Shared Identity and Common Concerns

Individual programs comprising Messiah's External Programs area share a number of common concerns. Each of these programs:

• Serve students across all academic majors and in each of the five schools at Messiah College
• Have a developmental plan for reaching students over each of their four years at the College
• Assist school deans and academic departments in facilitating the long-term visions and goals they have established for their majors
• Share a common mission statement and foundational theoretical framework
• Extend student learning beyond the traditional classroom
  Develop curricula and program strategies based on identified student learning outcomes
• Emphasize the importance of active and experiential learning
• Exhibit high levels of student engagement
• Focus on contextual learning where learning takes place in close proximity to the subject matter under study
  
• Immerse students in settings where they cultivate friendships with people who may be very different from themselves
• Prepare students through orientation programming for their service, work, internship, and study opportunities beyond the Grantham campus
• Cultivate collaborative partnerships with local and global community agencies, organizations, employers and educational institutions in delivering their programs
• Are committed to following best practices
• for the delivery of experiential learning curricula
• Identify and monitor health and safety issues while students are in learning environments away from the Grantham Campus
• Provide unique, hands-on opportunities for students to test out and reflect on their vocational calling
• Work closely with program alumni
  
• Collaborate with the EpiCenter, which functions as a one-stop-shop for initial information about many External Program opportunities
• Work closely with the Director of Academic Advising to communicate clear information about External Programs' courses and curricula, and off-campus course equivalencies
• Brainstorm to create hybrid opportunities between programs such as international internships (International Programs & the Internship Center) and internships in Philadelphia (the Philadelphia Campus and the Internship Center)
• Enhance students' background and preparation for the transition to graduate school, employment and service following graduation