Radford University's QEP, Scholar-Citizen: Create. Connect. Contribute. focuses on enhancing undergraduate student learning by fostering our sense of how we can live our lives in ways that best contribute to the world around us. Our QEP reflects our commitment to social responsibility, community leadership, and instructional innovation by connecting students' academic experiences to  real-world contexts.  

Implementation efforts will center upon providing faculty support and development opportunities in the areas related to pedagogies of engagement and engaged scholarship. Through establishing Engaged Scholarship Grants, fostering faculty-to-faculty mentoring opportunities, and supporting ongoing professional education, the QEP will provide institutional support for the development and enhancement of courses, projects, and initiatives that connect academic knowledge with real-world experiences. The intent of these efforts is to provide opportunities for faculty and students to learn about, participate in, and reflect upon engaged scholarship. All engaged scholarship (teaching, research, and service) has three things in common: it contributes to the public good; it draws on a scholar's disciplinary or professional expertise; and it directly addresses real-world problems and issues (Senate Committee on Continuing Education and Public Service, 2000).

Scholar-Citizen implementation efforts will also involve the development and enhancement of academic and co-curricular activities designed to focus on the Scholar-Citizen student learning and programmatic outcomes. Through creation of multiple mechanisms to recognize students who effectively and successfully complete a series of Scholar-Citizen Intensive (SCI) academic and co-curricular activities, including an intense academic and co-curricular path for our Scholar Citizen Fellows (SCFs), and through establishment of a curricular and co-curricular infrastructure to support SCI experiences, we will initiate a transformative opportunity for our community by deliberately showcasing, supporting, and inventorying Scholar-Citizen linked events and opportunities happening on campus.

Projected Benefits to Student Learning

The Scholar-Citizen initiative is intended to provide the following concrete benefits for students enrolled in Scholar-Citizen Intensive (SCI) courses and/or who participate in SCI co-curricular activities:  

1. Development of strong and ongoing mentor relationships with faculty members.
2. Provision of structured opportunities to participate in service learning, internships, and/or study abroad experiences.
3. Opportunities to discover their scholarly identity and to discover ways to live that best contribute to the world around them and utilize their academic training.
4. Participation in interdisciplinary discussions of current issues that matter to students.
5. Development of leadership and communication skills.
6. Development of a Scholar-Citizen e-portfolio that documents the ways that a student turns what matters most to him or her into programs of inquiry/research, public action, and/or  career possibilities.
   

Projected Benefits for Faculty

1. Potentially Increasing Enrollment in Low-Enrolled Courses
2. Availability of Engaged Scholar Grants for SCI Course Development and Research Support
3. Faculty to Faculty Mentoring Opportunities
4. Participation in a Community Dialogue
5. Increased Student Engagement and Involvement
6. Recognition and Reward for Instructional Innovation
7. Opportunities for Professional Development and Networking with Colleagues with Similar Goals
   

Ways to Get Involved

Faculty and Staff

• Serve as a mentor
  
• Design and propose an SCI course, project or program
  
• Apply for an Engaged Scholar Grant
  
• Participate in one of our forthcoming Faculty Institutes
  
• Engage in the e-portfolio initiative
  
• Develop a relationship with a community partner
  
• Turn the issues that matter to you into opportunities for research, dialogue, and self-discovery
  

Students

• Propose SCI programming
  
• Attend and participate in SCI co-curricular programming
  
• Act as a peer mentor
  
• Seek out SCI courses and experiences
  
• Scan 21 ways to get involved in your community for ideas
  
• Join a student club or organization
  
• Research the different dimensions of a pressing social issue that matters to you
  
• Turn the issues that matter to you into opportunities for research, dialogue, and self-discovery
  

For more information, contact Dr. Erin Webster Garrett, ewebster2@radford.edu, 540-831-7149