Brooks College 2015-2016 Annual Report
A Message from Dean Anne L. Hiskes
If I had to choose one word to describe Brooks College during the 2015-2016 academic year, that word would be thriving. As the annual report demonstrates, the college is thriving according to a host of quantitative measures — number of credit hours taken by students, number of service-learning hours by students, number of new courses and programs approved, number of faculty publications, and so forth.
However, the word thriving also applies to Brooks College in a more important sense. Through innovative, interdisciplinary programs and diverse community partnerships, the college provides a variety of environments in which students may thrive in their development to become engaged global citizens. On page 8, for example, we hear the voices of recent graduates of the first cohort of the accelerated degree completion program in liberal studies. These nontraditional students speak to the transformational quality of an interdisciplinary learning experience that connects to real-world problems.
This theme — the transformational power of interdisciplinary teaching and learning as connected to real-world issues through diverse community partnerships — continues throughout the 2015-2016 annual report. It is evident in the stories on new courses in design thinking, refugees and immigration, and Latinos/as in West Michigan; new academic programs such as global studies and social impact; and the many community-engaged events held throughout the year and organized by Brooks College faculty and staff. None of these stories would exist, however, without an environment that also enables faculty and staff to thrive in their continuing commitment to the mission of the college to cultivate engaged global citizens. Thus we conclude our 2015-2016 annual report by recognizing special contributions of Brooks College faculty and staff.
It is with great pleasure and gratitude that I invite you, through the 2015-2016 Brooks College Annual Report, to experience the thriving world of Brooks College.
Sincerely,
Anne L. Hiskes, Dean
Brooks College of Interdisciplinary Studies
