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Student Success in Potter College


The Potter College of Arts & Letters encourages you to #ExpandYourRange. Expanding your range of knowledge and perspectives helps you become an informed citizen and live a fulfilled life. Expanding your range of adaptable and transferable skills prepares you for meaningful work in the careers of today and the yet-to-be discovered careers of tomorrow. Expanding your range of opportunities that will be available to you immediately after graduation allows you to select fulfilling employment options across a lifetime as a Potter alumnus.

In Potter College, our students create the future by exploring the past and shaping the present. Come join us and #ExpandYourRange.

Introduction to the Expand Your Range Project and student career success in PCAL at WKU. Video Preview

A liberal arts education at WKU prepares you for more than a career or a job. We work to provide you with a set of skills and context for you to craft a successful life. The hallmark of an education in the College of Arts & Letters at WKU is the mastery of a set of skills and abilities that employers tell us they need from our graduates and we know you need to be successful in life.

Dr. Larry Snyder

 

Explore issues comprehensively before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion. Evaluate ideas, knowledge, evidence, and values to inform decisions.

  • Acknowledge there may be more than one valid point of view.
  • Evaluate an issue or problem based on multiple perspectives, while accounting for personal biases.
  • Recognize when information may be incomplete, misleading, or lacking in systematic observation prior to coming to conclusions and making decisions.

Express ideas and goals to engage an audience. Use these skills to inform, persuade, or entertain.

  • Consider relationships with the audience and the social and political context in which one communicates.
  • Demonstrate command of the means of communication (including relevant language and technical skills).
  • Ensure that communication is functional and clear.

Develop the ability to assess problematic situations. Create a process of designing, evaluating and implementing a workable strategy to achieve a goal.

  • Recognize constraints to generate a set of alternative courses of action.
  • Evaluate alternatives using scientific reasoning.
  • Identify and implement the most effective solution, then monitor the outcomes of that solution.

Generate new, distinct, and unique ideas. Make connections among them to create something original.

  • Challenge existing paradigms and propose alternatives without being constrained by established approaches.
  • Employ knowledge, skills, and abilities, to create something original.
  • Take risks and share creative talents to bring forward new work or ideas.

Cultivate cultural awareness by exploring different dimensions of diversity and intersectionality. Understand historical and social contexts and demonstrate a willingness to confront perspectives of dominant cultural narratives, locally, nationally, or globally.

  • Understand how culture affects perceptions, attitudes, values, and behaviors.
  • Recognize how social structures and systems shape social and economic behavior.
  • Appreciate diversity by exploring multicultural perspectives or worldviews.

Empower people and organizations to pursue ethical goals in decision making. Recognize ethical issues arising in a variety of settings or social contexts, reflect on the ethical concerns that pertain to the issue, and choose a course of action based on these reflections.

  • Assess the moral consequences of individual and organizational decisions.
  • Integrate values and perspectives into an ethical framework for decision making.
  • Consider the short- and long-term consequences of actions and relevant ethical principles on all members of a community when making decisions.

Become a leader by fostering teamwork and cohesion in a group. Build collaborative relationships to bring about change and a sense of community and purpose.

  • Understand group roles and responsibilities and accept they may change in differing situations.
  • Leverage the strengths of the group to achieve a shared vision or objective.
  • Effectively manage conflict toward solutions.

Engage arts, culture, history, and storytelling to understand the diversity and complexity of human experiences. Foster empathy and appreciation for different cultures through close examinations of artistic expression.

  • Understand how historic and cultural events influence artistic expression (and vice versa).
  • Explore artistic works and examine how themes presented in them are relevant to the political and cultural context of today.
  • Use artistic expression to engage the audience while further enhancing other aspects of knowledge.

Understand the digital world’s foundations and evolution to connect people and information. Leverage knowledge of information and communications technology in order to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

  • Use technologies responsibly.
  • Adapt tools to new purposes.
  • Keep up with the evolving technology landscape.

Create change and help communities develop common goals while embracing difference. Recognize potential opportunities to serve and contribute to communities. Take action accordingly.

  • Actively engage with communities.
  • Build awareness of how communities impact individuals and how individuals affect, serve, and shape communities.
  • Raise awareness of culture and power in community dynamics.

 

//////  Student Resources  //////

alum speaker presentation

Network with multidisciplinary liberal arts alumni, enjoy a keynote, special class visits and workshops.

towel statue
Whether you've decided on your career or don't know where to start, the WKU Advising and Career Development Center is here to help by connecting you with the resources and skills you need to drive your career development.
career conf card

Faculty, Alumni, and Industry Professional led sessions for liberal arts students.

 

what can i do with this major

Are you trying to choose a major? Do you have a major, but are wondering what career opportunities it presents?
This tool may answer many of your questions as well as give you career information.

interview

The Advising and Career Development Center (ACDC) conducts practice interviews in order to allow students and alumni an opportunity to build confidence and receive feedback before going into a real job interview.

job or internship

Handshake is the ACDC's online career management platform. Employers partner with us to post open positions through Handshake. Students and alumni use it to search positions, post resumes, sign up for on-campus interviews, find out about job fairs and events and network with employers.


NEW Certification Programs

Game Design

If you grew up passionate about gaming, becoming a professional game designer might be your dream job. But being an avid gamer isn’t enough of a credential to break into the industry. Turn a gaming passion into a career. Earn a certificate in Game Design at WKU in as little as 2 semesters! Contact: kristina.arnold@wku.edu

Graphic Design

This certificate will teach students to become more effective visual communicators. Students will learn the basic tenets, strategies and tools of visual communication and graphic design, including how to generate and edit images and visually-based multi-media content. Students will learn industry-standard tools and software for both analog and computer-aided design for digital, print and web applications; including page layout, image editing, and illustration. Contact: kristina.arnold@wku.edu

Workplace Communication

This 15-hour program will arm graduates with skills to think critically, solve problems, and engage effectively with others; and it will be a marketable credential in the contemporary workplace. Contact: bruce.crawley@wku.edu or clint.haynes@wku.edu

Stay Connected

 WKU PCAL Diversity

 

 


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 Last Modified 9/30/22