Passport Program for First-Year Students
The Mission ,Vision & Values statements of the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) affirms our collective commitment to our students, as well as, articulates the main principles and purposes for their education:
Mission Statement
Anchored in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Scranton provides a transformative education rooted in our Catholic, Jesuit mission and the liberal arts. We foster our students’ intellectual curiosity and confidence through rigorous academic programs that emphasize respect, ethics, and social justice.
Our dedicated faculty and staff embody and inculcate our mission by delivering an educational experience that prepares graduates to be ever mindful of serving the common good. Through our commitment to academic excellence and moral formation, we develop thoughtful leaders who are equipped in their critical thinking, analytical reasoning, problem-solving, and eloquentia perfecta to address the challenges of our interconnected world with wisdom, integrity, and a profound sense of responsibility to others.
Grounded in Jesuit educational principles, we cultivate minds and hearts that seek truth, pursue justice, and work toward the betterment of humanity, ensuring that our graduates emerge as compassionate agents of positive change in their communities and beyond.
Vision Statement
The College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Scranton aspires to engage our students in learning a range of disciplines, where course content, innovation, interdisciplinary collaboration, and experiential learning deepen students’ understanding and foster their profound respect for human dignity. We strive to cultivate critical thinkers, creative problem solvers, effective writers and speakers, and engaged global citizens who approach the world with a commitment to ethics and a readiness to lead transformative change toward the betterment of humankind.
Values Statement
We value all students and provide them with a transformative education grounded in the liberal arts, fostering intellectual curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, interdisciplinary thinking, and collaboration across diverse disciplines. We strive to create inclusive learning environments where every student can grow academically, personally, and socially. We uphold ethical reasoning as a cornerstone of academic and personal development. We commit ourselves to service, justice, and responsible stewardship of our communities and our planet. We challenge students to consider the moral dimensions of their choices and to act with integrity in their professions and communities. Through supporting our faculty as scholars and teachers, we seek to form graduates who lead with conscience, act with purpose, and contribute meaningfully to a more just and humane world.
The required Passport Program activities for all first-year students enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences are the following:
- Royal Read. During the summer before arriving on a campus, every first–year student will read the book assigned for that year’s Royal Read. The book will explore themes related to the University’s Catholic and Jesuit and Identity, the Ignatian Values in Action Lecture (item 5, below), and the first-year seminar.
- Dean’s Address. During move-in weekend, all first-year students will attend an address by the College Dean, dealing with the University’s mission and identity, academic expectations, the Passport Program.
- Group Advising Sessions. Every first-year student with a declared major will attend an advising session offered by the major department. These sessions will be offered before the students begin registration through the College Advising Center. Departments might also invite potential majors, including those undeclared students who have expressed an interest. The CAS Advising Center will help identify these students. Students without declared majors (CAS Common Curriculum) will attend an advising program designed and organized by the CAS Dean’s Office.
- Introduction to the Office of Student Success and Support (OSSS). Students will complete an introduction to the OSSS.
- Ignatian Values in Action Lecture. In the fall semester, every first-year student will attend this convocation-style lecture, in which the featured speaker will discuss some of the ways that Ignatian values have shaped his or her life and work. Faculty teaching the first-year seminar will be encouraged to require students to complete an assignment involving reflection upon this lecture and its connection to the course.
- The Life of the Mind. During the first year, every first-year student will attend at least four events from a calendar of “CAS Passport Events.” One must be attended in the fall, the other three will be attended during the spring semester. The calendar will be maintained within the CAS Passport course in BrightSpace. Faculty may email Bryn.schofield@scranton.edu with events they wish to have included.
