Fielding Graduate University, previously Fielding Graduate Institute, and The Fielding Institute, is an accredited, nonprofit post-graduate institution of higher learning based in Santa Barbara, California, USA. Fielding Graduate University was founded in March, 1974, in Santa Barbara, California, the realization of the vision of three founders: Frederic Hudson, Hallock Hoffman, and Renata Tesch. The founders, all distinguished higher education administrators and educators, in their capacities as President, Executive Vice-President, and Secretary respectively, each contributed an essential ingredient to the establishing of the university. Many other key individuals, through their diligence, hard work, and firm belief in the national need for mid-career professional education, gave substance to the dream. The founders envisioned a nationally recognized graduate school, which would serve mid-career professionals who wanted to pursue an advanced degree but whose educational and professional objectives could not be met by traditional institutions of higher education. The founders succeeded in their mission. Their success was predicated on two basic, but at the time, rather advanced notions. First, they recognized that changing demographics were altering the nature of U. S. society, and in particular the world of higher education. More often than not, the founders speculated, students seeking advanced degrees would be mid-career adults who wanted to enhance already well-established academic and professional skills; who, in some cases, would be committed to effecting a mid-life career change; and all of whom, by the nature of their quest for a quality graduate education at mid-life, would be interested in being part of a lifetime-learning community. Second, the founders realized that adults learn new tasks and accrue knowledge in ways that differ significantly from those of adolescents and young adults. The traditional pedagogical method of education - active teacher, passive learner - would not be appropriate to this new experiment in adult professional education. To accommodate and capitalize upon the learning styles of its student, Fielding developed a rigorous, supportive learning model that today remains flexible, adult-centered, self-directed, task-oriented, and competence-based. The university's learning model is geared toward adult professionals seeking master's and doctoral degrees. The university offers accredited degree and certificate programs through three schools: Psychology, Human & Organization Development, and Educational Leadership & Change. Based on the concept of distributed learning, the programs utilize distance learning via an on-line campus; individual faculty-student mentoring and asssessment; and face-to-face events of various types, in many locations, and throughout the year. The professions targeted include clinical psychology, media psychology, higher education leadership, healthcare, organizational management, human development, and leadership within the corporate, nonprofit, and public sectors. The Fielding Learning Model The learning model utilized by Fielding is based on the principles of adult learning and designed to accommodate the needs, requirements and learning styles of midlife and mid-career professionals. The Fielding learning model combines theory with practice in a program that emphasizes academic understanding, research and writing skills and applied activities. Students in each degree program learn through a mix of independent study and structured course work, learn peer to peer or collaboratively with faculty, utilize a range of learning media, including face-to-face and online in courses, seminars and electronic mail. Fielding offers flexibility for students to create their own learning roadmap and outstanding faculty who act as mentors throughout each student's learning process. The elements of Fielding's learning model include a student learning plan, contract-based learning, competency-based assessment, student to student peer feedback, project and portfolio reviews, and final thesis or dissertation.
