Vanessa Skildum, Staff Writer

Beloit College officially launched its two new schools: The School of Environment & Sustainability and The School of Media and the Arts on April 18 and hosted a lunch to celebrate. 

Tim Leslie, Vice President, Career & Professional Development and Executive Director of Impact Beloit, discussed how schools will do four important things, “Organize the curriculum to make it clear that we create well-rounded empathetic leaders in business, health, environment, media and whatever profession you choose, adding specialized knowledge and skills, experiential learning out in our community and beyond, and activating our alumni base.” Both schools will be offering certificates of completion, a fellows program, unique opportunities to get experience in their respective fields, and easier access to alumni.

Jay Zambito, Associate Professor of Geology and the Department Chair for Geology, the Director of The School of Environment & Sustainability, said the school’s mission is “to help guide students as well as alumni in preparation for discovery of meaningful careers in fields of environment and sustainability.” Along with that, he shared his excitement for the Certificates of Completion the school will be offering, “I am excited about those because it adds credentials to their resume that go beyond their major and minor. For The School of Environment and Sustainability, the first certificate we are going to offer is Sustainability, we don’t have a major or minor here in that.”

The School of Media and the Arts is directed by Shawn Gillen, Professor of English and the Department Chair of Studio Art. He is in the works of setting up special studying experiences away from campus. This spring there is a class going to Northern Ireland. Gillen also mentioned a project in the works, “We are also organizing a brief summer experience in Chicago where students will live in Chicago for about 3 weeks, shadow and work with alumni in media and the arts and we hope eventually that it will become a semester-long program.” Additionally, the school has an advisory board full of alumni in the arts and media. 

Mathew Tedesco, Professor of Philosophy, was in attendance at the launch and shared his thoughts on how the schools were going to be good for students, “There were two schools that were kind of obvious. You were going to have a health sciences and business school. The two behind that could have been almost anything. The two that got chosen are a real signal of the kinds of things the school is getting behind, and I think they suggest good things for still being really true to our liberal arts mission.”

The programs and projects the schools are working on are looking to come into effect starting in the fall. The websites for both schools are now launched and can be accessed to gain more information.