William Penn University Mission Statement

William Penn University provides the opportunity for an educational experience with a focus on leadership, technology, and the Quaker principles of simplicity, peace-making, integrity, community and equality.

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What does this mean?

• Opportunity
  • Access for students who might not traditionally have access, due to being a first-generation student, or based on age, economics, location, race, and ethnicity
  • Spiritual formation
  • Traditional and non-traditional (accelerated and off campus) programs
  • Low student to faculty ratio promoting individual attention
• Educational experience
  • Undergraduate and graduate degrees
  • Leadership Core curriculum
  • Classroom emphasis on collaboration, teamwork, and presentations
• Leadership
  • Ethics
  • Participatory experiences, including athletics, the arts, Greek organizations, and clubs
  • Global perspective
  • Community development
  • Commitment to service
  • Lifelong learning
• Technology
  • Instructional technology
  • Communications technology
  • Innovative technologies
• Quaker principles
  • Simplicity
  • Peace-making
  • Integrity
  • Community
  • Equality

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William Penn University Foundational Concepts

Informed and led by the precepts of the Society of Friends, the following four concepts must underlie all we do at William Penn University, both inside and outside of the classroom.

Leadership:

We value individuals who possess strong skills in organizing, planning, problem-solving, and communicating.

Ethical Practices:

We value the individual development of a personal values system in giving people a solid basis for the values they hold and the determination to stand up for what they profess to believe.

Lifetime of Learning:

We value intellectual curiosity tempered with integrity, honesty, responsibility, and civility. We encourage an environment of active learning where critical thinking, problemsolving, and truth-seeking cross cultural and disciplinary lines.

Commitment to Service:

We value a commitment to serving others. We encourage an environment that provides opportunities for community and humanitarian service.

Guiding Educational Directions: (Learning outcomes)

The following eleven leadership principles are the methods of achieving the Foundational Concepts outlined above.

Inquiry, abstract logical thinking, critical analysis

Leaders must be able to reason well – to examine a wide range of issues rationally, logically, and coherently and to formulate problems, draw reasonable conclusions, and feel competent in using deductive and inductive reasoning processes.

Communication: writing, reading, speaking, listening

Leaders must know how to communicate clearly and persuasively, both in writing and orally, and know how to listen – to ask probing questions, to summarize with accurate, organized notes, and to read critically.

Understanding numerical reasoning

Leaders must sharpen their ability to understand numerical data, to use mathematics and statistics to communicate data and interpret research, to analyze what has happened, and to draw inferences for the future.

Technological proficiency

Leaders must be able to utilize and understand the implications of relevant technology.

Historical consciousness

Rather than just remembering who discovered what when, leaders must study history as a whole, seeing relationships between the past and present and drawing conclusions for modern society and for themselves by discovering precipitators and trends.

Scientific content and methodology

Leaders need to distinguish between observation and inference and to understand how theories are formed, tested, and validated.

Values

Leaders are prepared to apply their personal values to both the great and small matters of life. In doing so, leaders assume responsibility for their own decisions and realize that all value judgments are dependent upon one’s present understanding of truth and reality. An openness to examine and revise one’s personal values under the demand of new knowledge and insight is the mark of leaders who prize integrity, excellence and a lifelong search for the truth.

Aesthetic appreciation and experience

By developing a critical and discriminating eye and ear for works of music, art, drama, and literature, leaders gain an aesthetic sensibility and awareness for career development, personal enjoyment, and cultural enhancement purposes.

International and multicultural understanding

Leaders must know about the cultures, economies, languages, and geographies of the world in order to work cooperatively together to promote peace and understanding.

Competence in a specific discipline

Studying a specific discipline in depth requires focused inquiry and integration in order to achieve some sense of effective control over a body of knowledge.

Leadership and management skills

Leaders must have strong organizational abilities and good human relations skills. They must know how to manage complex plans well, carrying them to completion in a timely and cost efficient manner. They must know how to work efficiently and cooperatively, both individually and in teams, whether supervised or not.

Leadership Development Program:

1. Academic Experience
   1. Leadership Core: An integrated sequence of courses designed to develop leadership, ethical practice, a lifetime of learning, and commitment to service
   2. Major concentration in a selected field of personal interest
   3. Electives
2. Participatory Experience
   1. Intercollegiate Athletics
   2. Intramurals
   3. Honorary and Departmental Organizations
   4. Media
   5. Activities in the Arts
   6. Campus Ministry Activities
3. Social Experience
1. Greek Organizations
2. Special Interest Groups
3. Residence Life