CU Connect

Mission statement

Connect is a co-curricular academic program that began in Fall 2013 and is designed to engage students in meaningful conversations, experiences, and learning opportunities outside the classroom. Its purpose is to support the outcomes of the General Education Core curriculum and build a scholarly community on campus among students, faculty, staff and the outside community. It is a place to discuss ideas and their consequences, academic fields and the worlds they open up, and explore the most pressing issues of our time.

Goals:

1.) Improve student outside of class engagement in ideas, problems, and questions within the various areas of inquiry represented in the General Education Core curriculum;

2.) Increase student understanding of the holistic nature of their Cumberland education and the value of the liberal arts, and;

3.) Facilitate student exploration of career interests, service to their community, and enriching off-campus learning experiences.

Cumberland University offers students the unique opportunity to broaden and deepen their education through academic engagement in college and outside of the classroom through friendships, challenging conversations, and encounters with community members of different backgrounds and life experiences.

Requirements

CU CONNECT is a required out-of-class program for full-time students in their first and second year at Cumberland University and is designed to help students gain skills and knowledge to appreciate and integrate their general education experience.Part-time students and students who enter Cumberland with more than 24 academic credit hours are exempt from the minimum requirements but encouraged to attend.

ALL CUMBERLAND STUDENTS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND CONNECT EVENTS. For more information about CU Connect and for the current schedule please visit the CU Connect website.

First-year and second-year full-time student minimum requirements:

	First-year	Second-year
FALL	1 event of choice 1 Socrates Café event Research Colloquium	Any 2 events of choice Research Colloquium
SPRING	Any 2 events of choice 6 Hours of service in community	Any 2 events of choice

We use our course management system, Canvas, to communicate with first and second year students. Included on the Canvas site for Connect will be group service opportunities, events, and updates throughout the semester.