Four Significant Words

Dear Friends of WCIU,

I am excited to launch the President's Blog with this initial entry.

After many years in Asia trying to be the kind of person WCIU wants to serve, and 17 years leading the type of agency WCIU wants to serve, I sensed very clear leading to become WCIU's next President. That took shape between January and August 2017, and here I am.

I want to begin my communication through the medium of blogging by reflecting on 4 words: Master of Arts in International Development. For now, I will simply give one sentence descriptions, and in the future will seek to unpack each more fully.

Master: The aim of a "masters" degree is summed up in that word, that is, we aim to help men and women master their field or at least the dimension of the field they select for the focus of their study.

Arts: This indicates that for us, the disciplines related to international development are as much "art" as science: there is mystery and creativity and uniqueness involved which requires our program to aim at more than helping students to learn; we need to aim at helping men and women learn how to learn.

International: This word has two elements to it which include the scope but also the make up of our University: we are international in scope because we serve in and for many nations, and we are international in make up because our aim is for students, faculty, staff, board, and leadership to reflect the international nature of our purpose.

Development: WCIU has a unique philosophy of development which I like to say is "rooted in the roots"; by that I mean we aim to equip men and women to work at the roots of human problems, certainly, but also that we seek to do so from the position of having strong and deep roots in a world view that envisions a divine plan to bless all of life, and our core curriculum is, and here is that word again, rooted in that conviction.

In future posts I will dig deeper into these four terms again...

Kevin Higgins

President, WCIU