Core Professional Competencies

University of Arkansas Grantham prepares graduates to succeed in a variety of professional and civic settings by incorporating these five critical life skills into the curriculum:

• Communication – Formulating and expressing thoughts and ideas effectively using oral, written, and non-verbal communication skills in person, in writing, and in a digital world.
• Distributed Collaboration – Working effectively across distributed locations and asynchronously to achieve a common goal through relationship-building, shared responsibility, empathy, and respect.
• Professional and Social Responsibilities – Engaging in social responsibility through seeking justice, valuing diversity of ideas, opinions, and identity; respecting the environment; demonstrating professionalism through integrity, mutual accountability, and ethical behavior. This includes considering the social and global impact of individual and organizational decisions and an awareness of and adherence to regulations, professional standards, and industry best practices.
• Critical Thinking/Problem Solving – Using analytical reasoning when gathering and evaluating relevant information to effectively formulate possible solutions for an issue, problem, or a variety of issues. This includes the ability to recognize potential consequences of a decision.
• Data Aptitude – Developing information literacy and the capacity to manage data with subsequent finding, structuring, evaluating, and interpreting in order to provide meaningful analysis to accomplish a specific purpose.