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42-641: The Oberlin Group of Libraries is a consortium of American liberal arts colleges , led by a board elected from its members' libraries' directors. The group evolved from meetings of college presidents in 1985 and 1986 at Oberlin College . As of 2021, it has 80 members. Its activities include facilitating interlibrary loans and other collaboration. American liberal arts colleges These schools are American institutions of higher education which have traditionally emphasized interactive instruction (although research

84-521: A compassionate and fair way, to continue learning new information and concepts over a lifetime, to appreciate and gain pleasure from the beauty of the arts and literature and to use these as an inspiration and a solace when needed, to revert to our historical past for lessons that will help shape the future intelligently and avoid unnecessary mistakes, to create a sense of self-esteem that comes from personal accomplishments and challenges met with success. College placement counselor Loren Pope writes that at

126-510: A dime in a phone booth mailed a sealed and addressed envelope that was left at the booth in an apparent mistake by someone else, while only 4% of those who did not find a dime helped. This suggested that transient chance factors may matter more than fixed moral character in someone's choice whether to help others. John M. Doris raises the issue of ecological validity – do experimental findings reflect phenomena found in natural contexts . He recognizes that these results are counterintuitive to

168-460: A high level of student-teacher interaction at the center of which are classes taught by full-time faculty. They are known for being residential and may have smaller enrollment, class sizes, and student-teacher ratios than universities . Liberal arts colleges are also often associated with larger bodies or consortia . The largest association of private liberal arts colleges in the United States

210-515: A moral virtue or an excellence of character, the emphasis is on the combination of qualities that make an individual the sort of ethically admirable person that he is. Aristotle defines virtuous character in Book II of the Nicomachean Ethics : "Excellence of character, then, is a state concerned with choice, lying in a mean relative to us, this being determined by reason and in the way in which

252-529: A morally correct individual, there must be a belief in God is represented in many teachings. Religion and morality are interconnected; however, are not synonymous. While religion depends on morality, the relationship between the two can vary across cultures, systematic beliefs, and individuals. There are many religions such as Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism that provide their followers with moral guidelines, emphasizing those found within their sacred texts. However it

294-664: A movement among small liberal arts colleges to make the SAT optional for admission to college in the early 2000s. Indeed, according to a 31 August 2006 article in The New York Times , "It is still far too early to sound the death knell, but for many small liberal arts colleges, the SAT may have outlived its usefulness." Sarah Lawrence College and Pitzer College dropped their SAT test score submission requirement for their undergraduate applicants in 2003 and 2004 respectively, thus joining

336-446: A part of one's soft skills . Moral character refers to a collection of qualities that differentiate one individual from another – although on a cultural level, the group of moral behaviors to which a social group adheres can be said to unite and define it culturally as distinct from others. Psychologist Lawrence Pervin defines moral character as "a disposition to express behavior in consistent patterns of functions across

378-472: A range of situations". The philosopher Marie I. George refers to moral character as the "sum of one’s moral habits and dispositions". Aristotle said, "we must take as a sign of states of character the pleasure or pain that ensues on acts." The word "character" is derived from the Ancient Greek word " charaktêr ", referring to a mark impressed upon a coin. Later it came to mean a point by which one thing

420-453: A response to this article on 12 March 2007 that stated that the evaluation of Sarah Lawrence is under review. As of 2007, according to U.S. News & World Report , Sarah Lawrence was the only "major" American college that completely disregarded SAT scores in its admission process. Currently Sarah Lawrence accepts SAT scores, but submitting these scores remains optional. Other liberal arts colleges that have since begun to no longer consider

462-412: A result of this policy, in the same Washington Post article, Myers stated that she was informed by the U.S. News & World Report that if no SAT scores were submitted, U.S. News would "make up a number" to use in its magazines. She further argues that if SLC were to decide to stop sending all data to U.S. News & World Report , their ranking would be artificially decreased. U.S. News issued

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504-440: Is a Liberal Arts Education and Why is it Important Today", defines the goals of a liberal arts education in the following manner: In a complex, shifting world, it is essential to develop a high degree of intellectual literacy and critical-thinking skills, a sense of moral and ethical responsibility to one's community, the ability to reason clearly, to think rationally, to analyze information intelligently, to respond to people in

546-710: Is a commonly accepted practice. The results from the peer survey also can act to level the playing field between private and public colleges." In reference to the alternative database discussed by the Annapolis Group, Morse also argued, "It's important to point out that the Annapolis Group's stated goal of presenting college data in a common format has been tried before ... U.S. News has been supplying this exact college information for many years already. And it appears that NAICU will be doing it with significantly less comparability and functionality. U.S. News first collects all these data (using an agreed-upon set of definitions from

588-410: Is capable of becoming better and is responsible for actions that express (or could express) their character. Abraham Lincoln once said that character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow . "The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing." In 1919, Albert Einstein wrote in a letter to his friend, Dutch physicist Hendrik Lorentz , about his disillusionment concerning

630-525: Is collaborative rather than competitive; values are central; there is a strong sense of community. They are places of great synergy, where the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. Aspirations are raised, young people are empowered. College and university rankings guides offer annual issues that rank liberal arts colleges separately from research universities. The Washington Monthly and U.S. News & World Report provide rankings specifically of liberal arts colleges. On June 19, 2007, during

672-427: Is crucial for making these decisions, especially when the consequences of these decisions affect the lives of those under their command. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides a historical account of some important developments in philosophical approaches to moral character. A lot of attention is given to Plato , Aristotle , and Karl Marx 's views, since they all follow the idea of moral character after

714-507: Is important to realize that individual beliefs can vary from religious beliefs, contributing to the complexity of moral character. There have been a number of experiments to try to empirically examine moral character. In one experiment that was done in the United States in 1985, a moral decision made by people was influenced by whether or not they had found a dime in a public phone booth . The findings were that 87% of subjects who found

756-475: Is still a component of these institutions) at the undergraduate level. While there is no nationwide legal standard in the United States, the term "university" is primarily used to designate graduate education and research institutions , and is reserved for doctorate-granting institutions, and some US states, such as Massachusetts , will only grant a school "university status" if it offers graduate programs in multiple disciplines. These colleges also encourage

798-658: Is the Council of Independent Colleges , with more than 650 small and mid-sized independent colleges and universities. The Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges is a consortium of public liberal arts colleges . Many liberal arts colleges belong to the Annapolis Group , Oberlin Group , Women's College Coalition , and the Consortium of Liberal Arts Colleges . A number of liberal arts colleges are involved in Project Pericles or

840-1015: The Claremont Colleges . Consortia in the Midwestern United States include the Associated Colleges of the Midwest , Five Colleges of Ohio , Associated Colleges of the Twin Cities , and the Great Lakes Colleges Association . Groups in the Southern United States include the Associated Colleges of the South and the Seven Sisters of the South . Chapter One of Howard Greene and Matthew Greene's Hidden Ivies: Thirty Colleges of Excellence , "The Liberal Arts: What

882-1113: The Eco League . Other well-known consortia in the Eastern United States include the Little Three , Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium , the Seven Sisters Colleges , and the Little Ivies . Four Eastern colleges, along with the University of Massachusetts Amherst , are also part of the Five Colleges Consortium in Western Massachusetts and three Eastern colleges comprise the Tri-College Consortium. In Southern California , five liberal arts colleges with adjoining campuses and two graduate schools together form

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924-481: The Greeks . Marx accepts Aristotle's insight that virtue and good character are based on a sense of self-esteem and self-confidence . Plato believed that the soul is divided into three parts of desire: Rational , Appetitive, and Spirited. In order to have moral character, we must understand what contributes to our overall good and have our spirited and appetitive desires educated properly, so that they can agree with

966-609: The National Association for College Admission Counseling . Following two decades without required testing, the college found that the difference in graduation rates between submitters and non-submitters was 0.1%, that Bates' applicant pool had doubled since the policy was instated with approximately 1/3 of applicants not submitting scores, that non-submitting students averaged only 0.05 points lower on their collegiate Grade Point Average , and that applications from minority students rose dramatically. The Bates College study prompted

1008-512: The Common Data Set). Then we post the data on our website in easily accessible, comparable tables. In other words, the Annapolis Group and the others in the NAICU initiative actually are following the lead of U.S. News ." A number of U.S. liberal arts colleges have either joined, or have been important influences on, a movement to make the SAT optional for admission, in response to criticisms of

1050-598: The SAT . Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine and Bates College in Lewiston, Maine were among the first to institute SAT-optional programs in 1969 and 1984, respectively. In 1990, the Bates faculty voted to make all standardized testing optional in the college's admissions process, and in October 2004 Bates published a study regarding the testing optional policy, which was presented to

1092-423: The SAT include Shimer College and Hampshire College , which is "test blind" in both admissions and financial aid decisions. The full list of SAT optional schools is given by FairTest , an American educational organization that "advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. FairTest also works to end

1134-500: The SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission . The former president of Sarah Lawrence, Michele Tolela Myers , described the rationale for this decision in an article for The Washington Post on 11 March 2007, saying: "We are a writing-intensive school, and the information produced by SAT scores added little to our ability to predict how a student would do at our college; it did, however, do much to bias admission in favor of those who could afford expensive coaching sessions." As

1176-415: The annual meeting of the Annapolis Group , members discussed the letter to college presidents asking them not to participate in the "reputation survey" section of the U.S. News & World Report survey (this section comprises 25% of the ranking). As a result, "a majority of the approximately 80 presidents at the meeting said that they did not intend to participate in the U.S. News reputational rankings in

1218-525: The college search process". This database will be web based and developed in conjunction with higher education organizations including the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges . On June 22, 2007, U.S. News & World Report editor Robert Morse responded, writing, "in terms of the peer assessment survey, we at U.S. News firmly believe

1260-412: The experimental subjects were successfully anticipating the base rate of moral behavior and accurately predicting how often others, in general, would be self-sacrificing . A study conducted by Philip Zimbardo in the 1970's titled 'The Stanford Prison Experiment' can be used to shed light on the workings of moral character related to roles of power. College students were randomly assigned roles of either

1302-527: The future." The decision to fill out the reputational survey or not will be left up to each individual college since "the Annapolis Group is not a legislative body and any decision about participating in the US News rankings rests with the individual institutions." The statement also said that its members "have agreed to participate in the development of an alternative common format that presents information about their colleges for students and their families to use in

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1344-528: The guidance provided by the rational part of the soul. According to Plato, Moral Character is directly linked to and understanding contributions to the overall good. Associating reason and wisdom allows for individuals to discern the true nature of what is good. Aristotle tells us that there are people who exhibit excellences – excellences of thought and excellences of character. His phrase for excellences of character – êthikai aretai – we usually translate as moral virtue or moral excellence. When we speak of

1386-508: The inhumane consequences of World War I . He noted “We must remember that, on the average, men’s moral qualities do not greatly vary from country to country”. Christian character is also defined as presenting the " Fruit of the Holy Spirit ": love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Doctrines of grace and total depravity assert that – due to original sin – mankind, entirely or in part,

1428-439: The issue. In 1982 Campbell & Bond proposed the following as major sources in influencing character and moral development: heredity , early childhood experience, modeling by important adults and older youth, peer influence , the general physical and social environment , the communications media , the teachings of schools and other institutions, and specific situations and roles that elicit corresponding behavior. In

1470-517: The liberal arts colleges he lists in Colleges That Change Lives : The focus is on the student, not the faculty; he is heavily involved in his own education. There are no passive ears; students and faculty work so closely together, they even coauthor publications. Teaching is an act of love. There is not only a mentor relationship in class but professors become hiking companions, intramural teammates, dinner companions, and friends. Learning

1512-489: The man of practical wisdom would determine it. Now it is a mean between two vices , that which depends on excess and that which depends on defect ". In Aristotle's view, good character is based on two naturally occurring psychological responses that most people experience without difficulty: our tendency to take pleasure from self-realizing activity and our tendency to form friendly feelings toward others under specific circumstances. Based on his view, virtually everyone

1554-430: The military field, character is considered particularly relevant in the leadership development area. Military leaders should not only "know" theoretically the moral values but they must embody these values. Military leaders are expected to lead by example. They demonstrate values and behaviors that they expect their subordinates to follow. Military leaders face ethical and morally challenging issues. Strong moral character

1596-461: The misuses and flaws of testing practices that impede those goals." Moral character Moral character or character (derived from charaktêr ) is an analysis of an individual's steady moral qualities. The concept of character can express a variety of attributes, including the presence or lack of virtues such as empathy , courage , fortitude , honesty , and loyalty , or of good behaviors or habits ; these attributes are also

1638-406: The survey has significant value because it allows us to measure the "intangibles" of a college that we can't measure through statistical data. Plus, the reputation of a school can help get that all-important first job and plays a key part in which grad school someone will be able to get into. The peer survey is by nature subjective, but the technique of asking industry leaders to rate their competitors

1680-498: The way most of us think about morally relevant behavior. Another experiment asked college students at Cornell University to predict how they would behave when faced with one of several moral dilemmas , and to make the same predictions for their peers . Again and again, people predicted that they would be more generous and kind than others. Yet when put into the moral dilemma, the subjects did not behave as generously or as kindly as they had predicted. In psychological terms ,

1722-400: Was told apart from others. There are two approaches when dealing with moral character: Normative ethics involve moral standards that exhibit right and wrong conduct. It is a test of proper behavior and determining what is right and wrong. Applied ethics involve specific and controversial issues along with a moral choice, and tend to involve situations where people are either for or against

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1764-472: Was unable to be good without God's intervention; otherwise at best, one could only ape good behavior for selfish reasons. The Islamic religion is highly concerned with moral character which is presented in many of their teachings. There are strong beliefs that society as a whole has the potential to grow in the values of virtue. Certain writing states that all Muslims have the obligation to bring truth to light as well as to prevent evil. The ideology that to be

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