Dean, Jetter School of Business Mount Vernon Nazarene University
Secretary, Board of Directors Christian Business Faculty Association
Liberal Education: The Foundation of Learning
A liberal arts education is the foundation of all learning. Some educators see a conflict between professional education and liberal arts education; I do not. Without a broad-based, liberal arts education, a professional is either useless or dangerous. Thus a professional education should build upon the foundation of a liberal arts education.
On the other hand, few people want to buy a foundation without a house on it. A liberal arts education without training in a specific skill set often leaves a graduate in the position of needing additional training to become employable, or going to graduate school to receive an advanced or a professional education. That can be a good thing if the student and his or her family understand and agree with that process; on the other hand, if the student does not realize until his or her senior year that the possibility of getting a good job without going on to graduate school is close to zero, it is understandable when the student blames the institution.
At some colleges and universities there is an undeclared (or sometimes declared) war between the liberal arts and the professional schools. This should not be. When it happens, people are forgetting the teaching of the Apostle Paul concerning the need of the parts of the body for each other. The liberal arts need the professional schools, and the professional schools need the liberal arts. And the students need both if they are going to have the tools they need to be successful.
