Central College is a residential liberal arts college dedicated to discovering and developing their most significant potential. Guided by its ecumenical Christian tradition, the college community engages in vigorous, open inquiry to pursue academic excellence.
The College nurtures the development of the mind while fostering spiritual and emotional maturity and physical well-being. Central integrates career preparation with the development of values essential to responsible citizenship, empowering graduates for effective service in local, national, and international communities.
Central College's Welcome Statement (Nondiscrimination Policy) is designed to promote and protect the safety, respect, and integrity of all community members' relationships. Central College is committed to fostering inclusivity on campus and strives to create a community of students, faculty, and staff who are dedicated to supporting and advancing the mission and goals of the College. To achieve these ends, the Central College community establishes a safe environment for all persons, including those considered diverse by contemporary and sometimes changing standards.
As a college community, we commit to a process of actualizing our mission and goals, thereby striving to achieve congruence between our daily actions and the ideals expressed in our guiding principles. As one of our goals, we promote skills and values essential to becoming responsible citizens in local, national, and international communities. Further, we seek opportunities to experience and appreciate the diversity of cultures and perspectives present on campus, in the United States and the world, recognizing the necessity to relate knowledgeably and sensitively in an increasingly complex environment where diversity is valued.
As an inclusive academic institution, we embrace and support students, faculty, and staff from various spiritual perspectives who endorse the values of acceptance, mutual respect, justice, generosity, compassion, forgiveness, and service to others. We aspire to be a community whose members act with consideration for others' physical, intellectual, spiritual, and emotional well-being. We seek to create mutually respectful interactions and positive meaning in relationships with persons of every ethnicity, race, national origin, ancestry, color, socio-economic class, creed, religion, philosophical belief, marital status, disability, physical appearance, gender expression, and identity, and organizational affiliation.
With due regard for the principles of freedom of expression and academic freedom, this policy seeks to encourage attitudes of civility necessary for meaningful exchanges between people. All college community members are responsible for creating an atmosphere that fosters openness, mutual respect, and diversity. The application of the College's nondiscrimination policy will often involve conflicting interests, mainly when applied to freedom of expression. Because the primary business of the College is liberal education and because liberal education cannot take place without the free, open, and civil exchange of ideas, the application of the nondiscrimination policy should always be made with consideration of how best to preserve the free, open and civil exchange of ideas.
Central College is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Discrimination in employment is prohibited explicitly except in cases of a bona fide occupational qualification. Additionally, the College prohibits discrimination against any individual for reasons listed above. Central College students have equal rights, privileges, and responsibilities unless restricted explicitly by college disciplinary action.
When we say "sustainable," this is what we mean: We find ways to meet our needs without compromising future generations' ability to meet theirs. Our vision has many dimensions: social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental integrity.
At Central, all students have opportunities to learn and foster sustainable habits. Sustainability education is infused throughout our academic curriculum and everyday life. We live and learn in green buildings, develop sustainability research and service projects, work in our college garden, and eat local foods in Central Market.
Central College is proud to offer off-campus programs worldwide as part of its commitment to global experiential learning. These include semester, year-long, summer, and short-term options. Each academic major allows students to study off-campus for at least one semester, earning credit toward a major, minor, or core curriculum requirements.
Study abroad was established at Central College in 1965 and continues to offer distinctive study abroad programs worldwide. Central programs are built on outstanding experiential education pedagogy, rigorous academic standards, and reciprocal community relations, creating exceptional student learning opportunities. Programs that are facilitated by our resident directors are also open to students from other colleges and universities.
Central's distinctive programs integrate academics, personal journeys, and intercultural learning. Three types of programs are available to Central College students: semester, year-long, and summer programs in which a resident director is on-site (director-led) faculty-led opportunities, including summer, semester-long, and short-term programs (often integrated into course work on campus) in which Central College faculty develop and lead the curriculum and educational excursions for students and partner programs in which Central students receive academic credit when enrolled in programs that are hosted by approved providers.
Central's faculty develop study abroad opportunities around a discipline-based and cultural curriculum. Faculty work individually with students to prepare them for the international learning opportunity and maximize the experiential learning time abroad.
Resident directors provide individualized attention to students. Starting long before arrival, directors work individually with each student, coaching them to maximize their time abroad.
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