The Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College

 

The Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program

A New Student Leadership & Scholarship Program

for 2008-2009

Application Deadline: March 28th, 2008

What is it?

Applicants are sought for the Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program (PPSSP), a new academic and developmental leadership program open to current first and second year students. PPSSP is interdisciplinary in nature, open to all majors and any professional or vocational interest, and is grounded in the critical, creative and constructive aspects of Guilford’s Principled Problem Solving curriculum. This program emerges from the College’s commitment to articulate and enhance Principled Problem Solving as a central unifying aspect of the Guilford educational experience (see More Information below). Please consider applying for this program and help us to shape this new and exciting undertaking at Guilford.

 

The pilot phase of PPSSP will combine classroom, experiential, and integrative learning over three semesters and include a summer internship in Greensboro, Raleigh, or Asheville. Students with an interest in social change and innovation are particularly encouraged to apply. PPSSP offers a transformative educational experience for students seeking to more fully understand challenges associated with putting our community’s core values to work in the world. The initial three semester pilot phase of this program is offered and directed by the Center for Principled Problem Solving (CPPS) and the Leadership for Social Change program (LSC).

 

Scholarship Support Available

Students selected for the program will receive a scholarship for 2008-2009 ($3,000 for traditional and $2,000 for CCE students) and an additional amount of up to $3,000 for summer 2009 PPS internship living expenses. Up to ten students will be selected for the three semester pilot phase of the program. Scholarship and internship support will be dependent upon making adequate program and academic progress.

 

Interested?

Applications and faculty recommendations (forms below) are to be submitted by email to Virginia Ferguson at the Center for Principled Problem Solving at cpps@guilford.edu. The due date for all materials is March 28, 2008. Selection notifications will be sent April 8, 2008. Please contact Mark Justad, CPPS Director (King 111, 316-2853), Judy Harvey, LSC Director (King 128-B, 316-2180) or Kim Yarbray, LSC Coordinator (King 128-A, 316-2277) with questions or requests for additional information. All applicants with completed application materials will be interviewed.

PPSSP Application Form (Word)

PPSSP Recommendation Form (Word)

 

Program Requirements and Sequence

The program is open to students currently in their first or second year with at least a 3.0 cumulative GPA. Students must complete and submit a PPSSP application form and receive one recommendation from a faculty member and a second recommendation from either a staff or faculty member (see PPSSP application materials for details).

PPS Scholars will take five credit hours of coursework during 2008-2009, complete an intensive summer internship in the summer of 2009 (dates and locations to be determined), and take a seminar fall semester 2009. PPS Scholars will also participate in regular program meetings addressing issues of vocational discernment, skills development, and community building. Here is the pilot sequence:

  • Fall 2008: PPS Scholars will take Principled Problem Solving: Practices and Narratives, a one credit interdisciplinary class that explores and analyzes examples of principled problem solving across time, contexts and cultures. PPSSP meetings will examine vocational and leadership issues during thesemester as well
  • Spring 2009: PPS Scholars will take Principled Problem Solving: Change, Innovation and Impact, an interdisciplinary four credit course that explores theories and methods relevant to systemic analysis and social change, impact and innovation on a broad scale. Students will have fieldwork assignments in an institution, agency or organization working for change or innovation consistent with the PPSSP program focus. PPSSP meetings will continue and focus on identifying interests and summer internship sites.
  • Summer 2009: PPS Scholars will complete a six-week internship (academic credit possible) designed to provide students with hands-on experience and an opportunity to integrate theory and practice. These full-time placements with organizations managing an active change, innovation or social impact agenda will be in Greensboro, Raleigh or Asheville. Interns will also network with Guilford alumni and have regular meetings with PPSSP personnel and other PPS scholar interns.
  • Fall 2009: PPS Scholars build upon their prior coursework and summer internship experience in the one credit course, Principled Problem Solving: Leadership Issues in Change, Innovation and Impact. This class draws upon prior PPSSP classroom and internship experiences to explore leadership and organizational challenges associated with PPS in a range of settings. Attention will be given to professional identity and leadership issues specific to action-based organizations.
 

More Information

The Center for Principled Problem Solving was established by the College to integrate PPS across the curriculum and to develop and enhance PPS projects at Guilford and beyond. Approaches to PPS include three educational tiers: Foundations: critical thinking, systemic analysis and values; Practice and Narrative: case study examination; Application: developing and implementing action-based responses to problems and opportunities in ways consistent with our community’s core values. The PPS Scholars Program allows students the opportunity to pursue these approaches to PPS in an intentional and sustained fashion as a central part of their Guilford educational experience. As such, PPSSP draws upon Guilford’s core values, its Quaker heritage, and the College’s Five Academic Principles in a manner that seeks to deepen the practical liberal arts experience of its scholars. PPSSP is for any student who wishes to grow her understanding of the world around her and to expand his sense of his place in it. More information on PPS is available at www.guilford.edu/academics/cpps.

The Leadership for Social Change Program supports students who want to become effective leaders of social change through the integration of academic majors, experiential learning, and spiritual vision. Using a plan-act-reflect model, LSC’s developmental program provides skills instruction, experience, guidance and support that precipitate transformational learning and an understanding for students of their most effective proficiencies and their deepest wishes for their own work in the world. Opportunities for current students to connect with alumni working for social change through programs on campus and mentorships are an important aspect of the program.

The PPSSP combines the resources of both the Center for Principled Problem Solving and the Leadership for Social Change Program to provide integrative learning opportunities that encourage students to apply theory and interpret experience.

The pilot phase of the PPSSP is supported financially in part by a vocational discernment grant provided to Guilford College by the Lilly Endowment."

 

Center for Principled Problem Solving

at Guilford College

111 King Hall

(336) 316-2853

cpps@guilford.edu