Lynchburg
College
Minor in Civic Engagement
http://www.lynchburg.edu/x6894.xml
Unique:
The Civic Engagement minor is a total
of 21 credits. At least two courses (6 credits) overlap with
General Education requirements. In addition, GS 220 –
Exploring Social Entrepreneurship (1 credit) overlaps with a
Bonner Leader course requirement. The minor is open to all students
in any major and has been approved for inclusion in the 2006-07
undergraduate catalogues. Significant emphasis on developing
community-based research skills and knowledge of public policy
is woven into the required courses.
Website Features:
New online course catalog; describes
the minor; resides under the School for Humanities and Social
Sciences. Coming soon: Web pages dedicated specifically to civic
engagement are being developed and will be viewable at LC’s
Center for Community Development and Social Justice (CCDSJ)
web pages and also through LC’s Political Science department
web pages.
Program Objectives:
1. To encourage students to participate
intentionally as citizens in the democratic process by:
a) providing opportunities for students to actively engage in
public policy
b) providing students with opportunities to actively engage
in direct service to the community
2. To equip students for complex thinking about social issues
by:
a) providing them with theoretical and empirical tools for understanding
communities and the dynamics of change within them
b) encouraging students to examine and reflect on their beliefs
about community life, including issues of poverty, diversity,
and social justice
c) enabling students to implement a research project to address
a specific social issue
3. To help students integrate civic engagement principles with
their specific academic disciplines by:
a) enabling students to describe the historical and contemporary
context of problems/issues confronting communities from an interdisciplinary
perspective
b) providing students with opportunities within the minor for
students to directly link their major field of study to their
experiences and research in the community, especially in the
internship options and the culminating capstone and reflection
coursework
Structure/Governance:
The CE minor is under the auspices of
the Political Science department.
The Steering Committee includes Dr. Ellen DeLuca, Dr. Tim Meinke,
and Lisa Whitaker, M.Ed.
The committee is currently charged with overseeing the development,
operation, and administration of the minor. The steering committee
will also be responsible for approving research proposals submitted
for the capstone coursework. Dr. Meinke will serve as the Civic
Engagement program coordinator. The coordinator will be responsible
for calling meetings of the steering committee; serving as a
liaison with faculty, administration, and students; and ensuring
appropriate course scheduling.
Relationship of Program to Institution’s Mission:
The goals of the CE minor address the
following components of the Lynchburg College Strategic Plan:
I-1. Lynchburg College will provide students with a liberal
arts education in all academic programs...
I-2. One hundred (100) percent of graduating seniors will have
participated in an experiential learning program during their
tenure at Lynchburg College by 2008…
I-4. Interdisciplinary programs will be vital and prominent
components of our undergraduate education and will continue
to be recognized on a regional and national level as innovative
and challenging for our students…
I-6. Fifty (50) percent of graduating seniors will have participated
in a study abroad experience during their tenure at Lynchburg
College by 2008…
II-2. Fifty (50) percent of graduating seniors will have engaged
in student leadership positions or will have participated in
a leadership development program…
III. The institution acknowledges the potential it has to enrich
lives in this community by reaching out through specific avenues
of service and leadership. In support of this direction, the
College is committed to participate in ongoing volunteer service;
offer cultural events that enrich lives; provide specialized
educational programs to meet community needs; and share our
campus professional expertise in a collaborative manner.
III-1. The Centers of Lynchburg College will engage students,
faculty, staff, and community members in community-based research,
community service, service learning, and scholarly support in
ways that will result in local, regional, and national attention
by 2008.
Foundational Pillars:
Service learning courses are integrated
within academic departments across a variety of disciplines.
The civic engagement minor is intense in that it requires students
to devote significant time and focus throughout the minor working
with, and towards enhancing, the goals of community partners
(in conjunction with class discussions and assignments). The
multi-year Civic Engagement minor is a total of 21 credits,
taking two to four years to complete the core courses, internship,
research capstone, and culminating reflection course. The program
focuses on service and contribution to community partners within
a developmental and sequential model. The program offers a global
perspective within courses and offers a study abroad option
for students to conduct internships in service. Students investigate
and have opportunities to have an impact on public policy via
coursework and community-based research capstone projects.
Program/Course Architecture:
A Common Course – All students
in the Civic Engagement minor program take five (5) required
courses. As a lead in course, students choose between Introduction
to Ethics or Quest for Justice.
Poverty Course – The issue of poverty is woven into the
coursework in the Civic Engagement minor program. Service-learning
and social entrepreneurship coursework and community-based research,
sociology, and public policy courses all investigate poverty
and poverty-related issues.
International Exposure - Coursework addresses global connections;
international service-learning option; International Relations
internship option
Internships - Open to juniors and seniors for academic credit;
requires 8-10 hours per week working at an off-campus location
if completed during the academic year, full-time if during summer,
which is preferred. Students in the Civic Engagement minor choose
from GS 415 – Social Entrepreneurship Internship or INTL
399 – International Relations Internship. Interns meet/communicate
regularly with a faculty member, keep a journal, write a final
paper and/or create a presentation.
Capstone Project - Building on their work in an introductory
course to community-based research in the junior year, students
in their senior year complete a community-based research project,
often with a public policy focus, and also participate in a
final reflection and analysis seminar.
Specific Courses of Study:
1. Freshman Year: No coursework is required in the freshman
year because students are not required to declare a minor. However,
many students will be introduced to the Civic Engagement Minor
in their freshman year via learning communities & courses
that relate to rights, liberty, responsibility, global issues,
vocation, service, and urban issues. A freshman symposium offers
topics related to civic engagement; Freshman Make A Difference
Day introduces the importance of service and community engagement
to incoming students.
2. Sophomore Year:
a. Choose: Phil 204 “Intro to Ethics” or Poli 111
“Quest for Justice I” (3 credits). Both are considered
lead-in courses and often relate to domestic poverty.
b. Choose: Poli 220 “The American Political Experience,”
Poli 258 “State and Local Government and Politics,”
or Poli 290 “American Public Policy” (3 credits).
Predominantly courses that have a service learning contextual
component.
c. Required: Soci 201 “Introduction to Sociology”
(3 credits).
d. Required: GS 220 “Exploring Social Entrepreneurship
and Leadership” (1 credit)
e. Some students enter the Bonner Leaders Program
3. Junior Year:
a. Required: SOCI 209 “Applied Sociology” (3 credits
– service-learning course)
b. Required: GS 307 “Introduction to Civic Participation
and Community Based Research.” (1 credit seminar)
c. Internship and Study Abroad Focus: Choose GS 415 “Social
Entrepreneurship Internship” or INTL 399 “International
Relations Internship” or a Study Abroad program with a
service-learning component (3 credits).
d. Bonner Leaders Program (students enter or are in their second
year in the program)
e. Social Justice series
4. Senior Year: Capstone Experience and Reflection
a. Choose: Capstone Course in major with research project focused
on a Civic Engagement topic (students must submit research proposal
to Civic Engagement Steering Committee for approval, using the
Westover Honors Thesis model) – OR - GS 311, “Independent
Study” (Focused on a Community Based Research project,
often with a public policy emphasis; students must submit a
proposal to Civic Engagement Steering Committee for approval).
Students utilize our existing Non-Profit Directory national
CBR Network (in development).
b. Required: GS 430 “Putting Civic Engagement in Perspective”
(1 credit). A reflective course where all graduating students
in the minor program come together to integrate what they have
learned.
c. Student Scholar Showcase (student presentations of research
and experiential learning)
d. Bonner Leaders Program (students may be in their second year
in the BLP, serving as a Bonner senior intern, or have otherwise
maintained their connection as contributing program graduates)
Strategies for Bonner Connection:
Role of Service: Students are
very involved with service learning in a long-term symbiotic
relationship with a community partner/organization and focus
deeply on specific social issues as they are introduced to community-based
research and then complete a CBR project as a capstone project.
In the wrap-up course, all students in the minor program (from
a variety of majors) come together to reflect on and discuss
the impact of their community work for the minor.
Student Leadership: Students assume
leadership positions. Starting in the sophomore or junior years
students may enter the Bonner Leaders Program. All students
in the Civic Engagement minor program will experience an increasing
level of leadership development in the community as they develop
their capstone projects and increase the intensity of their
collaborative, working relationships with community members,
faculty, staff, and other students. Specific focus on leadership
development is also provided in GS 220 – Exploring Social
Entrepreneurship (required) and GS 415 – Social Entrepreneurship
Internship (a choice).
Community Partnerships:
Students will be matched with community partners for service-learning
and community-based research coursework based on the needs of
partners at the time and the individual student’s major
field of study, specific interests and skills. The principles
of the Asset-Based Community Development model (Kretzmann &
McKnight) and community-based research (as described in Community-Based
Research and Higher Education, Strand, et al) will be taught
and applied throughout the minor program experiences. These
principles serve as the foundation for how to approach and maintain
effective partnerships.
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