WHAT IT MEANS TO BE INNOVATIVE

Agnes Scott College’s consistently strong rankings all point back to SUMMIT

BY TRAVIS WALTERS AND DANITA KNIGHT

U.S. News & World Report recently recognized Agnes Scott College as the nation’s No. 1 most innovative liberal arts college in the United States for an unprecedented fifth year in a row. The college also maintained its No. 1 spot for first-year experiences, placed No. 3 for learning communities, rose to No. 3 for study abroad and No. 6 for senior capstone among ALL U.S. higher education institutions. Among liberal arts colleges, Agnes Scott also ranked No. 3 for best undergraduate teaching and No. 7 for social mobility.

“There are many reasons why Agnes Scott College has consistently achieved these rankings over the past several years,” says President Leocadia I. Zak. “To start, excellence is normative within our campus community. These rankings are also indicative of the academic depth and richness of our incredible faculty and the students they teach every day.”

SUMMIT, the innovative underpinning of the college’s four-year curricular and cocurricular experiences, is designed to amplify how Agnes Scott’s global orientation and leadership-based focus could redefine the liberal arts for its students and beyond. SUMMIT allows Agnes Scott students to engage in leadership seminars, academic and career labs, weeklong study abroad (Global Journeys), immersion with a local company or organization (SCALE) and courses tailored to professional interests. Accomplishing the related goals required years of planning and preparation from the faculty with support and buy-in from key stakeholders. The faculty generated academic and experiential learning ideas through systems of shared governance, market-tested them, showed data supporting their ideas, developed plans and gained leadership approval to move forward.

“To some extent, faculty were being shown an exciting new version of the college,” says Gundolf Graml, associate vice president for academic affairs dean for curriculum and strategic initiatives, professor of German. “The innovation that came as a result of SUMMIT provided us with an opportunity to ‘double down’ on students of every identity.”

At Agnes Scott, no racial or ethnic demographic is in the majority. Nearly 60 percent of the student body represents communities of color. One third identify as African American, and 14 percent Hispanic. Two of every five Agnes Scott students are Pell Granteligible, and 29 percent are first-generation college students. These demographics are aligned with the college’s broad socioeconomic diversity and record of significant social mobility.

“We are our own ‘global community,’” says Graml. “We are also an example of inclusive leadership. Our students are being prepared to claim their places in our communities, workplaces and the world.”

In 2022, Agnes Scott College sent 300 students to 16 destinations — including Paris, Alaska, Martinique, Bulgaria, Belize, Tuscany and Jamaica — as part of Global Journeys. Global Journeys begins with a course taken by every student in the first year that focuses on a specific location and topic. During “Peak Week” in the spring semester, all first-year students travel together on a faculty-led trip to the destination they have been studying.

“If you walk into a room of Agnes Scott students and want a conversation that everybody can participate in, you ask, ‘What did you do for Journeys?’ says Zak. “Every student at Agnes Scott is linked by this shared experience. It’s how students from different backgrounds, cultures or languages who would otherwise not have shared experiences find commonality, belonging and growth.”

The innovative SUMMIT experience includes a sophomore-focused initiative, SCALE. This weeklong partnership places students in Atlanta-area businesses and nonprofit organizations to hone their leadership, collaboration and career development skills. No other college or university in America has SUMMIT or SCALE. These innovative approaches to leadership development and global learning — built into all four years of every Agnes Scott student’s experience — contribute to why college-eligible students choose to attend this college.

Agnes Scott is unique in that each student builds their academic and experiential learning components as they move through their undergraduate studies. From mentoring circles to internships to outward-facing events such as the annual Women’s Global Leadership Conference, students are provided opportunities for professional success. Digital literacy programs and Applied Career Experiences complement each students’ final years at the college and provide them with the skills needed for 21st-century careers.

“Our entire society is changing how we prepare our students,” says Graml. “Sometimes, there can be a tension between the more traditional academic elements and newer approaches. But for truly innovative colleges, the work never stops.”

Industry partners and organizations are also recognizing the transformative nature of SUMMIT, SCALE and professional success at Agnes Scott. The Delta Air Lines Foundation awarded the college a $1 million grant to support Global Journeys. Over the past five years, the college has also received the Heiskell Award for Scholars as Drivers of Innovation and the Senator Paul Simon Spotlight Award for Campus Internationalization.

Ultimately, Agnes Scott’s true success is achieved when students have authentically experienced a sense of community, self-awareness, global learning and leadership development; when they see the world through a larger lens and can be resilient in the face of current and future challenges. Ashley Kopczyk ’23 agrees:

“As I approach my final semester at Agnes Scott, I fully understand my journey. When I arrived on campus for the first time, I saw people who did not look like me and who had different beliefs. I went from being fearful of these unknowns to embracing them. I also expanded my thinking with my Journeys trip to Austria. Now, I am prepared to move forward and to manifest Agnes Scott’s mission to think deeply, live honorably and engage the intellectual and social challenges of our times. I am so grateful for this experience.”

Mission accomplished.