Millsaps has some real challenges in this area, in terms of thinking more clearly about what it has in place, and how to make that connection more explicit. We need to design our professional and preprofessional programs in ways that clearly incorporate a liberal arts education but allow for professional emphasis. In an effort to evaluate the strengths of the college, I have asked each department to define its own strengths as opposed to that of similar programs at other institutions. I have also asked the faculty to think about how these strengths can be enhanced or defined more clearly both with existing resources and modest amounts of new resources. This review will help us chart a future that builds upon our distinctiveness as a liberal arts institution.
Technology is a means to an end.
It is a means for teaching our liberal arts competencies. And the reason to embrace and give serious attention to technology is because it promises to enhance one's teaching and learning. Otherwise, there is really no reason to embrace technology. Our main goal is to provide a first-class liberal arts education, and, if properly harnessed and implemented, technology offers better ways of delivering that education. Millsaps provides a wonderful educational experience, and it is the students and the faculty who are the foundation of that experience.