• Introduction
• Ethos Courses
• General Education
  • Assessment
  • Portfolio Artifacts
  • Time Restrictions

Introduction

In Ancient Greek, “ethos” was the word for an informed citizen’s character. The ideal was to become an individual of courageous aspiration and sound moral judgment. Much later, ethos referred to a speaker’s authority, trustworthiness, and capacity for civic excellence. And today, one of the great aims of a comprehensive liberal education might be said to be the development of student ethos, the disposition and habits of mind essential to living a meaningful life. LaGrange College’s Ethos program endeavors to be the foundation in every student’s search for that meaningful life. Students will refine their intellectual skills​, explore multiple modes of inquiry​, and interrogate the values of thoughtful global citizenship​. Dedicated to LaGrange College’s roots in the Wesleyan tradition and implemented across every year of an undergraduate degree program, the Ethos curriculum values high-impact learning practices and culminates with integrated, project-based senior capstone experiences unique to each student’s major area of study. The Ethos program is the soul of LaGrange College's commitment to the liberal arts tradition. It is our promise to prepare students to be curious and creative global citizens.

Ethos Courses

In addition, as part of Programmatic Goal IV, each student is required to complete a senior capstone/seminar course in their major that ranges from 1-3 hours.  These are the currently certified courses.

General Education

Each student is required to pass three (3) Interim-term courses [one (1) three-hour course per term] as part of the graduation requirements. First-year students are required to enroll in an Interim-term course. Students may elect to complete four (4) Interim-term courses and are encouraged to do so.

The Ethos Curriculum and the Interim Term comprise General Education at LaGrange College.

Assessment of the Ethos Curriculum

During the first semester and again prior to graduation, students take the college’s assessment exam, designed to determine the extent to which students have achieved the objectives of the Ethos Curriculum. Participation in this testing program is a requirement for graduation with a baccalaureate degree.

Students will be responsible for assembling an Ethos Portfolio with which the programs and the Ethos Council can perform course-embedded assessment. All Ethos courses will include authentic assessments that are designed and administered by the courses’ instructors. For the most part, these assessments will be written artifacts, but multimedia artifacts including recorded presentations and/or performances, photography, and sound files may also be appropriate.

While often adequate for assessing student learning within certain courses, student results on standardized  and/or computer scored midterm and final exams are not recommended artifacts for programmatic portfolios. Rather, students are encouraged to design signature assignments that may function as transactional discourse outside of the classroom.

The Ethos Portfolio will be comprised of nine (9) artifacts that students will collect and upload electronically over their time as students at LaGrange College. Artifacts must demonstrate gains made within each of the student learning outcomes: creativity, critical thinking, communication, and connection. Senior theses/capstone projects should be, with some rare exceptions, uploaded by all graduating seniors.

In each instance, students will be prompted to write brief self-assessments of no more than a paragraph that explain the inclusion of their work and how it demonstrates its respective student learning outcome. This reflective work—and all assessment—will be reviewed by the Ethos Council. Students transferring to LaGrange College with at least thirty (30) transfer credits may have certain artifacts waived from their Ethos Portfolios depending on which courses were transferred.

Students transferring to LaGrange College with at least sixty (60) transfer credits will not have to complete an Ethos Portfolio as part of the graduation requirements. The Ethos Council will annually conduct assessment of artifacts associated with a limited number of learning outcomes. This cyclic, systematic process will focus on distinct sets of learning outcomes in succeeding assessment periods until all learning outcomes are evaluated. With some exception, many of these assessments are already being administered across LaGrange College’s curriculum.

The Ethos Portfolio presents the opportunity for faculty to review it in the interest of improving student learning, and for students—and their families—to see meaningful benchmarks in their educations.  In the following table, students may see which courses produce the artifacts they require for their portfolios.

Portfolio Artifacts and Courses

Ethos Curriculum: Time Restrictions

There is no time limit on the credit or validity of coursework in the Ethos Curriculum. It should be noted, however, that students who have not been enrolled at LaGrange College for four (4) years, or who transferred from LaGrange College and subsequently return, enter the college under the Bulletin in force at the time of re-entry.