Publication Date
2016
Abstract
The 2015 Review of Social Change at Walden University identifies a number of initiatives that were put in place during 2015 to actualize and support the social change portion of the university mission. Many of these initiatives implemented proposals offered during the Special Emphasis Self-Study that was part of The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) reaccreditation project of 2012. One of the most important social change initiatives in 2015 emerged from discussions among Walden’s Board of Directors, president, and leadership teams, who agreed that Walden will move forward with development and implementation of a 5-year action plan to more fully realize its long-term commitment to social change. A significant initiative this year is the appointment of a Social Change Working Group charged with developing a plan for social change developments over the next 5 years. The first section of the review outlines continuing and new initiatives impacting the wider university community. The second section reports on developments in aligning each college’s curricula with the mission, a major project conducted over the past 2 years that built on the work of faculty task forces during the HLC Special Emphasis Self-Study in 2012. The last section summarizes the findings from surveys conducted by the Office of Institutional Research and Assessment that assess efforts around preparing students as agents of social change.
