Graduate Programs

Master of Arts in Liberal Studies (MALS)
Community Leadership

Program Highlights In Brief
Alvernia is a Catholic, Franciscan college dedicated to the ideals of service in the helping professions. Our rich heritage of service is rooted in our strong faith which resonates in contemporary ways in campus life and our academic programs. Alvernia’s graduate programs are designed for the focused working professional who places equal value on intellectual achievement and professional growth. Our faculty and staff are committed to teaching, guiding, and supporting our students in all aspects of their experience at Alvernia, from course selection and scheduling, to connecting with peers and colleagues.

The MALS in Community Leadership is an interdisciplinary program founded in the liberal arts tradition and designed for leadership in sustainable community development. The MALS program prepares professionals who will excel in positions of leadership in public and private settings. For the purposes of this program, leadership for sustainability is defined in cultural, economic and environmental terms. 

The MALS program is flexible and allows for some personalized curricular design. It is essential that prospective students see this program as relevant, so the program helps students become agents of social change through critical discussion, analysis of community issues, and creation of graduate level service and/or research projects to mitigate community challenges. Individuals who benefit from this program come from non-profit and profit sectors including cultural and environmental agencies, human and social services, and governmental agencies. 

Academic Quality
Students are admitted to the College and are fully accepted when the following criteria have been met:
     • Successful completion of undergraduate coursework
     • Completion of graduate entrance application with supporting documentation
     • Minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 or higher
     • International students must submit an official TOEFL score report

MALS Program Objectives
     • Examine basic principles, theory and applications relevant to leadership for        cultural, economic and environmental sustainability
     • Develop an interdisciplinary awareness of culture, environment and economics
     • Reflect on a variety of world-views and what it means to be liberally educated
     • Experience the meaning of community
     • Consider our roles as citizens for social justice
     • Encourage intellectual risks by contemplating difficult choices
     • Investigate methods for community preservation and cultivation
     • Develop and implement sustainable service oriented projects
     • Define activism through engagement
     • Explore fundamentals of economics and over-consumption
     • Explore environmental principles and anthropocentrism
     • Explore cultural ethnicity, heritage and globalization
     • Discuss the impact of technology on culture, economics, and environment
     • Analyze case studies through critical writing and thinking
     • Synthesize and implement solutions to real-life problems

Click here for curriculum overview.