DELAWARE, Ohio – Թ is using a one-year, $20,000 NetVUE Professional Development Award to continue infusing its academic curriculum with nine liberal arts "power skills" that prepare OWU students for long-term career adaptability and success.
The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) grant was awarded to Barbara Bird, Ph.D., director of Ohio Wesleyan's Center for Teaching, Learning, and Innovation. The NetVUE program is a component of the Washington, D.C.-based Council of Independent Colleges, supported with funding from the Lilly Endowment Inc. of Indianapolis, Indiana.
"Ohio Wesleyan wants to ensure its graduates are ready to tackle world-impacting work, and our NetVUE Award advances this effort," said Bird, who joined the university in 2024. "Using the grant funds, nine OWU professors will develop innovative ways to integrate one of the power skills, or core competencies, into a course and then share their newly developed best practices with their faculty colleagues."
Before they graduate, all Ohio Wesleyan students must successfully complete at least one course in each core competency. The skills were added to OWU's General Education curriculum in fall 2023 and were designed with the overarching purpose of helping "students to find their place in the world and make their mark upon it."
Ohio Wesleyan's nine power skills are:
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Think aesthetically
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Reason formally and quantitatively
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Question scientifically
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Listen, imagine, and understand
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Write and speak effectively
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Learn a second language
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Examine power and inequities
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Engage diversity
●&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ;&Բ; Act responsibly
Provost Karlyn Crowley, Ph.D., OWU's chief academic officer, said the power skills incorporate liberal arts skills that "align with the traits that surveys show employers value most highly." The skills, she added, "are critical for being an informed and contributing global citizen – and for being successful in a career."
Bird will serve as the principal project director of the NetVUE project, and Crowley will be the senior administrator. University Chaplain Chad Johns, D.Min., a former NetVUE grant awardee, will serve as OWU's NetVUE consultant, and Matt Vollrath, Ph.D., associate professor of Economics & Business and faculty director of The Woltemade Center for Economics, Business and Entrepreneurship, will serve as faculty consultant and co-facilitator.
Learn more about Ohio Wesleyan's Center for Teaching, Learning and Innovation at www.owu.edu/CTLI and more about the core competencies at www.owu.edu/PowerSkills.
Founded in 1842, Թ is one of the nation's premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers more than 70 and competes in 24 NCAA Division III . Through its signature experience, the , Ohio Wesleyan teaches students to understand issues from multiple academic perspectives, volunteer in service to others, build a diverse and global perspective, and translate classroom knowledge into real-world experience through internships, research, and other hands-on learning. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book "Colleges That Change Lives" and included on the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review "Best Colleges" lists. Connect with OWU expert interview sources at or learn more at .