Introducing Doane College

Doane’s Commitment to Nontraditional Students

The Doane College degree program for nontraditional students was developed for individuals who can benefit from a combination of college classroom learning experiences, learning outcomes of previous formal education, and knowledge gained from work and life experience. This style of higher education creates opportunities for persons to make connections with life and work through a degree program and develops knowledge and skills for living and working with self-confidence.

This program is designed for a special student population, less defined by age than by a certain profile. Generally, students have been absent from involvement in formal education for some time, work full-time, and wish to be better educated and/or credentialed to take advantage of promotion opportunities, either in a current or future job. They recognize the changing nature of the work environment and are eager to develop knowledge and skills to meet those demands. Many wish to make a career change and/or simply to continue personal growth and development. The nontraditional student can be defined quite simply as a person whose full-time occupation is something other than that of student.

The orientation for nontraditional students begins with generalizations about learners who are the heart of Doane’s traditional liberal arts college. Classes are small, with a strong focus on student-teacher interaction. To make that focus possible, the average class size is 20 students.

Faculty of Doane College believe that people are intrinsically motivated to learn, given the right college conditions and encouragement. Experience has taught us that great teachers are the key to learner motivation. We therefore seek, and ultimately keep, teachers who have an abundant knowledge of the subject they are teaching, who truly care that the people they teach are successful in their experience with formal education, and who have the talent to excite others to learn, share knowledge enthusiastically, and effectively manage the learning environment.

We believe that a college is a community, and individuals learn best when they feel they are an important part of that community. Our talented support services staff are held responsible for building that sense of community. They provide needed services at times convenient to the nontraditional student, and are held accountable for quality academic and personal counseling.

Though we build on the philosophical foundations of the small liberal arts college, we also know that there are characteristics of nontraditional learners that are unique to this student population.

We know that 1) they have a psychological need to be self-directing, 2) they bring into any learning situation resources from their previous experience and training that are a rich resource for one another’s learning, and 3) they are task-centered, problem-centered, and life-centered in their orientation to learning. With ongoing studies of the research in adult education and our own experience, we constantly work to deliver education in ways most appropriate for the nontraditional learner.

Students who complete Doane’s degree requirements through this program are awarded the bachelor of arts, bachelor of science, or bachelor of science in nursing degree. Though nontraditional students attend classes in Lincoln or Grand Island, they are a welcome part of the body of students who participate in Commencement exercises on the Crete campus.

The effort to develop quality programs of higher education for nontraditional students gives Doane College faculty and staff opportunities to grow and further develop their abilities to anticipate new conditions in the field of education and to change in ways that will enable the college to meet the diverse demands of society. We seek to be a part of the development of educated and competent persons, with the highest competence being that of continuous, self-directed, lifelong learning.

Doane College Presidents

Doane College has been led by a succession of enlightened presidents. Doane’s first president, David Brainerd Perry, served from the official founding of the college in 1872 until 1912. He was followed by:

History of Doane College

For 141 years, Doane College has occupied a distinguished place among the liberal arts colleges of the Midwest.

The history of Doane College dates from 1857, when the General Association of Congregational Churches, in its first annual meeting at Fremont, Nebraska, resolved to lay the foundation of a literary institution of a high order in Nebraska. Fourteen years later, and after several unsuccessful attempts to establish Congregational schools across the state, an academy was founded in Crete on May 22, 1871.

The efforts of the local Congregational pastor and Thomas Doane, chief civil engineer for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, were instrumental in advancing the idea of the Academy.

On July 11, 1872, Doane College preempted the old Crete Academy. The college was officially incorporated at that time as a non-profit institution governed by an independent, self-perpetuating Board of Trustees. It has received continuous accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools since 1913. The college is authorized to conduct all affairs considered essential to the liberal arts enterprise wherever it is carried on, including teaching, research, academic study, and granting degrees.

Doane is historically affiliated with the church, now called the United Church of Christ (UCC). Doane serves as the representative institution for the Nebraska, Rocky Mountain, Kansas-Oklahoma and South Dakota conferences of the UCC. Doane, although founded by Protestants, is open to students of all religions, as well as those who profess no formal religion.

Education for a Lifetime

Throughout Doane’s 140-year history, the college has provided students with dedicated faculty and quality programs. The highest priority for Doane College faculty is to continually improve the teaching and learning process. Faculty also are active with scholarly research and publication, community service, and campus life.

Mission Statement

The Doane College mission is to provide an exceptional liberal arts education in a creative, inclusive, and collaborative community where faculty and staff work closely with undergraduate and graduate students preparing them for lives rooted in intellectual inquiry, ethical values, and a commitment to engage as leaders and responsible citizens in the world.

Accreditation Statement

Doane College is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association (NCA), 30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 2400, Chicago, IL, 60602-2504. NCA may be reached at 800.621.7440 or www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org

Doane is also accredited by the Nebraska Coordinating Commission of Post-Secondary Education (CCPE), 301 Centennial Mall South, P.O. Box 94987, Lincoln, NE, 68509- 4987; 402.471.2295; and by other standardizing agencies.

Documentation of Accreditation may be viewed upon request in the Doane College President’s Office.

Assessment Statement

Doane values the participation of undergraduate and graduate students in its institution-wide program to assess student achievement. This program is part of the institution’s responsibility to monitor student outcomes and assure the continuing quality of a Doane degree. Multiple strategies are used to gather information about student achievement throughout the college experience. Information collected as a part of the assessment program is used for assessment purposes only and is not used to evaluate individual performance. The college protects the confidentiality of data collected.

Doane College Memberships