The Scholarship of Application Mini-Grants Program's purpose is to help faculty move service activities to scholarly engagement. The program is designed for a CEAP tenure-track faculty member or pair of faculty members, one of whom is tenure track and the other tenured, who will work on an identified project with a community institution such as a school. The program is intended primarily to fund projects that can be completed within a year or to provide seed money to initiate projects that can be continued with funding from other sources. A detailed year-end report is required and results of the project will be presented at a future college wide symposium.

The following mini-grants were funded during the 2008-2009 academic year:

• Department of Elementary and Middle Grades Education (in collaboration with Cullowhee Valley School) – Dr. Russ Binkley and Dr. Victoria Faircloth:  Effect of Implementation of Peace Jam: A Global Call to Action Service Learning Curriculum, on the Development of Dispositions for Teaching Social Justice among Pre-service Elementary and Middle Grades Students ($2,000)

Dr. Faircloth and Binkley have been working with three schools, Cullowhee Valley, Waynesville Middle, and Randolph Learning Center. Elementary and Middle Grades Social Studies methods students are bringing literature about the character traits of peacemakers to kindergarten students.  Another group of Pre-service teachers are mentoring eighth-graders who have named social problems they are planning to address. They have identified racism, domestic violence, poverty, and environmental degradation. These eighth-graders are putting on an anti-racism fair, collecting materials for hygiene kits, spearheading a drive for material donations for family shelters, and raising money for clean water in an African community. Asheville students are building solar panels to make their classroom green. A group of these students will be going to the regional PeaceJam conference to report on their projects to Betty Williams, Nobel Peace laureate from Northern  Ireland. The professors are collecting data to examine how and if interactions with these public school students engaged in these social actions shape pre-service teachers' perceptions of learning to teach for social justice.

• Departments of Psychology and Human Services (in collaboration with Asheville City Schools)  – Dr. Lori Unruh and Dr. Sharon Dole: Strategies to Increase African American Representation in Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) Programs in Elementary Grades ($2,000)

The purpose of the project is to identify reasons why the number of African American students in Academically and Intellectually Gifted (AIG) programs in Asheville City elementary schools has not increased significantly despite efforts to increase referrals and identification. Surveys will be administered to general education teachers and administrators to ascertain what their knowledge and attitudes are regarding culturally diverse gifted learners. Focus groups will be held with AIG teachers as well as with African American parents to gain their perspective on the reasons why the number of African American students in AIG programs has not increased significantly. Data will be collected on the numbers of African American and Caucasian children referred and identified for AIG programs compared to the elementary school population. In addition, percentages of African American and Caucasian children referred will be compared to percentages found eligible. Data will also be collected on the extent to which the current assessment process is able to provide criteria information that is useful in identifying African American children for the AIG programs. The current assessments will also be examined for cultural bias. Based on the findings, the researchers will make recommendations to Asheville City Schools on strategies to increase the number of African American students in AIG programs.

• Department of Educational Leadership and Foundations (in collaboration with East Franklin Elementary, Cherokee County Schools, and Martins Creek K-8 School) - Dr. Kathleen Jorissen: Developing Professional Learning Communities in Western North Carolina Schools, A Leadership and School Capacity Building Collaborative ($1,000)

The Scholarship of Application Mini-Grant has supported collaborative projects to develop leadership and build capacity in two western North Carolina School Districts. Principals and teachers have worked with Dr. Jorissen and Terry Bradley, the principal of East Franklin Elementary, to become skilled in using whole-school classroom walk-throughs as a technique for studying and extending best practices. Teachers at East Franklin and at Martins Creek School have implemented strategies to engage students actively in learning while informally observing colleagues’ classes to add to their knowledge and skills. The research conducted jointly between the university faculty and school personnel will contribute to the literature on school leadership and professional learning communities.

• Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation (HPER) – Dr. David Claxton and Dr. Gayle Wells: The WCU Health Corps: College Students Teaching Health to Children ($2,000)

In 2007 the HPER department initiated the Health Corps project to train college students to present health education to children in the local schools. The pilot program involved honors students in Health 123, who worked in groups of four to plan, develop, implement, and assess a health program to classes of students at Fairview Elementary School and Cullowhee Valley school. Over the two initial pilot semesters, eleven health presentations have been made on topics such as Alcohol/Drug Prevention to fourth graders, Taking Care of Your Body (hygiene) to first graders, Nutrition and Healthy Eating to third graders, and Teamwork/Problem Solving to fifth graders. The program has been well received by students, teachers, and administrators.  Beginning in fall 2009, the Health Corps will expand to include health/PE majors as well as honor students.