Since its founding in the 1960s, Bard College at Simon’s Rock has operated with ever-evolving ideas on education. With two grants from The Council for Independent College’s recent initiative, Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), the Office of the Dean of Studies aims to both catalog and expand on these ideas. Kristy McMorris, Dean of Studies, and Kenneth Knox, Associate Dean of Studies, are leading the way.
“We are continually expanding the mission,” says McMorris.
In 2022, after attending a conference with the Council for Independent Colleges, Simon’s Rock and the Office of the Dean of Studies applied for multiple grants to further promote vocational thinking on college campuses. Simon’s Rock was awarded two new prestigious grants, one titled Reframing the Institutional Saga and one in professional development.
Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) is based on the idea of students and schools emphasizing and exploring the concept of vocation. Ken Knox believes the expanding notion of “vocation” could be a perfect fit for the work Simon’s Rock does in liberal arts.
“Our definition of vocation doesn’t mean just find a career and do it,” shared Knox. Instead, this initiative, and the broader term of vocation, defines a student's future path and meaningful career and personal goals. "Vocation" is about defining the narrative of the student's life.
He also adds that pursuing these grants was exciting for him professionally.
“I wanted something different to do!” Knox said in true Simon’s Rock spirit.
The first grant awarded to Simon’s Rock in professional development will culminate in an on-campus event entitled Future Fair on Friday, April 28. This grant in professional development has also partially funded the faculty and staff retreat and as well as other initiatives on campus. Future Fair, much like Simon's Rock itself, is not traditional. This event will merge the classic college career fair with elements of a traditional, entertaining county fair. This space is designed for students and the school’s larger community to come together both to have fun and explore, as the name describes, students’ futures. Along with cotton candy, games, and popcorn, students can meet different department heads on campus and hear faculty and staff talk about their career paths, new courses, and concentrations they may be interested in exploring.
“There will be a lot of space for networking,” McMorris adds. “And we’ll be having some fun and sunshine.” McMorris also notes that this will, ideally, be the start of a yearly tradition.
McMorris describes her office’s goals, along with this grant and Future Fair, as creating a place where students can bring challenges and discuss their future.
“We want to make sure students experience pathways towards their present and future that feel clear, supported, and like they can travel down these pathways without fear, with less anxiety. Knowing that each day that they navigate the world is a day that they’re building towards their future,” says McMorris.
However, thinking about the future of students and the institution also involves reflecting on the past and its part in our vision as a school. The second grant from NetVUE is titled Reframing the Institutional Saga, which is ongoing through January 2025. This grant focuses on the collective institutional mission and vision of the school. This will entail bi-monthly meetings organized by the Office of the Dean of Studies with different community constituent groups, with the ultimate goal of producing a tangible history of Simon’s Rock in book form.
“We’re also interested in, for the first time, really articulating a lot of these different initiatives that we’ve got going on over the past seven years,” says Knox. Simon’s Rock's expansive and ever-evolving ideas of education include the founding of Bard Academy, the ongoing early college program with the Mount Everett school district, and the launch of the Bard Queer Leadership Project, among many other fruitful new programs. One idea Knox highlights is the recent re-invention of the Sophomore Planning program, galvanized by the Dean of Studies office.
Connecting with the NetVUE’s emphasis on vocation, Knox describes this updated process as re-contextualizing and reconceiving what advising means at Simon’s Rock in a way that is sure to evolve as we consider what it means to be a liberal arts student and acknowledge what a vocation means in that context.
Importantly, this grant is allowing Simon’s Rock to reflect on itself from its creation to its most modern iterations.
“It’s hard to think critically about [our history] in the midst of so many other things going on all the time,” says Knox. ”These grants are an opportunity for us to carve out time institutionally to reflect..”
With this time for reflection, Ken returns to the original idea of Simon’s Rock. From Future Fair to a collected history of Simon’s Rock, this work with grants from NetVUE always returns to the fundamental belief that education is constantly changing. The Office of the Dean of Studies is embracing this change as they reflect on the school’s history.
“Maybe it’s a good time now to reflect on why we’re doing that and how it links back to or evolves from Betty Hall’s original idea,” says Ken. “We don’t want to fall into the fallacy that just because someone did something first in a different time, that [it] automatically makes it the best rule for our time.”