Student Affairs Integration of Learning Award
A $2,000 Award!
Integration of Learning Award Review Criteria
Integration of Learning Award Review Form
What is the purpose of the award?
The purpose of the award is to promote formal collaborative efforts between faculty members and the Student Affairs Division. Emphasis is placed on activities that are jointly developed and produce jointly identified student learning outcomes.
Who can apply?
The award is designed to support and recognize faculty and Student Affairs staff members who work together to promote the integration of teaching with activities within the Division to achieve student learning outcomes consistent with Western’s teaching and learning mission.
How much is the award?
One award of $2,000 will be presented to the selected applicants. Funds are available for the fiscal year beginning July 1 after the award is announced.
How may the funds be used?
Applicants may propose a variety of uses for the funds, as long as expenditures support faculty-Student Affairs Division initiatives directed toward achieving jointly identified student learning outcomes.
How do I apply?
Email completed proposal to Shawna Young at scyoung@wcu.edu.
What is the deadline?
The deadline is Monday, March 29, 2010.
What if I want more information?
For more information, contact Shawna Young syoung@email.wcu.edu.
Who are the previous winners of this award?
- 2009: Eric Brailsford-Cato, Campus Mediation Society; Janina DeHart, Advising Center; Janet Ford, Business Administraton & Law and Sport Management; Julia Lewis, Campus Mediation Program; William Mauldin, Mountain Mediation (Sylva, NC); Walter Turner, Department of Student Community Ethics; Jayne Zanglein, Business Administration & Law and Sport Management - "Campus Mediation Collaboration."
- 2008: Dr. James (Jamie) Davis (Modern Foreign Languages), Mistie Bibbie (Residential Living), and Lynn Mathis (Residential Living) – “The Spanish House: A Living and Learning Experience.”
- 2007: Dr. Philip (Ted) Coyle (Anthropology) and Karrie Joseph (Health Services) – “Understanding and Activating Student Wellness at WCU.”
- 2006: Dr. Kathleen Brennan (Sociology), Michael Despeaux (Career Services), Dr. Scott Philyaw (History/Mountain Heritage Center), and Josh Whitmore (Base Camp Cullowhee) – “Adventure Sports in the Mountains.”
- 2005: Dr. Elizabeth McRae (History) and Tanisha Jenkins (Multicultural Affairs) – “The Retrospective of the Civil Rights Movement and Its Continued Reverberations.”
Abstracts
(2009) Campus Mediation Collaboration
This proposal is a unique student-driven collaboration among the Department of Student Community Ethics, the Advising Center, Business Law faculty, and Business Law students. We submit this proposal to accomplish three goals: 1) to support and expand the campus mediation program, 2) to integrate mediation service learning into two courses and by redesigning and enhancing a summer ASP program on conflict resolution, and 3) to publicize the benefits of campus mediation through a essay competition and a campus-wide event entitled Building Bridges One Step at a Time, which will focus on conflict resolution, peace building, and cultural diversity. This proposal operates on multiple levels, providing educational opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. At the micro level, the proposal benefits students who have taken the Community Mediation course, which trains students to become community and peer mediators. Once students are trained to be peer mediators, they mediate cases referred to the Campus Mediation Program by the Department of Student Community Ethics (DSCE) and the Advising Center. At the macro level, the proposal benefits the entire WCU community by 1) holding students responsible for their actions and teaching them to effectively resolve disputes; 2) fostering a culture of peaceful resolution of disputes; and 3) increasing student satisfaction with WCU and correspondingly, student retention.
(2008) The Spanish House: A Living and Learning Experience
The Spanish House will be located in the Central Drive Residence Hall. Students will enroll in Spanish 481, a course that counts toward the Spanish major or as an elective. Native speakers of Spanish will participate in the program as Peer Mentors. This program will support the integration of academic, cultural, and social learning. It will be administered in an authentic educational environment, where students can put language skills acquired in class to immediate use in meaningful contexts. It will augment cultural awareness and understanding of students’ roles as bilingual individuals in changing demographic environments. The program will provide a service-learning opportunity to support civic engagement with the local Hispanic population
(2007) Understanding and Activating Student Wellness at WCU
This experiential-learning project connected student researchers with the WCU Wellness Council and completed a series of linked ethnographic research projects concerning chief health issues among WCU students. Concerns such as alcohol misuse, obesity, and depression factor into the college experience, affecting academic achievement, retention, and overall well-being. Understanding that these issues occur and that students have the resources to change them formed the basis for this project. Students documented and analyzed day-to-day college life, and developed written and audio projects as the result. Now, these students have the opportunity to turn their research into action by partnering with the Wellness Council.
(2006) Adventure Sports in the Mountains
This proposal was developed in partnership by the Directors of the Mountain Heritage Center and Base Camp Cullowhee, a career counselor, and two faculty members from the College of Arts and Sciences. Built around a three-course learning community our integration of learning plan will enable students to thoroughly explore adventure sports that underpin the outdoor culture pervasive at Western, promote wellness, provide opportunities for involvement in the campus and local communities, and fuel much of the regional economy through participation and tourism. Adventure Sports in the Mountains will examine the development and practice of strong regional activities such as whitewater kayaking, road and off-road bicycling, rock climbing, trail running, and hiking. In SOC 102, taught by Dr. Kathleen Brennan students will learn about how subcultures have evolved around these sports and understand how participants may share common goals, unique language, rituals, and symbols. In USI 130, taught by Mike Despeaux, they will investigate options and each “join” an adventure sport subculture by participating, competing, or volunteering. In ENG 191, taught by Dr. Jubal Tiner, students will write stories describing their own experience in the context of a chosen sport in the first person or from the perspective of their characters. Articles, excerpts from original books, and stories may be provided in a special course-pack.
(2005) The Retrospective of the Civil Rights Movement and its Continued Reverberations
We would like to engage a group of 18-20 students (5 graduate students and 15-18 undergraduates) in an on-site research project involving a retrospective of the civil rights movement and its continued reverberations. On the road for 9 days, this traveling research project would take students to 9 of the major civil rights sites in the southeast during the summer term. From walking through the 16th Street Baptist Church and the Lorraine Hotel to conversations with local and national activists, this trip would bring history alive. This hands-on approach to history would also create unique research opportunities: photojournalism, documentary-making, oral history, analyzing affects, of the civil rights movement on communities and individuals, tracing the trajectory of social justice in the South from the 1960s until today, and creating a public history exhibit for western North Carolina communities. Ultimately, it would provide our students with an educational experience that simply could not be recreated in the classroom, expanding their minds, their travels, and their understanding of social justice, civil rights, and American democracy. It would also provide WCU with a newsworthy event that would highlight the university’s commitment to student research and its willingness to expand the classroom, redefining “educational experience.” This trip should also demonstrate WCU’s commitment to multiculturalism, to the history of all its students and to building new communities that break down racial class, geographic and ethnic barriers.
Revised: February 3, 2010