friendly and caring community. Committed to excellence in undergraduate education, Whittier also offers several advanced degrees, and its School of Law is a significant part of the total institution.

DISTINCTIVENESS: Academic Program and Atmosphere

Independent and coeducational, Whittier College is distinguished among other liberal arts colleges by its balanced curriculum that emphasizes the study of Asia, Africa and Latin America, as well as Europe and North America. Professional and preprofessional programs are fully integrated into the liberal arts core of the college through innovative interdisciplinary programs. In addition to an academic program that is more comprehensive than many other liberal arts colleges, Whittier offers classes that average approximately 15 students, the option for self-directed students to design their own education, and a highly diverse student body. Combined with the college's heritage, the resulting campus atmosphere is academically challenging, yet personally supportive and friendly.

BACKGROUND: The Friendly Campus

Located in the hills overlooking metropolitan Los Angeles and coastal southern California, Whittier College was founded in the city of Whittier by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1887 and was chartered by the state of California in 1901. Although long independent of sectarian control, the college takes pride in its Quaker heritage, which is expressed in the friendly tone of the campus and in a concern for the individual and for his or her personal growth within the context of a community; in the college's long standing commitment to a diverse student body and faculty, and the tolerance of human difference which it thereby seeks to engender; in the integration of humanistic and preprofessional education, reflecting Whittier's desire that its members be socially responsible citizens; and in the attempt within the college community to settle issues amicably and to arrive at major decisions by achieving consensus rather than by simple majority vote.

GOALS: To Provide a Community which Fosters Intellectual Growth and Ethical Conduct

The Whittier College community believes that intellectual growth and ethical conduct are enhanced by providing:

An intellectually challenging program that encourages a love of learning, an appreciation for the connections between academic disciplines, and exposure in some depth to a single area of concentration;

An atmosphere in which members of the community can develop as individuals, engaging in a responsible search for standards of value and knowledge of self while recognizing that they are part of a larger society for which they can provide leadership and service;

An environment which fosters sensitivity to and tolerance of others and offers each member an opportunity to become informed about an interdependent worked;

Opportunities for each member of the community to be creative and to enhance his or her ability to communicate with others through creative, artistic, physical, or verbal expression.

THE COMMUNITY: Faculty, Students, Curriculum, Educational Atmosphere and Support

Whittier's distinctive program is achieved by providing:

A Supportive Faculty. Whittier's faculty is dedicated to teaching and to scholarly achievement. Virtually all of the full-time faculty hold the Ph.D. or other highest degree. Diverse in their graduate and undergraduate education, they hold degrees from forty-eight different graduate and over seventy undergraduate schools from across the nation and worldwide. They have received recognition and support from such groups as the Fulbright Scholar Program, Haynes Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the National Science Foundation.

Whittier's faculty shares a commitment to undergraduate teaching, which includes not only outstanding classroom performance but also close and caring advisement, considerable interaction with students outside the classroom, and a belief that students and faculty learn together in common educational pursuit.

The college is proud of the extent to which its faculty is engaged in research at the highest level. Professional discourse through research enhances a high level of intellectual immediacy and excitement in the classroom, where students reap the rewards of study with experienced, often nationally recognized, teacher-scholars.

A Diverse Student Body. The student body at presents a broad spectrum of backgrounds and a record of high academic achievement. Students bring to the campus and the classroom a variety of interests and a remarkable degree of geographic, socioeconomic, and ethnic diversity. Over thirty states and fifteen foreign countries are represented at the college each year.

A Challenging, Comprehensive Curriculum. The curriculum provides a broad liberal arts background which enables the student, with appropriate advisement, to make responsible decisions about his or her own education and to develop a sense of self-awareness and responsibility. Students select one of two education approaches: the Liberal Education Program, with its interdisciplinary pairing of courses, or the Whittier Scholars Program, which emphasizes personal goal-setting and allows the student to develop an individual educational plan. The entire curriculum emphasizes the development of critical thinking and writing skills.

More comprehensive than many other programs, Whittier College offers, beyond the opportunity to select a major from among the traditional liberal arts and sciences, selected professional and preprofessional programs. These programs are thoroughly integrated into the overall liberal arts framework of the college. A specific goal of all majors is to provide skilled and well-educated leaders who are dedicated to service, sensitive to the ethical dimensions of public life and who possess a strong sense of respect for others.

A supportive Educational Atmosphere. Throughout their entire four year undergraduate experience the college provides students an educational atmosphere and support system which permits them to develop beyond the classroom. The college supports activities such as the campus newspaper and yearbook, student government, men's and women's societies, and student participation on college committees. It encourages students to participate in and attend drama productions, musical performances, the campus film series, intercollegiate and intramural athletics, all-campus and residence hall programs, and lectures by outside speakers, including those brought onto campus under the auspices of the Nixon Scholars program.

The degree of support for students and attention to their needs is equally apparent in the areas of financial aid, career planning, health services, improvement of study skills and personal counseling.

The historic campus itself is visually attractive, with architecture that combines the Spanish mission style with more modern form. A continuous renewal of facilities through new building and historic preservation is evidenced in the 500-seat Ruth B. Shannon Center for the Performing Arts, four computing centers, the renovation of Victor F. Deihl Hall and Hoover and Platner Halls, and the Donald E. Graham Athletic Center. Two new resident hall complexes add to the residential character of the college, with close to two-thirds of the student body choosing to live on campus.