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The Furman Advantage guarantees that all students receive high-impact learning experiences aimed to prepare students for productive lives after Furman that are strengthened by reflection and intentional mentoring. The central feature of the Furman Advantage is the four-year pathway, which frames the student experience as a developmentally-scaffolded process. The purpose of the four-year pathway is to ensure that all students have access to the resources, information, and opportunities to create and assemble experiences that align with their individual interests at the appropriate time in their undergraduate career, ultimately informing their long-term goals and post-Furman success.
The common Pathways Program experience in years 1 and 2 is designed to set the foundation for the four-year pathway, to ensure that all students have access to the resources to realize the promise of The Furman Advantage. Each course in the sequence addresses components of The Furman Advantage (Academics, Mentoring and Advising, Engaged Learning Experiences, Career Development, Diversity Equity and Inclusion, and Reflection) as well as components of student success outlined in the literature on first-year and sophomore experiences. Specifically, each course utilizes a seminar format to meet the following objectives:
- Develop intellectual and academic competence
- Establish and maintain meaningful interpersonal relationships
- Explore the development of a sense of identity
- Explore vocation and calling in relation to development of career goals
- Establish and maintain personal health and wellness
- Develop a sense of multicultural awareness and competence
- Develop a sense of civic responsibility
Each Pathways Program course requires students to assume responsibility and cultivate a sense of agency for their development. By providing a supportive environment and the time and space for reflection, students develop their own short- and long-term goals. The Pathways Program also encourages students to develop into active, engaged citizens, fulfilling a goal of a liberal arts education.
Years 3 & 4 of the four-year pathway include programming designed by individual academic departments and the requirements will vary by major. Students should refer to their major departments to determine their Pathways responsibilities in their 3rd and 4th years on campus.
To create a supportive environment for reflection and refinement of short- and long-term goals, Pathways Program courses:
- facilitate a deeper connection between students and their academic advisor, through weekly discussions and assignments in which interests, values and goals are communicated and discussed in a reflective, critical, and engaging manner;
- include a peer mentor as co-facilitator for classes in the first-year of the program;
- develop the reflective skills necessary for critically evaluating student experiences both inside and outside of the classroom;
- usually limit enrollment to 15 students per class section.
The main goal of the Pathways Program is to provide students with resources to support their success and the time and space to encourage students to identify connections across their experiences to help design their own pathway. This is supported through the following pedagogical practices:
- Providing a common curriculum to ensure that all students are exposed to resources to support academic success, engagement in high impact practices, career exploration, diversity, equity and inclusion, and reflection.
- In keeping with the emphasis on reflective practices, students will be required to complete formal reflection assignments at the end of each term.
- Educating students about plagiarism and other forms of academic dishonesty in accordance with university-wide policy.
- Employing the resources of experts across campus, including the Center for Academic Success, the Center for Engaged Learning, the Malone Center for Career Engagement, the Center for Inclusive Communities, the Institutes, and the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection.
- Using the expertise of faculty and staff advisors, as well as peer mentors, to help facilitate content and continually adapt the curriculum to meet the changing needs of students.
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