IMMERSED IN DISCOVERY

That’s the feeling of a student whose study away experience, classroom learning and advising set her on the path to an internship that advances and refines her career plans. That’s the realization of the alumnus whose chosen graduate program resoundingly affirms the trajectory he started at Furman.

For both, it’s a deep sense of belonging. It’s a powerful knowing. It’s finding your people and following your calling – the first, by experiencing and in turn fostering a culture of inclusion at Furman, the second, by following Furman’s guided blend of experiences, mentoring and reflection to a place of purpose.

We have developed The Furman Advantage in much the same way we encourage our students to approach learning and life. Each student has the opportunity to experience transformational learning and mentoring on a pathway to success, so the quality of their education is reflected in the quality of their lives long after they graduate.

Pathways provides advising and mentoring for first- and second-year students in small classes with a single advisor. It eases the transition to college and helps students explore, to learn how to develop their independence, and to start thinking about vocation and what they do best. Instead of thinking only about a degree, they think about the skills that will serve them beyond Furman. In the first years of The Furman Advantage, we developed the pilot for Pathways, which has now reached more than 400 students across four cohorts.

Frequent assessment has been a central piece of The Furman Advantage. Students in the Pathways program report higher satisfaction scores for advising. Early pilot data also suggest that Pathways closes gaps between majority students and students from low-income families, first-generation college students and students of color in

• advising satisfaction,
• belonging,
• participation in engaged learning experiences, and
• earlier and more frequent appointments with career counseling.

For all students, data from the first three years of The Furman Advantage point to a multitude of benefits, including:

• funding support for all students who applied for summer research and internships,
• increased need-based funding for study away,
• increased participation in engaged learning experiences, and
• increased participation in multiple engaged learning experiences.

The results? An environment in which students are more likely to think their education was valuable, to feel more affinity for Furman, and to hold jobs or pursue graduate studies after Furman that they find fulfilling.

We’re strengthening resilience by building a strong foundation of academic, social and coping skills.

From left: Tom Petty, Maya Bismark, Julia McCabe and Eli Titherington work on their presentation for Safe Harbor during a MayX course in design thinking

The effects of diet on brain activity. Quilt as autobiography. Artificial intelligence in the stock market. These were just a few of the  presentations that more than 650 students shared of their internships, research, service learning, study away, creative projects, first-year writing seminars and capstone experiences during the annual Furman Engaged event. The daylong celebration is sponsored by Furman’s Center for Engaged Learning, which facilitates the high impact, co-curricular opportunities that develop students’ sense of purpose, intellectual curiosity and civic and global engagement, while preparing them for graduate school, professional school or the workforce.

In its 13th year, Furman Engaged was held virtually for the second time, and offered both live and recorded sessions representing experiences from all of Furman’s academic departments, centers and institutes.

Furman Engaged represents the final step of students’ deep learning experiences – the public sharing of their work. Students synthesize what they learned about their disciplines and about themselves, while sharing with their peers and the broader community the experiences that are possible at Furman.

While the pandemic postponed all study-away travel, the program will make a comeback in 2022-23, during which an estimated 185 students will study away for a semester. We anticipate a record number of MayX 2022 study away participants as well. Despite the setbacks of the pandemic, the Rinker Center for Study Away and International Education supported virtual internships and related coursework. Thirteen students participated in a virtual international internship during the spring semester and said they gained valuable cultural insights, better intercultural communication skills and meaningful experiences with collaboration. In addition, the spring faculty-led study-away program, Washington Experience, shifted to a virtual format that included an internship for 11 students.