The Kalamazoo ("K") Plan

The College offers the Kalamazoo Plan (K-Plan), an undergraduate experience of rigorous liberal arts scholarship and opportunities for experiential education in both domestic and international settings. The K-Plan includes classroom and laboratory explorations in a learning environment in which teachers know and attend to their students personally; career development experiences; study abroad; service learning; and an in-depth senior individualized project. This distinctive combination of opportunities and expectations contributes to the development of self-reliant, mature individuals of principle and character—individuals well equipped to discharge their duties as citizens and to fulfill their aspirations both for careers and for further learning.

The College, through this K-Plan, is especially dedicated to the cultivation among students of five key dimensions of intellectual and personal growth:

1. Lifelong learning is the passion for exploring new ideas through sustained engagement with the liberal arts and sciences and for the rich reflection on ever-changing experiences that such engagement affords. One end of formal education should be an eager curiosity and the skills and knowledge that will give direction to that curiosity.
   
2. Career readiness includes hands-on explorations—through internships, externships, and other field experiences—based on the student's combination of interests, values, and capabilities. These explorations help the student form career goals that have high potential for providing career satisfaction and fulfillment.
   
3. Intercultural understanding is an awareness of the different ways that people experience and organize the world and an openness to learning from those who differ from one's own self and culture. By studying and experiencing other cultures, students expand their consideration of events, ideas, and beliefs beyond the filter of their own culture.
   
4. Social responsibility is a commitment to community service and a willingness to take on roles for the common good. By voluntarily accepting responsibilities that transcend individual self-interest, students learn that contributions to community well being go hand in hand with individual growth.
   
5. Leadership is the ability to envision new possibilities and the capacity to motivate, organize, and empower oneself and others to achieve those possibilities. In its most effective form, leadership springs from democratic principles, such as the free consent of others, and therefore requires skills such as listening, engaging in effective dialogue, and consensus building.