. The findings also indicate that spiritual/contemplative approaches to education support and enhance the development of a number of important traditional academic skills such as critical and objective thinking, textual analysis, and problem-solving, aswell as important affective qualities such as emotional intelligence, commitment to social engagement, a sense of purpose, the ability to listen deeply, compassion, meta-cognition, the ability to cooperate, and welcoming diversity. Furthermore, spiritual/contemplative approaches foster creativity and innovative thinking. Finally, conventional academic governance structures and qualitative approaches to outcomes assessment in higher education can effectively accommodate this emerging, unconventional approach to teaching and learning.