The Office of the Provost is responsible for academic and student life programs, provides leadership to the curriculum and co-curriculum, and supports the intellectual and professional growth of students, faculty and staff.
Ursinus’s Quest Curriculum is based on a “distinctly American” style of higher education, that combines specialized disciplinary education with perspectives from a range of disciplines. Unlike other colleges, Ursinus provides opportunities for students through all four years to make connections between courses and their co-curricular experiences to help them make value-based decisions about their future and their interactions with those around them.
Higher education in the United States was designed from earliest days to educate the whole human, rather than simply prepare an individual narrowly for a career. Many credit the long history of innovation and creativity in the U.S. to this style of education. Higher education in the rest of the world has been much more focused on disciplinary training, and only recently has begun to adopt the American model.
Not really, but to many, the term Liberal Arts suggests a political slant, and a focus on arts and humanities—neither of which is accurate! At Ursinus, we want to take this type of education to a higher level by structuring reflection points throughout the four years when students are challenged to understand other perspectives, draw connections between various experiences in and out of class, and use those reflections to chart their futures.
Liberal education was designed to empower people for leadership—in careers and in society. The first American colleges were only accessible to an elite group. Today, this unique education belongs to everyone. And Ursinus will prepare you for exceptional success—as scientists, as artists, as teachers, as political leaders, in all fields.
We help our students define and find their own success. But don’t just take our word for it—the American Association of Colleges and Universities has done a lot of research on this!