1. Life at the Research University: Asking Questions
UC Merced graduates take an inquiry-oriented approach to the world that reflects engagement with the mission and values of our research university.
For example:
- They can articulate the benefits of attending a research university for their development as scholars, citizens, life-long learners;
- They generate questions, identify problems, and formulate answers by applying appropriate theoretical, evidentiary, analytical and ethical frameworks from multiple intellectual perspectives;
- They demonstrate intellectual curiosity and an understanding of the nature of knowledge and of themselves as learners;
- They identify and act on their own values and talents through self-reflection;
- They are at ease with the ambiguity that is inherent in the process of discovery.
2. Reasoning: Thinking Critically
UC Merced graduates are equipped with multiple tools of analysis to support accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion.
For example:
- They use analytical tools from scientific, social scientific, and humanistic disciplines;
- They are able to identify and evaluate sources of information;
- They identify, interpret and evaluate multiple kinds of data, including texts, media, observations, and experimental results.
3. Communication: Explaining and Persuading
UC Merced graduates communicate in a variety of ways to diverse audiences.
For example:
- They use written, visual, oral and numerical modes of communication to explore and convey ideas;
- They can adjust their communications depending on occasion, purpose and audience;
- They can work independently and collaboratively.
4. Cultural and Global awareness: Engaging with differences
UC Merced graduates see themselves in relation to local and global cultures and systems of power, past and present.
For example:
- They engage with multiple belief systems, social structures, and ways of thinking through attention to societies, languages and cultures of the past and the present;
- They can identify the ways in which cultural, political, economic, technological, and environmental dimensions of society interact;
- They can place their own experiences in relevant analytical frameworks through attention to the relationships of diverse cultures to each other;
- They gain emotional maturity and resilience by understanding themselves in the world.
5. Citizenship: Contributing to the Public Good
UC Merced graduates are engaged with their communities for the benefit of society.
For example:
- They are engaged citizens, having contributed to the building of academic and co-curricular communities at UC Merced;
- They understand and work in diverse communities;
- They engage with the ethical dimensions of their various roles;
- They can articulate and act on their responsibilities to the multiple communities in which they participate.
