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Eight Core Competencies: The Foundation for Your Future

A career-oriented, competency-based, learning community model is a hallmark of Harrisburg University's academic programs. That is, students will be expected to demonstrate mastery of eight university-wide competencies upon graduation. Regardless of a student’s major, employers and community leaders desire these competencies; they also serve the broader purpose of preparation for life and citizenship.


Questions? Contact us at 717.901.5101 or email Connect@HarrisburgU.edu

Critical Thinking

  • Develop critical thinking through fusing experience, reason and training into evaluating information from various technical and non-technical sources in order to establish sound judgments on the credibility, purpose, logic and the persuasive nature of materials and arguments. Strengthen the ability to differentiate between facts, opinion and inferences, to analyze and summarize arguments, and to synthesize ideas from multiple sources. Enhance the ability to formulate questions to clarify scope of a problem in order to identify multiple perspectives and alternatives in finding solutions.
  • Develop knowledge of scientific principles, methods and inquiries in research and analysis of cases and information. Learn how to use numbers, statistics and curves in writing and presentations. Broaden the ability to reason logically, coherently, and quantitatively.

Communication

  • Develop skills in speaking, reading and writing effectively. Strengthen the ability in written and oral communication for clear, coherent, balanced, persuasive and grammatically correct reports, papers and organized presentations and speeches. Augment proficiency in application of quantitative reasoning by using statistics, charts, and graphs in written reports and papers. Enhance the ability in writing across curriculum and beyond any specific field. Strengthen the habit of listening and note taking.

Teamwork and Collaboration

  • Understand how competently and resourcefully teams and groups could be organized for greatest productivity. Know how to accomplish and perform effectively and efficiently in group and team settings. Augment knowledge about how communication and organization could lead to more effective teamwork. Understand how group and team activities are sustained, how loyalty to them is maintained and how consensus is built in groups and teams. Enhance knowledge of how teams are different in their goals, membership and functions. Learn the skills of setting agenda and time tables for achieving goals more efficiently. Increase your ability to distinguish between groups and teams, compromise and consensuses, and friendship and loyalty in team and group settings.

Entrepreneurship

  • Develop talents and skills to initiate organized efforts in pursuit of opportunities that create values and rewards. Understand how organizational skills, goal-setting abilities, knowledge and information of the market and environment, capable judgment and risk taking aptitude make entrepreneurial acumen. Discover the relationships among understanding market, opportunity, risk, cost, values and reward in relation to entrepreneurship. Learn about the tools of entrepreneurship in the age of globalization and technological advances.

Information Literacy

  • Develop skills in gathering, using and disseminating information. Enhance ability to use technology in gathering information, conducting research and sharing information. Expand aptitude in doing research more effectively and efficiently by using technology. Learn how to use information to advance your knowledge and skills in your area of expertise and beyond.
  • Widen knowledge on how information technology can help advance education in any specific area. Develop skills in using technology in gathering, processing and sharing information more creatively. Learn how technology can help in collecting, analyzing, measuring, classifying, interpreting information.
  • Strengthen intellectual curiosity and broaden interest beyond a specific field of study. Broaden horizons of academic and educational interests in other ideas, concepts, issues and fields. Develop knowledge, interest and skills to become lifelong learner.

Ethical Decision Making

  • Develop an understanding of the ethical dimension of behavior in interaction with others and in decision-making. Enhance your knowledge about rights, common good, fairness, and virtues of honesty, integrity, courage, kindness, generosity, altruism and compassion.
  • Understand how actions and decisions in public and professional settings impact the well being of all who are directly and indirectly affected by these actions and decisions. Recognize interests, views and activities that decisions and actions must respect. Develop respect for the principles that recognize freedom of conscience, privacy and interest of others and appreciate decisions and actions that take into account faith, values and prerogatives of others. Understand the ramification of fair and unfair decisions and actions in distribution of rewards and burdens among those who are affected by them. Enhance a vision of a society and group that their members advance common good, respect the interest of the others and see that their own good is inextricably tied to the good of the whole.
  • Understand how corporations can be socially responsible by developing a commitment to behave ethically and contribute to the welfare of their workforce and the quality of life of communities and societies at large. Increase knowledge about how companies craft a balance between increasing their wealth and improving the welfare of society. Expand your knowledge of the way companies promote sustainable economic development and commit themselves to environmental issues. Recognize the merits of engaging in the global market with concern for fair trade, open and free competition without exposing companies’ activities to fraud and unfair transactions.

Global Awareness

  • Develop an understanding of the world and its institutions. Expand knowledge on how nations and these institutions impact each other at the global level and how human needs in various fields push for the formation of a global village. Understand how the web of increased interdependence compels the international community to think about and understand common problems shared by all humanity. Enhance knowledge of global issues and problems with the goal of increasing interest in global engagement and problem solving at the international level.
  • Understand what globalization of politics, economy and culture means. Develop a keen understanding of how global economic order functions and how various international institutions impact global trade and interact with each other. Increase knowledge of how new trends in regionalism and common market impact global economy. Widen scope of knowledge about how globalization benefits human welfare and contribute to the well being of the members of international community. Develop understanding of globalization of finance, digital world economy, multinational corporations, virtual corporations, and global strategic corporate alliances.
  • Develop an appreciation for diversity and commonality in a multicultural world and enhance interest in understanding and respecting people from different ethic, religious and racial backgrounds. Understand that diversity should be valued in society as it facilitates exchange of perspectives, ideas and views for the articulation of different approaches to problem solving and communication.

Civic Engagement

  • Develop an understanding of community, its diversity, culture, issues and challenges. Increase talent and skills in leadership for community involvement and civic life. Learn community problem solving skills, participate in civic associations, and volunteer in organizations that promotes the welfare of community. Learn how to educate communities about challenges and issues they face. Develop ability to work with institutions of representative democracy in advancing common good and interests that bind communities together. Enhance your proficiency in developing plans that empowers communities for civic engagement and neighborhood and community improvements.