College of Arts, Social Sciences, & Humanities (CASSH)

• Recognize challenges as opportunities to improve. 
• Take risks and understand that mistakes contribute to growth. 
• Welcome constructive feedback and use it to strengthen your performance.  
• Embrace a growth mindset approach that allows for action, reflection, failure, and resilience for lifelong learning and development. 

Adaptability is a competency that is taught and learned in all programs in CASSH. By learning to improve, accept feedback, take risks, and apply a growth mindset, students will be prepared and better equipped to handle whatever life throws at them.

Whether you use adaptability in your personal, professional, or academic life, it is a competency that will serve you well. Innovation and creativity go hand-in-hand with the flexibility and wide-ranging possibilities needed by successful college graduates.

• Build mutually beneficial relationships and achieve common goals by understanding, valuing, and leveraging the strengths of others.  
• Take responsibility for your own role and contributions within a team.  
• Organize, prioritize, and delegate work.
• Negotiate and manage conflict without compromising group objectives.    

Building and sustaining meaningful, trusting relationships are key skills for a 21st-century graduate. CASSH offers UWL students experience in gaining skills like oral and written communication, which are key to developing relationships in the workplace and in personal settings.

Different personalities take different approaches to building and maintaining relationships, so learning to work with a variety of different types of people is vital to most employers. Additionally, staying organized and being able to take a leadership role is something that all students learn in the many majors and minors in CASSH. 

• Effectively articulate thoughts and ideas to others in written and oral forms.  
• Engage in dialogue that leads to productive outcomes. 
• Understand the impact of nonverbal communication on professional work image.
• Use interpersonal skills to motivate and develop others. 

CASSH students will learn to excel in communication in many genres and forms. Employers seek leaders with global knowledge who can engage with people from diverse cultures, backgrounds, and specialty areas. Students will be better able to express their thoughts and ideas through both written and oral forms of communication. This is important for many reasons, as communication skills are something that most employers are looking for. 

• Exercise sound reasoning to independently analyze issues, identify options, formulate opinions, make decisions, and overcome problems.  
• Demonstrate originality and inventiveness when identifying possible courses of action. 
• Account for personal biases and recognize that there may be more than one valid point of view. 

CASSH students learn to be collaborative problem-solvers through class-based client-service projects, UWL grant-funded undergraduate research projects, and other complex situations presented in classrooms, internships, and one-on-one research connections with award-winning faculty. Recognizing that there is more than one way to solve a problem and being able to effectively communicate those solutions is important to employers.

• Leverage knowledge of information and communications technology to ethically and efficiently solve problems, complete tasks, and accomplish goals.  
• Assess sources of information to determine legitimacy and suitability.  
• Keep up with emerging technologies and adapt tools to new purposes.   

CASSH teaches students the importance of digital literacy and being able to find all the information before making a decision. As students and members of society, CASSH strives to teach students to look for the truth or the bigger picture.

Being able to understand and operate new technologies is another large part of what employers are looking for. Employers want candidates who can learn how to learn—a CASSH education will provide students with a strong foundation for a lifetime of continued learning and a nuanced understanding of the world.

• Cultivate awareness of your own identity and that of others through exploration of diversity, including race, ethnicity, country of origin, ability, class, gender, age, spirituality, etc.  
• Understand how culture and identity affects perceptions, attitudes, values, and behaviors. 
• Appreciate multiple perspectives and participate in society as a conscious global citizen. 

CASSH understands that diversity is a major lesson for our students. Being able to understand cultural and ethical implications of work in a variety of fields is something that students learn in many of our programs. Through many different markets, there's going to be many different diverse populations, so being able to work with those different backgrounds and working towards a common goal is important for students' personal and professional life. CASSH students develop the ability to collaborate with and appreciate the widest possible range of ideas and people.

• Take ownership of your actions and learn from your mistakes. 
• Act with the interests of the larger community in mind.  
• Establish personal responsibility and effective work habits (e.g., punctuality, working productively with others, time/workload management). 

CASSH believes that integrity and taking responsibility are important traits for all students. Through our programs, CASSH students learn how to act with ethical ideals in mind, create good habits for their personal and professional life, and learn from their mistakes.

• Identify and articulate your interests, skills, values, and experiences. 
• Explore and make decisions about academic and career options. 
• Establish and take steps to execute a personal academic and career plan.  
• Manage your strengths, limitations, emotions, and biases in a variety of situations.  
• Demonstrate the continual development of a positive personal brand. 

Employers want candidates who are passionate about the work they do. CASSH is committed to helping UWL students find their passion. We believe that students should be able to talk about their experiences, interests, and skills in a way that shows their passion for what they do or are looking to accomplish.