As the nation’s attention turned this week to the devastating impact of another high-powered weather disaster (if you’d like to support disaster relief efforts, the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service has identified organizations serving the affected regions), I was reflective about recent curricular news at SCS. The School has launched a new “Executive Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management” program as part of its portfolio of market-focused and social impact-oriented degrees. You can read more about this new opportunity, “SCS Launches Exec. Master’s in Humanitarian Crisis & Emergency Management.” This new program follows another recent curricular addition by SCS in the creation of a Master of Professional Studies in Artificial Intelligence Management. You can read more about this new program, “Georgetown’s School of Continuing Studies Launches Master’s in Artificial Intelligence Management.”
I had both of these new offerings on my mind as the School opened its doors this week for one of its regular prospective student open houses. Regular readers of Mission in Motion will know that this blog pays some attention to the open house event. These open houses are more than occasions for the transaction of information and specific details about the admission process. I believe that the open house format, complete with nourishing and appetizing food as well as a full presence of spirited and committed faculty and staff on hand, is a reflection of the University’s commitment to a long-standing tradition of hospitality. I relish in observing the spontaneous conversations that arise during this event, watching at a slight distance as inquiring adults learn more about the many SCS offerings available. I also notice what happens when staff and faculty from across different programs convene in a shared space and pause for a moment of reflection in between providing resources to inquirers.
The addition of new programs that are tackling pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges from the perspective of skilled and ethical professional practitioners reminds us that a Georgetown education at SCS is about more than career advancement. The spirit in the space at open house also suggests, however implicitly, that everyone engaged in conversation is aware of this deeper purpose. New visitors to the building find visible indicators of the Spirit of Georgetown and the University’s Jesuit heritage and mission. They also experience this mission presence in the way that programs market degree outcomes in how alumni engage in service to the common good and the ways that staff and faculty speak with pride about how SCS prepares students to lead professional lives in service of others.
There is much discourse about the changing nature of the higher education landscape. So many factors have affected what content, skills, and values are being offered to prospective students around the world. Technological innovations have greatly impacted how programs are delivered and in what formats. Global challenges, like the advent of artificial intelligence and the persisting reality of natural disasters requiring coordinated emergency response, make such professionally oriented, practice-centric programs so important. But what makes the Georgetown value proposition distinctive is the University’s mission. I hope that everyone partaking in the student lifecycle, from prospective students all the way through alumni, can take some time to appreciate this dimension of the Georgetown experience.