Colleges stress moral leadership

This summer she was one of 90 Duke students who got funding during the pilot phase of DukeEngage. Conducting projects from New Orleans to Yemen, many of the students are sending blog entries to a central website (http://dukeengage.duke.edu).

"It was just incredible to have so much ownership over something," says Ms. Dorsey, who's about to start her senior year. "I've spent a lot of my time learning and being a student, which is great..., but it was really awesome to feel like I could actually use those skills now to do something meaningful."

Without the free campus housing and $3,000 stipend from DukeEngage, she says, she wouldn't have been able to participate. Within five years, the goal is to have 500 to 600 students – about one-quarter of the student body – doing DukeEngage projects, says director Eric Mlyn.

"We're making a guarantee to all students that, if you want to have an experience like this, we will fund it," Mr. Mlyn says. The Duke Endowment and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation each contributed $15 million.

"Instead of feeling like they have to do a banking or a consulting internship, [students] can see these other opportunities really visibly," Dorsey says. "It's ... a central part of what Duke's mission is now."

At William Jewell College, a small liberal arts school, students have long been required to take a core curriculum. The core aims to address "the big questions," says president David Sallee. "How should we behave? What can we know? What is real? We felt that by turning this into an opportunity for a major, we could say to people, 'This is very important in your educational experience.' "

The key is to tie the coursework to research and "reflective citizenship" projects involving study abroad, service, or leadership. The school can't fund projects, but helps students find funding.

"Our anticipation is we will have anywhere from 60 to 80 percent of the class ... getting this major," President Sallee says.

As students head off to college orientation, many may find philosophical issues are as prevalent as futon sales. More schools are asking students to discuss life issues raised in, say, a summer reading project. And they're beefing up their presentations on academic integrity and community standards.

Carnegie Mellon, a research university in Pittsburgh, is piloting a program for about 700 first-year students to talk over issues such as: What is my aim in life? What is the purpose of work? Faculty volunteers will lead bimonthly group discussions centered on a book of their choice.

"Students have always shown an attraction towards discussions of this type ... [but] Carnegie Mellon is a very work-oriented place – students are pretty crunched," says Indira Nair, vice provost for education. But she hasn't had any trouble finding volunteers to lead discussions. "Most faculty, I think, feel that it should be a vital part of a college education."

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