Organizing the Campus Environment to Foster Student Self-Authorship

We are all on a journey, a journey of life, simultaneously growing, changing, and developing along several dimensions—intellectual, social, civic, physical, moral, and spiritual. That is, we develop holistically. Especially during the traditional college years, we are involved in asking several questions about ourselves, such as: • How do I know? • Who am I? • How do I relate to others? “How do I know? ” reflects the cognitive domain: one’s knowledge and understanding of what is true and important to know; viewing knowledge, and knowing with greater complexity and taking into account multiple cultural perspectives. Reliance on external authorities for absolute truth gives way to relativism when making commitments within the context of uncertainty. “Who am I? ” reflects and highlights the intrapersonal domain: one’s becoming more aware of and integrating one’s personal values and self-identity into one’s personhood. The end of this journey is a sense of self-direction and purpose in one’s life—becoming more aware of one’s strengths, values, and personal characteristics and sense of self, and viewing one’s development in terms of self-identity. “How do I relate to others? ” reflects the interpersonal domain: one’s willingness to interact with persons with different social norms and cultural backgrounds, acceptance of others, being comfortable when relating to others and able to view others differently; seeing one’s own uniqueness; and relating to others moving from dependency to independence to interdependence