Chan, Sloan have editorials published

February 8, 2013

Two Wake Forest employees had editorials published on Friday, Feb. 8.

The Charlotte Observer published the editorial “Liberal arts or not, students need career guidance” by Andy Chan, the vice president of personal and career development. In his piece, Chan uses statistics from the National Association of Colleges and Employers to show that colleges have cut career development resources by an average of 16 percent this year, and shows that Wake Forest is bucking a national trend.

“Under the leadership of President Nathan Hatch, Wake Forest has intentionally invested in students’ personal, career and professional development, which is now a central component of the college experience, Chan writes. “Over $8.5 million has been raised largely from parents who believe in our mission to educate the whole person – and the investment is paying off.” He suggests a coalition of North Carolinians work together to provide students more instruction and guidance to navigate the path from college to career.

The Winston-Salem Journal published an editorial written by Michael Sloan, an assistant professor of classical languages. “In Defense of Liberal Arts” is a response to North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory’s comments on national radio suggesting that taxpayer dollars supporting women’s and gender studies and philosophy is wasted money. Sloan uses recent statistics on job placement at Wake Forest to counter this assumption.

“In fact, 95 percent of survey respondents from Wake Forest University’s class of 2012 reported either being employed or in graduate school six months after graduation. Nearly 31 percent of them remain in North Carolina,” writes Sloan. “If history and philosophy and classics majors can’t find success after college, how can a liberal arts university such as Wake Forest account for these numbers?”