Passionate students finding purpose through the human touch
By Caroline Rice, Senior in Journalism and Marketing
“I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all.” — The Auburn Creed
A place where you are called by your name, where you’re given hands-on experience in your future career field, and where you will prepare for your first job, your last job, and everything in between– this is what defines our College of Liberal Arts (CLA) experience.
Walk into Tichenor Hall and you’ll find round tables dotted with yellow Au Bon Pain coffee cups, the rooms filled with liberal arts students. But they’re not just sitting down, listening to a lecture each day– they are walking around the classroom, engaged with their professor and classmates around them.
In our college, we have over 40 majors and minors— anything from communications to economics to professional flight– but what ties our students together is a passion and need for critical thinking.
Here are a few highlights of the College of Liberal Arts!
Small class sizes
Here in the College of Liberal Arts, we have the best of both worlds. The mission of our dean is to provide our students with the amenities, funding and sports environment of a large SEC university while maintaining a personal, intimate learning space of a small liberal arts school. We execute this mission through our small class sizes– an unheard of 10:1 student to faculty ratio– while providing students with connections and on-campus organizations that give them impressive experience in their future career field.
We also have CLA-only core classes with 30 students or less. This means that as a Liberal Arts student, you won’t ever have to take a large lecture class!
Liberal Arts Career Preparedness class
Many students’ favorite class is Liberal Arts Career Preparedness, a required class for every CLA student, because they build resumes, cover letters, an elevator pitch, and create a LinkedIn profile– all skills that help students stand out and get their dream internships and jobs.
Our college has more majors and minors than any other college on campus– over 40 majors and minors– so we interviewed four CLA students to get insight into their day-to-day life in the College of Liberal Arts.
Advising by major
Our advisors in the College of Liberal Arts are assigned by major, not by last name. Students will meet their academic advisor during Camp War Eagle before registering for classes. They will know your career goals and interests and make sure that you are in the right classes to prepare you for them. Our advisors care about their students as future professionals, but also as friends.
Career Services
The College of Liberal Arts’ Career Services provide students with a constant source of career-focused guidance. Specialized career counselors meet with students to guide them through steps to work toward their career goals with tools like resumé, cover letter, and e-portfolio building, graduate school preparation, job and internship searches, interview preparation, and salary negotiations. These appointments are available from a student’s first year on campus to one year post-graduation.
On-campus Organizations
Our students are involved in organizations in every corner of campus. Many of these organizations are directly related to majors and future career goals, such as writing for The Auburn Plainsman newspaper, working for The Oaks Agency, singing with the Chamber Choir or joining the Mock Trial team. Our professors encourage students to get involved in these organizations as early as their first semester freshman year to get hands-on experience in their major.
Interviews with CLA students
Elizabeth Talmadge, Senior in Psychology
Dothan, AL
College of Liberal Arts: Tell us about a day in the life of a psychology major.
Elizabeth Talmadge: The day to day life for a Psychology student differs depending on the week! Every day I am expected to go to class and learn more about how people tick. My favorite class currently is Motivation and Emotion. In this class we explore why people are motivated and how we can make ourselves motivated. It has honestly been super helpful in trying to motivate myself to study! Another area that is major for Psychology students is research. I participated in a research lab for two years here at Auburn and it was such a wonderful experience! I learned how to code and conduct research in a professional setting. The psychology department also has established an honor society, called Psi Chi, that connects students with different professionals in the field!
CLA: What is your favorite class you’ve taken?
ET: My favorite major class that I have taken would have to be Psychology of Learning! It was so interesting to find out how our brains retained information! Not only did we study how we learned in a classroom setting, but also how we learned in everyday settings. For example, how to learn the habits of eating healthy or cleaning your room. It was such a useful class and I am still profiting from it today!
So, what can you do with a liberal arts degree? With the soft skills that our professors instill in our students, the question is what can’t you do.
AJ Revera, Junior in Communications with minors in History and Public Administration
Madison, AL
CLA: Tell me about some organizations that you are involved in on-campus and why you like them.
AJR: I am heavily involved with Eagle Eye TV, Auburn’s student run TV station, where I serve as the Executive Producer. I love being a part of this organization because I get real, hands-on experience of a TV station in a comfortable environment. More so than anything, it’s a learning lab. I have met some of my closest friends at Eagle Eye and something that is awesome compared to other student TV stations across the country is that its not major-dependent. Anyone can join, regardless of major. This also means that it is open to all grade levels; I have been involved since my freshman year.
CLA: Tell me about your favorite professor.
AJR: My favorite professor is Dr. Fillippeli who I have taken for Argumentation and for Foundations of Rhetoric and Social Influence. She does a really good job of connecting with students and helping them learn difficult subjects. I met with her multiple times for 1 on 1 help in Rhetoric and Social Influence, and she helped me get a better grasp of the material and do better throughout the class.
Campbell Govignon, Junior in Public Relations
Calhoun, GA
CLA: Could you give me a brief overview of a day in your life on campus?
Campbell Govignon: A day in my life on campus typically involves starting the day working in the CLA Student Services office as a Student Recruiter. I then head to my Public Relations classes of the day and grab lunch at Chicken Salad Chick after class. Then I spend the rest of my school day either in the library or student center studying, working on projects or materials and operations for the organization on campus that I am a part of!
CLA: How did you choose your major? Tell me a little bit about your major.
CG: My major is Public Relations. I chose PR because it is a collaborative people-centered field of work that focuses on media and public outreach. It is also a broad field that allows you to work in many different industries and is pretty much needed anywhere.
Sarah Stephenson, Senior in Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences
Birmingham, AL
CLA: What surprised you about the College of Liberal Arts?
Sarah Stephenson: When imagining college classes before I began my time at Auburn, I thought of large overwhelming classes where I would never know my professors or the people in my classes. However, the most surprising thing to me about the College of Liberal Arts and specifically my major has been the personal connections I have found to both my professors and classmates. The professors are not only passionate about their classes, but also about their students. All of the professors I have had in the College of Liberal Arts have been extremely approachable and willing to meet with me at any time.Throughout my time in college, I have been encouraged by how much the College of Liberal Arts focuses on the relational side of learning. I have formed relationships with my professors, as well as the people in my classes.
CLA: What has your favorite class been?
SS: My favorite class I have taken in my major is my Child and Adolescent Language Disorders class because I have a desire to work with children in the future and this class confirmed this interest for me. Dr. Megan-Brette Hamilton structured this class to be extremely interactive and hands-on which allowed me the opportunity to experience a deeper glimpse of what my future career will look like. Because Dr. Hamilton helped this major come to life for me, she is my favorite professor. She took the book knowledge my cohort and I were learning and helped us to see the direct applications to our future career. Dr. Hamilton is very inspiring because of her passion for and knowledge of the field of Speech Pathology. She brought to light issues in the field and helped me understand possible solutions that will continue to benefit me when I become a practicing Speech Language Pathologist.