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valpo connect initiative update - strategic plan implementation
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Dear Faculty and Staff:
The Learn 1 initiative of the Strategic Plan (Valpo Connect) has some exciting updates to share with campus!.
In 2023-24, 26 students were enrolled in the first year of our Sustainability Scholar program. Between two sections of CORE 110 (led by Professors Mandy Brobst-Renaud and Richard Klee) and one section of CC 115 (led by Professor Julien Smith), 22 Sustainability Scholars were enrolled in a first-year experience class with members of their cohort. The spring semester's section of CORE 115 led by Professor Julie Peller centers around the theme of environmental justice. All 26 students enrolled in a fall colloquium with Professor Bharath Ganesh Babu, in which our own faculty presented an exciting line-up of topics and experiences, including planting a tree outside of the VUCA and removing invasive plant species from a local wetland. Students in this program are encouraged to select additional general education courses from the many offerings across colleges and departments that address issues of sustainability from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.
For Fall 2024, we will continue the Sustainability Scholar program with the recruitment of the second class. In addition, we will launch a parallel program in Social Justice that will also promote courses in general education while providing a similar experience across that theme. Faculty who teach a course that examines social justice or who have a desire to work in the recruitment of students and the management of this new program are encouraged to reach out to us.
We are excited about the way in which these programs promote the classes and research that are already taking place on campus around these themes. In the future, we look to strengthen the opportunities for our Valpo Connect Scholars and begin to build out support for faculty interested in developing interdisciplinary teaching and research. We hope you will be part of these conversations in the coming months.
Sincerely,
Joseph Bognar, Initiative Co-Owner, Learn 1
Pete Johnson, Initiative Co-Owner, Learn 1
Kevin Goebbert, Executive Sponsor of Learn 1
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