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Editorial: Relationship-Rich Education
Editorial by Weymouth Spence
At Washington University we have adopted the successful concept of “Relationship-Rich Education.” This involves intentionally integrating course content and deliberate critical attention to our student’s well-being. It is our desire to make every student feel that they belong at Washington Adventist University and that we care about them graduating on time with little or no debt ready for the workplace and for eternity.
Praise to our faculty and staff in the areas of advising, tutoring, residence halls, campus dining and convocation for their successful implementation in affirming students and peer-to-peer conversations. This intentional human connection has certainly enhanced the WAU student experience.
During Spring 2022 we expanded the concept of relationship-rich education from the campus community to the entire Columbia Union Conference by way of building and or restoring our relationships with academies and camp meetings.
Much praise and appreciation to the conference presidents, academy principals and teachers for welcoming and supporting our visits to graduations and camp meetings.
WAU cannot be successful without these intentional relationships. Our campus leaders—Everett Wiles, Betty Johnson, Ralph Johnson, Dirk Whatley, Stephen Williams—and the WAU Ambassadors did outstanding work in building these essential relationships.
We are committed to education in the Columbia Union and beyond at all levels.
Human interactions—internal and external–are essential and significantly contribute to the positive WAU experience. A successful WAU must be built on strong relationships. It is well known that behind every successful business, are people, and people function in society via relationships. We will continue to make relationship-rich concepts a hard-wired initiative into the fabric of our daily operational routines.
Getting to know our students and building relationships with members of the Columbia Union is now a key performance indicator for Washington Adventist University that will result in making WAU the best place for employees to work and for students to learn. Please continue to pray and support your university.
Weymouth Spence is the president of Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park, Md.
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