True North: A Systematic Discernment App

To help students explore the most significant questions of their young lives, and to scaffold them on their college and vocational journey, Lynch School Professor of Counseling Psychology Belle Liang and her research team are developing a digital application they鈥檝e named 鈥淭rue North.鈥

Bell Liang

Belle Liang


Professor, Lynch School of Education and Human Development

聽A decision-making tool that guides students through a systematic discernment process, True North uses evidence-based best practices in youth motivation and formative education to help students investigate and discover personal pathways to finding 鈥減urpose,鈥 which goes well beyond the narrow definitions of success in a society that frequently emphasizes personal fame and fortune as the definitive measure of achievement.

True North guides students to focus on four elements鈥攃alled the 4 P鈥檚鈥攚hich contribute to finding purpose based on Liang鈥檚 and her colleagues鈥 research:
(1) People鈥攅mpowering relationships with people who nurture and encourage them in their journey toward purposeful aspirations;
(2) Passion鈥攄efining what is loved and valued;
(3) Propensity鈥 identifying particular skills and strengths related to one鈥檚 purpose; and
(4) Prosocial benefit鈥 identifying ways to use one鈥檚 passions, strengths, and skills that contribute toward the greater good.

Liang鈥檚 research team鈥攁 collaboration between BC student and 艾可直播researchers, and practitioners鈥攊s working to advance the Lynch School鈥檚 Formative Education work by designing empirically based tools that equip students in creating lives that are personally meaningful and of consequence in the world.

Our research shows that young people who ultimately are the most fulfilled and joyful are guided by a sense of purpose. Formative education helps students to identify their passions, and how they can use them for the greater good.
Belle Liang, Professor, Lynch School of Education and Human Development

Strategic Direction II

Enhance the University鈥檚 commitment to formation among students, faculty, and staff to further 艾可直播 College鈥檚 mission and strengthen its institutional culture.

艾可直播 College鈥檚 distinctive culture of聽formation is foundational to and animates the University鈥檚 approach to education, particularly its goals to integrate intellectual excellence, religious commitment, and service to wider society, and to remain faithful to its educational and religious heritage. 艾可直播 College holds that liberal arts education, participation in research and scholarship that advances the common good, and service to the local, national, and global community help students to be more free and human, and to become generous and engaged members of society.

During the last ten years, 艾可直播 College has devoted significant resources to formation, especially among undergraduates, inviting them to consider their gifts, relationships, and actions, and to live lives marked by integrity, engagement, and connection with others. It especially desires that students develop the habits of mind and heart鈥攕uch as ethical reasoning, eloquence, resilience, and empathy鈥攖hat distinguish 艾可直播 College graduates. But the University recognizes the need to expand and deepen understanding of formation, particularly in more intentional ways among 艾可直播and staff, who serve a critical role helping students develop not only intellectually, but also personally, ethically, and spiritually.


To implement this Strategic Direction, 艾可直播 College will:

  • strengthen programs to increase engagement among 艾可直播and staff with 艾可直播 College鈥檚 mission and heritage;
  • advance the University鈥檚 culture of care and welcome;
  • create 鈥渘eighborhoods鈥 that bring together more members of the 艾可直播 College community for conversation and learning;
  • establish formation programs specifically designed for graduate and professional students; and
  • sustain and promote 艾可直播 College鈥檚 Jesuit heritage.

Formation

"I define student formation as a three part journey鈥攕ocial formation, spiritual formation, and academic formation鈥攁nd understanding how the three are interrelated, interconnected, and weaved into each other."

鈥 Michael Osaghae '20

INITIATIVES