The Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College
Justad Named First Director of Guilford's Center for Principled Problem Solving
Mark Justad has been named director of the Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College, effective August 1st, 2007.
In his new position, Justad will coordinate the foundation, development and evaluation of the Center and its programming and outreach. A key academic initiative in The Strategic Plan for Guilford College 2005-2010: Creative Leadership for the 21st Century, Principled Problem Solving (PPS) is an effort to employ the knowledge, skills and life experiences of students, faculty, staff and community members to address a broad range of real world problems in ways consistent with Guilford's core values of community, diversity, equality, excellence, justice, integrity and stewardship.
"Principled problem solving constitutes the core of a Guilford education and is a centerpiece of our strategic plan," says President Kent Chabotar. "We welcome Mark to his new role of providing a more organized approach for faculty, students and staff to bring our core values to bear on problems at all levels of our society."
Justad has substantial experience integrating academic values and scholarly interests with programmatic initiatives designed to address broad cultural concerns. Since 2003 he has served as executive and associate director of the Center for the Study of Religion and Culture (CSRC) at Vanderbilt University, an interdisciplinary research center featuring multi-year collaborative research projects that address significant intersections of culture and religion. From 2000 to 2007 Justad was senior lecturer and research associate in religion and society at Vanderbilt Divinity School. Since 1993, Justad has served in several other university-wide administrative positions at Vanderbilt, including a three-year term as the assistant to the chancellor.
"Mark brings great depth to a critical leadership position," says Adrienne Israel, vice president and academic dean at Guilford. "He has organized and directed a center similar to the one being established at Guilford and he has excellent credentials in the liberal arts. He has depth in a disciplinary field for which principles are paramount and a track record in applying theory to 'real world' problems. He seems to understand intuitively how the principled problem solving initiative can more concretely link the academic program at Guilford with efforts to meet the challenges of a changing world."
"I was immediately drawn to the new position and to Guilford’s PPS initiative because of its potential for bringing the ideal and the practical into direct and productive interaction," says Justad. "The point of education is, of course, not only to understand and appreciate our world, but also to transform it in positive and creative ways."
Justad is originally from Bothell, Wash. His partner, Joanne Sandberg, is an assistant professor of sociology at High Point University. They have two sons, Cade and Cole. Justad has a Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University, an M.Div. Harvard University Divinity School, and a Bachelor's of Music in Theory and Composition from the University of Puget Sound.
About PPS: Education that Transforms Our Students, Our Community, Our World
The Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College was established in 2007 and is charged with organizing and coordinating campus efforts to incorporate Principled Problem Solving across the curriculum. The CPPS is also a resource for students, faculty, staff, and community members, helping them to identify and secure resources necessary for examing our community's core values and teachings and in putting them to work in the world.
Guilford's Strategic Long Term Plan,Creative Leadership for the 21st Century, states that Principled Problem Solving (PPS) can be understood as the central, unifying theme of the transformative Guilford College eduation. As such, PPS seeks to embody the practical liberal arts tradition for which Guilford is known, identifying problems and opportunities in need of attention and bringing it to them. PPS is shaped by the College's Quaker heritage and driven by our core values in seeking to fulfill the potential of education to reshape and renew our world. Principled Problem Solving contributes not only to a practical education but also, through active engagement in real world situations, contributes innovative solutions to existing and emerging problems in the community, state, nation and world.
More information on Principled Problem Solving is available on our About PPS web page and in a feature article from the Winter 2006 Guilford College Magazine posted in the Related Links box on this page.
Questions about the Center and the work of Principled Problem Solving should be directed to:
Mark Justad, CPPS Director, (336) 316-2853, justadmj@guilford.edu.
Center for Principled Problem Solving
111 King Hall
(336) 316-2853
cpps@guilford.edu