The Dawson Graduate Profile
The Dawson Graduate Profile is based upon the outcomes that were identified in the report College Learning for the New Global Century issued by the Association of American Colleges and Universities in 2007. The report recognized that today’s students will need broad knowledge, strong intellectual skills and a grounded sense of ethical and civic responsibility to be able to meet the myriad challenges of the 21st century with respect to environmental, global, intercultural, technological and scientific changes.
The Graduate Profile builds on and expands program competencies and can be viewed as cross-curricular in that all students, regardless of the program in which they are enrolled, should develop these outcomes. These outcomes are integrated and supported extensively throughout the curriculum and outside of the curriculum through a deliberate and systematic approach. For the current Student Success Plan, these outcomes have been reviewed and revised based on the College’s experience during the last five years.
Graduate Profile Outcomes
Learning to learn
Students will become active and engaged participants in their own learning through the effective use of learning and self-motivation strategies to enable them to achieve desired educational results.
Mastery of program competencies
Students will demonstrate the skills, knowledge and attitudes as expressed in the competencies of their program.
Communication
Students will demonstrate effective knowledge and skills in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and the presentation and delivery of information – using a variety of platforms including relevant software applications – in English and French.
Critical thinking, problem-solving skills and creativity
Students will be able to collect, organize and evaluate information from a variety of sources including electronic and web-based sources, and analyze and synthesize relevant information to draw informed conclusions and make judgments. Students will develop problem-solving skills in which they implement a strategy to answer an open-ended question or achieve a desired outcome. Students will demonstrate creative thinking by combining ideas or producing works in original ways.
Teamwork and leadership skills
Students will know how to collaborate with others, face-to-face and virtually, toward the setting of goals and priorities and implementing the means to achieve them. Students will learn to manage interpersonal relationships, resolve conflicts and assume responsibility for their own actions.
Digital literacy
Students will be able to collect, organize and evaluate information from a variety of sources including electronic and web-based sources, and analyze and synthesize relevant information to draw informed conclusions and make judgments.
Health and well-being
Students will understand lifestyle choices that contribute to sustained health and well-being.
Ethical understanding and behaviour
Students will practice academic integrity and demonstrate ethical behaviour appropriate to citizenship in a democratic society.
Social responsibility and community engagement
Students will develop an informed concern for the larger good, appreciate social and cultural diversity, respect the values of others and act responsibly towards the environment. Students will be encouraged to make a difference in the quality of life of their communities through both political and non-political processes.
