Rhodes College, a nationally ranked liberal arts institution, is the recipient of a $100,000 Program Development Grant from the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). This grant will embed career preparation more intentionally and systematically into the college's liberal arts curriculum.
Provided by the Council of Independent Colleges and supported by the Lilly Endowment Inc., the grant funds a two-year initiative titled “Integrating Values and Vocation Across the Liberal Arts,” which begins on July 1. “We are grateful for NetVUE’s support in developing the infrastructure for strengthening connections between academic inquiry and career readiness,” said Dr. Rashna Richards, associate provost at Rhodes who will serve as the project lead. “Our faculty care deeply about helping students discern lives of purpose, and this grant will make the curricular work of vocational preparation more intentional and visible.”
The first year of the grant will include faculty learning communities, campus-wide symposia, and the creation of a comprehensive Rhodes Career Toolkit. The second year will focus on innovative course development, including experiential learning courses that take students to major cities to visit alumni and make connections between liberal arts learning and professional life.
“The work supported by this grant is more important than ever,” said Dr. Timothy Huebner, provost and vice president for academic affairs. “Students crave meaningful conversations about their futures, and this grant supports just that sort of purposeful engagement and professional development.”
This initiative is grounded in Rhodes’ Vision to “graduate students with a lifelong passion for learning, a compassion for others, and the ability to translate academic study and personal concern into effective leadership and action.” It illustrates how a Rhodes degree helps students transform their learning into action, preparing them to make a living as well as a meaningful life.