The Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College

Kyle Dell selected for 2008-2009 CPPS Faculty Fellowship

Kyle Dell has been selected for the 2008-2009 Faculty Fellowship in the Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College. Dell is Assistant Professor of Political Science and has specific teaching and research interests in American and Environmental politics. He also serves with Angela Moore (Geology) as a Co-Coordinator of Guilford’s Environmental Studies Program. A primary focus of Dell’s CPPS Faculty Fellowship will be facilitating the work of the President’s Climate Commitment and the College’s broader efforts to address global warming by planning for long-term institutional climate neutrality. As a Faculty Fellow, Dell will also participate in developing and promoting additional principled problem solving instructional and programming resources.

The Center for Principled Solving is an academic center dedicated to promoting engaged learning, teaching and scholarship motivated and shaped by Guilford’s core values of community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice and stewardship. The CPPS Faculty Fellowship is currently funded by the College and offers faculty members the opportunity to undertake an extended PPS project and to assume a leadership role in the life of the Center. Kyle Dell is the inaugural CPPS Faculty Fellow.

Guilford Students Named Principled Problem Solving Scholars for 2008-2009

Ten students have been selected to participate in the pilot phase of the Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program at Guilford College during the 2008-09 academic year. The scholars were selected from a competitive pool of applicants and will begin a four-semester sequence of courses and engaged learning opportunities beginning this fall. This creative and interdisciplinary program offers students an extended examination of matters of social change and innovation in a variety of settings.

The program builds on Guilford’s commitment to principled problem solving as a method for putting the college’s core values to work in the world and includes an internship with a partner community organization in Asheville, Greensboro or Raleigh and the support of an alumni mentor. PPS Scholars receive a scholarship and summer internship financial support and will have the opportunity to develop projects of their own design in partnership with the program’s leadership.

The first class of Principled Problem Solving Scholars includes:

Markas Brunson, a sophomore majoring in psychology and history

Christina Crocker, a sophomore majoring in education with a concentration in English

Eli Edson, a first year with an interest in psychology

Jun Gao, a first year majoring in international studies and economics

Courtney Kozar, a first year majoring in health sciences and with an interest in peace and conflict studies

Gracelee Lawrence, a first year with interests in art and Spanish

Mischa Miles, a sophomore majoring in English and education studies with a concentration in African American studies

Ati Nenova, a first year majoring in accounting and mathematics

Ray Riffe, a sophomore majoring in history and political science with a concentration in business

Elizabeth Schroder, a first year majoring in English

The Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program is a joint effort of the Center for Principled Problem Solving and the Leadership for Social Change Program. The scholars program is dedicated to fostering excellence in engaged teaching, learning and scholarship and seeks to equip students with the critical and constructive knowledge and skills to address the world’s needs focused on Guilford’s core values. The Scholars Program is funded by the College with internship support provided by the Lilly Endowment. The leadership team includes Mark Justad, director of the Center for Principled Problem Solving, Judy Harvey, director of the Leadership for Social Change Program and Kim Yarbray, coordinator of the LSC Program.

About PPS: Education that Transforms Our Students, Our Community, Our World

The Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College was established in 2007 and is charged with organizing and coordinating campus efforts to incorporate Principled Problem Solving across the curriculum. The CPPS is also a resource for students, faculty, staff, and community members, helping them to identify and secure resources necessary for examing our community's core values and teachings and in putting them to work in the world.

Guilford's Strategic Long Term Plan,Creative Leadership for the 21st Century, states that Principled Problem Solving (PPS) can be understood as the central, unifying theme of the transformative Guilford College eduation. As such, PPS seeks to embody the practical liberal arts tradition for which Guilford is known, identifying problems and opportunities in need of attention and bringing it to them. PPS is shaped by the College's Quaker heritage and driven by our core values in seeking to fulfill the potential of education to reshape and renew our world. Principled Problem Solving contributes not only to a practical education but also, through active engagement in real world situations, contributes innovative solutions to existing and emerging problems in the community, state, nation and world.

More information on Principled Problem Solving is available on our About PPS web page and in a feature article from the Winter 2006 Guilford College Magazine posted in the Related Links box on this page.

Questions about the Center and the work of Principled Problem Solving should be directed to:

Mark Justad, CPPS Director, (336) 316-2853, justadmj@guilford.edu.

Center for Principled Problem Solving

111 King Hall

(336) 316-2853

cpps@guilford.edu