Pamela C. Crosby

Co-Editor
Journal of College and Character
email: jcc@naspa.org
Curriculum Vitae (pdf file)

When colleges and universities provide environments where students can utilize their experiences, abilities, and interests as student leaders, these institutions can be powerful catalysts for improving communities and the larger society. Graduate students at FSU are fortunate to have many opportunities to develop their leadership skills while advancing the good. As co-editor of the Journal of College and Character, which is housed in the Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education, I am fortunate not only to serve but to help others to serve. The mission of the JCC has a strong altruistic commitment in addition to its academic focus: to help educators in colleges and universities to gain insight into ways to promote effectively the moral and civic education of students.

An important aspect of journal work is to help authors who look to the editor for guidance to think more critically about the substance of their papers, to examine the logic of their arguments and the meanings of their key words and ideas; to provide a cogent case for their claims, and to realize that solutions to complex questions—especially those which involve ethical issues—are subtle and not easily resolved. Since each experience that an individual undergoes tends to influence as well as to build on other experiences, my volunteer activities outside campus life have enriched my journal work; for example, my understanding of the dynamics of interfaith activism that I learned from serving on the extended board of Tallahassee Equality Action Ministry gave me insight into working with authors who submitted papers for publication in our special issue on DePaul University’s faith and service program. My volunteer work at the city homeless shelter, on a community affordable housing committee, and as an environmental activist informs my editorial reviews of papers on student civic engagement.

As a result, I have learned that the college years should be more than just a time for preparing for life by studying merely about life, but should also be a time to create and live a flourishing life by using one’s experiences, knowledge, and abilities to serve others. When the academy teaches its students to serve while leading, as is the case with Florida State University through its many organizations and programs, it directs its students to face outwardly towards the world, while at the same time seeing many rich and dynamic relationships between community and campus. Students seek to improve the world with their unique knowledge, abilities, and interests, rather than simply to accept it as it is. As a student who has discovered this multifaceted but subtle meaning of “college” through leadership on the Journal of College and Character and my work in the Hardee Center, I am indebted to FSU for providing me opportunities not only for academic development, but, even more importantly, for character and leadership development as well.


				Pamela C. Crosby Co-Editor Journal of College and Character email: jcc@naspa.org Curriculum Vitae (pdf file) When colleges and universities provide environments where students can utilize their experiences, abilities, and interests as student leaders, these institutions can be powerful catalysts for improving communities and the larger society. Graduate students at FSU are fortunate to have many opportunities to develop their leadership skills while advancing the good. As co-editor of the Journal of College and Character, which is housed in the Hardee Center for Leadership and Ethics in Higher Education, I am fortunate not only to serve but to help others to serve. The mission of the JCC has a strong altruistic commitment in addition to its academic focus: to help educators in colleges and universities to gain insight into ways to promote effectively the moral and civic education of students. An important aspect of journal work is to help authors who look to the editor for guidance to think more critically about the substance of their papers, to examine the logic of their arguments and the meanings of their key words and ideas; to provide a cogent case for their claims, and to realize that solutions to complex questions—especially those which involve ethical issues—are subtle and not easily resolved. Since each experience that an individual undergoes tends to influence as well as to build on other experiences, my volunteer activities outside campus life have enriched my journal work; for example, my understanding of the dynamics of interfaith activism that I learned from serving on the extended board of Tallahassee Equality Action Ministry gave me insight into working with authors who submitted papers for publication in our special issue on DePaul University’s faith and service program. My volunteer work at the city homeless shelter, on a community affordable housing committee, and as an environmental activist informs my editorial reviews of papers on student civic engagement. As a result, I have learned that the college years should be more than just a time for preparing for life by studying merely about life, but should also be a time to create and live a flourishing life by using one’s experiences, knowledge, and abilities to serve others. When the academy teaches its students to serve while leading, as is the case with Florida State University through its many organizations and programs, it directs its students to face outwardly towards the world, while at the same time seeing many rich and dynamic relationships between community and campus. Students seek to improve the world with their unique knowledge, abilities, and interests, rather than simply to accept it as it is. As a student who has discovered this multifaceted but subtle meaning of “college” through leadership on the Journal of College and Character and my work in the Hardee Center, I am indebted to FSU for providing me opportunities not only for academic development, but, even more importantly, for character and leadership development as well.