Lenore P. Rodicio, PhD, believes the trend in higher education to prepare students solely for specific careers in a chosen field is too limiting. Although important, it completely dismisses the widespread benefits that exposure to multiple disciplines and opinions a liberal arts education provides, ultimately benefiting the individual and society as a whole.
Dr. Rodicio, who received a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry degree with a minor in Biology from Barry University, graduating Cum Laude in 1994, is now in a unique position to ensure her voice is heard.
It’s not just through her role as Provost of Academic and Student Affairs at Miami Dade College in South Florida. She was recently elected to the Association of American Colleges and Universities’ (AAC&U) 2016 Board of Directors. “My goal as a new Board member is to bring my experiences as a Barry alum, as well as an MDC administrator to identify effective mechanisms for institutions to advance career-specific goals while embracing and maintaining the central components of liberal education in the curriculum,” Dr. Rodicio says.
“We cannot afford to educate students with a narrow focus on a specific career area without also developing the citizen, and in the case of Barry, a Catholic identity,” Dr. Rodicio says. “Productive, well-rounded individuals who have both specific technical skills, but also the broader communication and critical thinking skills engendered in liberal education are the key to a peaceful, economically viable community.”