Overview
The College of Mount St. Joseph: A Smaller College; a Caring Community
The College of Mount St. Joseph offers students personal attention through smaller class sizes and a caring community. The Mount strives to recognize the unique gifts of its students and encourages the expression of every voice in the classroom. With a student-to-faculty ratio of 10:1, the Mount is a close-knit campus community of living and learning that nurtures students' personal and academic growth. Faculty know students and support them with advising, on-site co-op visits and recommendation letters for graduate school.
The Mount extends a distinctive personal touch through the Academic Exploration Program (AEP). Designed for students who enter college with an undeclared major, the program offers academic and occupational assessments to facilitate the selection of a major and possible careers. Students receive guidance from knowledgeable advisors, join a learning community with their peers, and benefit from individual counseling available through the Career & Experiential Education Center.
Access to a comprehensive support system that promotes academic and personal success is part of every Mount student's education. The Learning Center provides individualized tutoring, writing and math centers, study skills courses, and other services that help students excel in college and beyond. Academic support tailored to the needs of students with learning disabilities is available through Project EXCEL. Other contributions to student success and well-being come from the Wellness Center's health care and counseling services, the Computer Learning Center's state-of-the art technology, the Harrington Center's athletic and recreation facilities, and the Children's Center's state-licensed child care services.
Mount students enjoy ample opportunities to get connected with others through involvement in campus activities. In addition to its more than 20 NCAA Division III athletic teams, the Mount offers over 25 student clubs and organizations as well as learning communities and numerous concerts, musicals and other on-campus events that allow students to share their common interests.
Ethical Leadership: Learn to Lead, and Lead to Serve
The College of Mount St. Joseph is a Catholic academic community grounded in the spiritual values and vision of its founders, the Sisters of Charity. At the heart of the Mount's mission and heritage is an emphasis on ethical leadership through service. Ethical leadership celebrates the return of virtue, character and personal honor to their rightful place as the foundation of education. This commitment inspires the College's interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional curricula, which equips students to live with integrity, to promote justice, and to seek the truth in their professions and communities.
Service opportunities complement academics and student life while fostering a culture of learning informed by charity. In the Service Learning Program, students apply classroom knowledge while volunteering in social and environmental settings to feed the hungry, build homes for Habitat for Humanity and comfort the elderly. The Cultural Immersion program offers the chance to live, learn and work amidst other cultures. In serving others, students cultivate a greater understanding of social problems, an appreciation for the cultural diversity of other people, as well as a commitment to volunteerism and an understanding of its connection to citizenship.
Campus Ministry infuses all aspects of faith into the Mount's culture and celebrates spiritual exploration. Faith sharing programs, Mass, retreats, and other planned events help awaken and deepen an awareness of God's love and presence within the campus community. Inspired by Catholic social teaching, Campus Ministry encourages students to identify their gifts and to use them for the common good through activities such as Pizza and Ponder, Homelessness Awareness Week, and 30-Hour Famine.
In this same spirit of service, the Mount seeks to cultivate ethical leaders who are environmentally responsible. The green roof installed atop Archbishop Alter Library - the first of its kind among local area colleges - serves as a living symbol of energy conservation and environmental preservation for the community. Other ecological initiatives also teach earth-friendly lessons such as the campus-wide recycling program, trayless meals in the dining areas to reduce food waste, and the use of bikes and golf carts by Campus Police to cut fuel consumption. Within the Mount community, all are called to be good stewards of what they have been given, including the Earth and its resources.
Prepare for Real-World Success
Getting ready for the real world of work occurs in the classroom and beyond at the College of Mount St. Joseph. A 10:1 student-to-faculty ratio gives students the personalized attention they need to excel academically and to conduct graduate level research at the undergraduate level. Service and leadership opportunities complement academics so that graduates offer prospective employers a unique kind of personal and intellectual formation - one that is the fruit of dialogue and experiences, not just lectures and exams.
Mount students learn how to incorporate classroom lessons into professional situations and leave college well-prepared for the workforce. Earning while learning is emphasized to help students cover their expenses and gain professional skills while refining their work ethic. As a result, graduates attract employers' attention and attain their professional goals quickly. In a survey of Mount graduates from the 2007-2008 academic year, more than 89 percent reported that they were employed or pursuing further degrees.
Students in every major at the Mount are given the opportunity to gain paid work experience in their field of study through the Cooperative Education (Co-op) program. Co-op students earn academic credit that complements classroom training by integrating theory and practice. In 2007-2008, co-op students earned an average of $10.52 per hour, which resulted in over $1 million in combined wages. Nearly a third of Mount co-op students go on to accept full-time employment with their co-op employer after graduation.
The Mount's Career & Experiential Education Center also offers a wealth of guidance and resources to help students succeed in the workforce. Students benefit from individual consultations with career advisors, career assessment instruments, resume critique, and the Mock Interview program. Throughout the academic year, the Career Center hosts on-campus recruiting events as well as career-related workshops on topics such as cover letter development, job search strategies, and interviewing skills. Access to the Career Resource Library, which contains over 300 books, periodicals, videos, and published reports, also assists students in their preparation for professional life.
