Center for Principled Problem Solving

Andy Steginsky, Guilford Board of Trustee member, and colleague Dale Anderson visit students

 
Over 40 Guilford students were greeted upon their returns from fall break with a dynamic morning of story and conversation about what makes a great entrepreneur. Dale Anderson and Andy Steginsky travel the world meeting and talking with entrepreneurs just to learn more about how and why they do what they do. Some key qualities of a great entrepreneur, according to Steginsky and Anderson, include such things as vulnerability, willingness to make mistakes, trust, passion, and intuition.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Dale Anderson speaking with students

Update on Community Accountability Project (C.A.P.)

In September, the Office for Student Judicial Affairs began to hear Level 1 judicial cases in a new way!  The Community Accountability Project (or C.A.P.) creates opportunities for members of the Guilford community - students, faculty, staff, alumni - to participate in the judicial process.  Interested folks are trained to work with students who have been found responsible for all Level 1 violations of the Student Code of Conduct to determine sanctions. 

Each hearing is facilitated by a staff member and scripted to ensure all students receive the same basic hearing.  The process is based on the restorative justice principles of active accountability, inclusive decision-making, a focus on repairing harm or mitigating impact and rebuilding trust in the community.  Any community members who are interested in participating, should contact Sandy Bowles in the Office for Campus Life.

CPPS Announces the Civic Engagement Initiative for 2009-2010

The Center for Principled Problem, in association with the Faculty Development Committee, and in cooperation with the Bonner Center for Community Learning and the Initiative on Faith and Practice, is hosting a series of educational opportunities and events for Guilford faculty and staff in the area known as Civic Engagement. The CPPS Civic Engagement Initiative, or CEI, is still taking shape but several things have been finalized and are listed on the CPPS web page.

CEI programs and events are for both members of the teaching faculty or for any staff member who spends a significant amount of time working directly with students.

What is Civic Engagement?

The term Civic Engagement is becoming a nationally recognized term for a range of learning and teaching activities that touch upon issues of public concern. Barbara Jacoby, host of the online seminar listed below, offers the following definition for Civic Engagement (CE):

I define civic engagement as acting upon a heightened sense of responsibility to one’s communities, which include campus, local, state, national, and global communities. Civic engagement includes such activities as developing informed perspectives on social issues, working with others to solve public problems, taking an active role in the political process, advocating for policies that address issues of concern to you, and, of course, engaging directly in activities that meet human and community needs.

The CE Initiative is an extended opportunity for the College to collectively consider some of the current thinking about CE and the impact it currently has here at Guilford. We look forward to discussing the effectiveness of the established CE efforts here at Guilford and considering how we might improve or expand these important opportunities for our students.

PPS Scholars for 2009-2010 Selected

Ten students have been selected to participate in the Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program during the 2009-10 academic year. The scholars, representing the traditional and adult student populations, will begin a four-semester sequence of courses and engaged learning opportunities beginning this fall. Each will receive a scholarship, support for a summer internship with a partner community organization in Asheville, Greensboro or Raleigh, and the support of an alumni mentor. They will also have the opportunity to develop projects of their own design in partnership with the program's leadership.

This interdisciplinary 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, offering students an extended examination of matters of social change and innovation in a variety of settings.

Pictured Above: (Bottom, Left to Right) Hannah Swenson, Darius Verdell, Layth Awartani, Reid Perkins; (Top, Left to Right) Christina Shoffner, Amelia McLaughlin, Courtney Mandeville.

Not Pictured: Marissa Dungan, Thomas Eaves, Claire Massagee.

The 2009-10 class of Principled Problem Solving Scholars includes:

* LAYTH AWARTANI '12 (Greensboro, NC), a rising sophomore majoring in biology

and health science

* MARISSA DUNGAN '12 (West Newton, MA), a rising sophomore majoring in sociology with

concentrations in women's studies and theatre

* THOMAS EAVES '11 (Richmond, VA), a rising junior majoring in East Asian studies and religious studies

* COURTNEY MANDEVILLE '11 (Hillsborough, NC), a rising sophomore majoring in environmental studies and biology

* CLAIRE MASSAGEE '12 (Greensboro, NC), a rising sophomore majoring in political science

* AMELIA MCLAUGHLIN '11 (Takoma Park, MD), a rising junior majoring in political science and history

* WILLIAM REID PERKINS '12 (Greensboro, NC), a rising junior majoring in history

* CHRISTINA SHOFFNER '11 (Greensboro, NC), a rising junior majoring in biology with a concentration in integrated sciences

* HANNAH SWENSON '12 (Minneapolis, MN), a rising sophomore majoring in community and justice studies

with concentrations in sociology and film

* DARIUS VERDELL '12 (Welcome, NC), a rising sophomore majoring in health science and sport studies

The scholars program is an effort of the Center for Principled Problem Solving and is funded by the college with internship support provided by the Lilly Foundation. 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.

Hollyce (Sherry) Giles selected for 2009-2010 CPPS Faculty Fellowship

Sherry Giles, an associate professor of justice and policy studies, has been selected for the 2009-10 Faculty Fellowship in the Center for Principled Problem Solving. She succeeds Kyle Dell, who was the inaugural faculty fellow.

Giles, who is also coordinator of the community and justice studies major, teaches courses in community problem solving, participatory action research and group dynamics, and her primary research interests are the group dynamics of social change initiatives and the impact of field-based pedagogy on student learning.

Giles' faculty fellowship will focus on the significance of Guilford's core values of 'community' and 'justice' for principled problem solving and engaged learning in general. She will also draw on her fellowship research in these areas to enhance the Community and Justice Studies curriculum.

She holds the doctorate in psychology from Columbia University, a master of divinity from Union Theological Seminary and a bachelor of arts in French Literature from the University of Texas at Austin. Giles is also a trained community organizer.

The Center for Principled Solving is 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 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.

CPPS Faculty Fellow Kyle Dell, Students and Guilford Faculty Meet with Local LEED Platinum Proximity Hotel Owner Dennis Quaintance

CPPS Faculty Fellow, Kyle Dell, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Co-Coordinator of Guilford's Environmental Studies Program and students met to discuss the process of building green with local hotel owner Dennis Quaintance.  Professor Angela Moore (Geology), Co-Coordinator of the Environmental Studies program, CPPS Director Mark Justad, and students from Political Science 319: Modern Environmental Problems and IDS 400: Environmental Planning also joined the conversation.

Click here to learn more about the conversation with Mr. Quaintance and the issues faced in trying to build a luxury hotel at the U.S. Green Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design highest (LEED Platinum) level.

For more on Guilford's Environmental Sustainability efforts click here.

For more on the Proximity Hotel click here.

CPPS Co-Sponsors Two Photo Exhibits on Immigrant Experiences

Nuestras Historias, Nuestros Sueños/ OurStories, Our Dreams, and Border Stories  will be on display in the Founders Hall Commons (2nd Floor) March 16 - April 15.

More information on both exhibits can be found online at:

Nuestras Historias

Border Stories

The opening reception will be Thursday, March 19, 5:00-6:30 p.m., with
Welcoming Remarks at 5:30 p.m. by Lori Fernald Khamala '99, (American
Friends Service Committee, Project Voice Southeast) and Yazmin Garcia Rico
'11 (Student Action with Farmworkers intern, 2008). Refreshments will be
served and the event is free and open to the public.

On April 6, at 7 p.m. there will be a panel in Founders Hall Gallery
titled, Alumni Reflections on International Education and Vocations:
Mexico.

On April 9 at 12:30 p.m. Gilmer  Room, Guilford Cafeteria Lunch & Learn,
Immigrants in Our Midst : Current Issues and Religious Response to the
Stranger.

On April 15, at 7 p.m. there will be a panel in Founders Hall Gallery
titled, Latino Immigration in NC: Challenges and Opportunities.

These exhibits are co-sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee, Guilford College Art Gallery, Guilford Latino Community Program, and the Center for Principled Problem Solving at Guilford College.

Art and PPS: Glenhaven Community Center Student Photos

Several 5th-9th graders from the Glenhaven Community Center were on campus recently taking photos as part of project directed by student Hannah Hawkins and faculty member Maia Dery.

See a number of the photos online.

Here is a photo taken by Blamon Nimely