GCU Today April Digital Issue 2018

20 • GCU MAGAZ I NE Y ou’ve spent four years taking Botany 101, the History of Rock ’n’ Roll and similar courses while wracking your brain over which character has more pride and which has more prejudice – Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth Bennet. You’ve spent thousands of dollars to gain that knowledge. You picked a major you love. But now what are you going to do with that English degree? “Although humanities are near and dear to my heart, the reality is we have to make sure that all of our students get good, quality jobs when they get out of college. Otherwise, what’s the point?” said Dr. Sherman Elliott, Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. During the Great Recession, and for a few years after that, headlines read that college graduates were drowning in debt. Even worse, they couldn’t find jobs. While the outlook these days seems rosier — the unemployment rate for those 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree is only 2.5 percent, according to the January 2017 report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics — colleges still are under pressure when it comes to making sure students are in the best position to get a job once they earn that degree. “The Department of Education said, ‘Why is it we have so many students graduating from different programs, but they don’t necessarily have a job waiting for them?’” said Dr. Kevin Walling, CHSS lead in justice studies, government and history. “They said, ‘American universities and colleges, you should be doing a better job educating students in a way that leads to employment.’” CHSS is focusing on just that. B Y L A N A S W E E T E N - S H U L T S GCU better serves students by adapting curriculum to evolving job market Degrees do a 180