Scholar-Citizen Highlander in Action

2014 Program Requirements

Congratulations! I am so pleased to welcome you to the Scholar-Citizen Highlander in Action Program! The following guide is intended to help you fulfill the requirements of your Scholar-Citizen Highlander in Action award. This document is a guide only and should be regarded as a work in progress. Adjustments can be made to fit your specific project and goals.

Our Mission: Create. Connect. Contribute.

The Scholar-Citizen Initiative (SCI) is dedicated to the creation of new knowledge by connecting people, ideas, and resources to one another in order to make positive contributions to social and economic change in our communities. SCI student experiences conform to this mission by meeting a minimum set of criteria. They:

  • Address one or more of theScholar-Citizen student learning outcomes;
  • Integrate an experiential dimension: Experiential learning involves your active and sustained interaction with a real-world issue by:
  • Studying and producing a scholarly product on a pressing social issue that matters to you;
  • Applying academic knowledge in a real-world context such as an internship, a service-learning experience, or field experience;
  • Working with faculty or community members on a community-based research project; or
  • Incorporating some other form of engaged pedagogy such as an appropriately focused and structured study abroad.
  • Require you to engage with people beyond and outside of yourself and your faculty mentor and in so doing ask you to “engage in the construction of shared meaning in collaboration with others, and negotiate for shared action that benefits the common good” (College Outcomes Project, documents/CollegeOutcomesProject.doc).
  • Challenge you in one or more of the following areas:
  • Leadership Development
  • Reflective Judgment
  • Intercultural Knowledge
  • Incorporate intentional reflective practices: Reflective practices make intentional and intellectually informed connections between your academic experiences/knowledge and your own life. In your packet you will find examples of reflection prompts to get you started in thinking about how your experiences are challenging you to "articulate questions, confront bias, examine causality, contrast theory with practice, or point to systemic issues” (Ash and Clayton 2009).

Your selection as one of Radford University’s 2014 Scholar-Citizen Highlander in Action recipients means that the project you have described and are about to implement exemplifies Scholar-Citizenship.

Documenting Your Experience

The SCHIA ePortfolio

All SCHIA recipients are required to engage in an ongoing reflective practice during their summer experiences, and to use the material and insights captured during the summer as the basis of an ePortfolio that you will develop, receive feedback upon, and then publicly share at a Highlander in Action Forum during spring semester 2015.

A template of a SCHIA ePortfolio will be “pushed” to you. Please look through it carefully so that you are familiar with the types of questions and materials typical of a SCHIAePortfolio. You can always go beyond the template—the ePortfolio is your space to create, and think, and collect evidence of your growth as a person and as an intellect.

The best ePortfolios will be selected to be a part of our Radford University ePortfolio Gallery.

During the summer, conscientiously document the different aspects of your experience through journaling, blogging, vlogging, photo-journaling, creative writing, writing music, painting, drawing, keeping a scrap book, or by other means available to you. We’ve provided pocket journals for your use, but this is only one suggestion.

Academic Transcript

To have the summer experience documented on your academic transcript, you may register for an independent study through the appropriate department, and the IS will be designated “Scholar-Citizen.” Alternatively, you may register for up to 3 semester hours of creditthrough COED 461: Highlander In Action (instructor permission required).

If you wish to take the course for credit through the COED 461 course designation, please make an appointment with Dr. Webster-Garrett to review the specific requirements and options.

Fall and Spring Semesters

The SCHIA program culminates with a series of on-campus activities where you will:

  • Receive guidance in the development of your ePortfolio,
  • Attend a series of post-experience meetings with other award recipients,
  • Present your ePortolios at a HIA ePortfolio Showcase during Spring 2015,
  • Participate as part of an Engaged Learning Speakers Bureau.

SCHIA Faculty Mentors

If you have any questions or need additional guidance, please contact us! We are here to support you and your work.

For general questions and guidance, contact Dr. Erin Webster-Garrett (831-7149; ; 905 Tyler Avenue)

For questions related to career services or designing the SCHIA as an internship, contactMr. Timothy Filbert (831-6529; ; 275 Walker Hall)

For questions related to ePortfolio development, contact Dr. Samantha Blevins(831-6577; ; 231 Walker Hall)

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