High Expectations Lead to High Performance

A university education is more than the courses offered and the experiences made available. It is the architecture of those elements designed to create defined results. As a learning community, we focus our efforts to the accomplishment of twelve outcomes which become characteristics our graduates share.

1. Understand the tradition of freedom.
2. Have a broad practical understanding of their chosen field. 
3. Are familiar with the ideas driving enterprise leaders. 
4. Communicate effectively in speech and writing. 
5. Understand complex global issues.  
6. Have a constant attraction to new ideas. 
7. Can explain their personal values. 
8. Understand the aesthetic, creative and spiritual elements of life. 
9. Are effective self-evaluators. 
10. Are action oriented. 
11. Are skilled at detecting and solving problems. 
12. Seek lifelong education.

1. Understand the tradition of freedom

The entire university community is dedicated to the tradition of freedom in its broadest context. Individual freedom and responsibility are the constant themes for all organizations, processes, activities and student undertakings. A strong moral basis for the ethical exercise of freedom is stressed.

The tradition begins, in class, with Philosophy of American Life and Business which presents the historical evolution of free enterprise and democracy, placing special emphasis on individualism, private property, a market economy, competition, international trade and the creative role of enterprise. These basic tenets are the foundation of The Northwood Idea. A course in Reading Financial Information gives students, from the first term, a common vocabulary of business and enterprise in the numeric and evaluative sense.

Northwood graduates understand America's traditions of freedom and responsibility, free enterprise and practical management consistent with an effort to provide all participants in society with the means to realize personal success and fulfillment.

2. Have a broad practical understanding of their chosen field

Every curriculum has been designed by industry leaders in the specific fields of study to insure that the highest demands are met for the coming decade. Curricula are constantly reviewed and students are encouraged to enhance their competitiveness. In English classes, students compose essays on the industries for which they are preparing. They develop resumes and expositional skills along with other traditional exercises. In Speech and Group Dynamics, they sharpen presentational skills and interactive abilities. Even before classes begin, in Freshmen Orientation, students focus on careers. That focus is intensified in Employment Research and Planning and Employment Presentation Techniques which hone specific career finding skills. One third of Northwood's faculty are formerly top-ranked professionals from the fields in which they are teaching.

3. Are familiar with the ideas driving enterprise leaders

It is one thing to master texts and lessons ordinarily assigned; it is quite another to have working familiarity with the new ideas driving enterprise changes gained through reading and personal interaction with outstanding business leaders. Both are part of the Northwood experience. Several hundred business leaders visit our classes each year. They provide the current dynamics of enterprise and give students confidence and understanding of the realities they will face. Most graduates complete externships during their courses of study which exemplify specific business experience as a context for academic inquiry into the chosen field.

Omniquest is a program in which each term the entire university community reads a selected book which is a major explanation or challenge to enterprise currently in the thoughts of business leaders. Each class discusses aspects of the selection. A series of panels, discussions and debates are held. By graduation, a graduate has mastered the most important current literature and has developed a thirst to continue the process of seeking new and challenging ideas.

4. Communicate effectively in speech and writing

There is no greater tragedy than quality of thought trapped within a non-communicator. Every Northwood student completes eighteen credit hours of writing, speech and group dynamics in the first two years. Writing-across-the-curriculum is an integral part of this program. All examinations include essay sections and no course may be successfully completed without demonstrated ability to communicate the central themes of the course. Presentation skills are addressed through the curricula and two speech courses and a group dynamics course stress verbal communications. Every test has an essay component.

5. Understand complex global issues

Enterprise is global, and cultural diversity will characterize the American workplace of the new century. Every course proceeds from the international premise, and enrollment on every campus of the university includes an aggressive minority of international students from the Americas, the Pacific Basin, Africa and the European Continent. Students deal with international concepts with multinational colleagues. Additionally, specialty courses such as International Trade, International Management and Marketing, World Geography, Comparative Economic Systems, Contemporary World Issues and World Culture and Customs are integral to most baccalaureate programs.

Conversational foreign language instruction is available, and all students are encouraged to take advantage.

6. Have a constant attraction to new ideas

Children are born exploring. But the forces of closure and the convenience of a set inventory of truths overtake humans all too soon, and for many of us, too completely. A university education must firmly plant the thirst for new ideas and continuing change. The curriculum supports this notion, both by the nature in which it changes annually to reflect new enterprise concepts, and through its requirement of innovation, creativity and expressive behavior. Management majors take a course entitled Creative Behavior. The course is devoted to the process of creativity and exposure to guest entrepreneurs and creative thinkers whose achievements mirror the concept. Students graduate with a sense that enduring values and new ideas are vital to any successful enterprise.

7. Can explain their personal values

Only a few colleges and universities are "value-driven," so that students are required to consider the personal and professional values which will define the character of the mature adult they will become. For some, the source of those values resides in religion. For others, the source may be an introspective reflection. For all, the emphasis on moral values runs deep at Northwood - back to its founders' belief in the necessity of spiritual and philosophical underpinnings of our country's heritage, combined with career-based learning. Northwood endeavors to extend its students' intellectual horizons with courses in Business Ethics and Critical Philosophical Problems.

Beyond the classroom, a "Values Emphasis Week" is held annually on each campus to explore specific challenges facing enterprise professionals. A nationally recognized speaker and numerous panels, discussions and events fill the week to dramatize the decisions and outcomes explored in the topic. Whether the topic is drugs in the workplace, the importance of spiritual values in society or another topic, it is explored and used as a platform for each student to develop and articulate personal values. Northwood graduates know what they think and why.

8. Understand the aesthetic, creative and spiritual elements of life

Few institutions stress the relationship between the creative/expressive and the commercial transitive natures of humankind. This business/arts relationship takes several forms at Northwood. First, the business/arts concept is an integral part of the Philosophy of American Life and Business course. Second, the numerous arts related business decisions, dealing with style, design and aesthetics are interwoven throughout the curriculum. Third, specific creativity and arts courses are a part of an enterprise/management curriculum. Fourth, numerous activities reinforce the integration of arts and business. Fifth, our graduates are taught and understand that enterprise leaders have an obligation to their communities to support and encourage artistic pursuits, thereby enhancing the quality of life.

9. Are effective self-evaluators

Universities are often at their best teaching individuals how to be evaluated - and often not very effective in helping students become internally self-evaluative and life enhancing. Northwood faculty evaluate students against high, not devalued, standards. Students are an important part of this process, establishing and monitoring their own performance against a set of standards. The importance of being one's own most effective critic is stressed.

10. Are action oriented

Everything in the Northwood environment encourages the propensity to take action. Movement is the nature of the global business environment, so those who do not move and adapt are likely to be superannuated. The faculty and leaders of the University are proud of Northwood’s own record of actions taken to optimize up-to-date student learning for a marketplace that is always on the move.

A predilection for action does not, of course, suggest that all actions are equal. Northwood students learn to make reasonable assessment of alternatives by studying logic and through their own experiences and the experiences of business leaders with whom they interact. They know that some actions will be mistakes but that mistakes always bear the seeds for learning and success. They know that, while there are times not to take action and actions not to take, those who do not engage in the actions of the marketplace will be passed by.

11. Are skilled at detecting and solving problems

Management IS problem-solving, whether the issues are large or small. If that were not its nature, it could probably be handled by machines. Northwood students see that the best businesses first establish appropriate goals and then supportive processes for achieving those goals. The goals themselves are “business problems” and so are any bottlenecks in the processes. So Northwood students know where to look for problems that need solving.

Our graduates have also practiced the art of problem solving. They know that reason and models such as decision trees can be useful. Through discussion-based learning, many have gained problem solving experience that puts them years ahead of their competition. Innovation is a key to success in the global marketplace, and our graduates have studied innovation and creative problem-solving techniques. They are motivated to solve problems because they understand that problem-solving is intrinsic business and especially to success in business, as in life.

12. Seek lifelong education

University graduates are encouraged to assume that they graduate with a beginning set of abilities to which they must constantly add. Northwood's educational philosophy demonstrates the need for intensive, continuing growth throughout a career of change and challenge. Our alumni consistently report that this value is carried forward in their careers and their personal lives.