Achieving Certification

The Civic Scholars program is based on a few basic principles:

• Civic engagement and academic work are mutually reinforcing.
• Meaningful and sustained involvement in community affairs while at Penn is the base for life-long civic commitments and contributions.
• Undergraduates can conduct significant applied public policy research through a multi-year preparatory process.
• Forming a community of dedicated students and faculty will insure distinctive civic service and scholarship.

The above principles have guided the design of the Civic Scholars Program and the requirements for certification. Students will be certified as Penn Civic Scholars at graduation after fulfilling the following:

• Participation in PennCORP, a four-day program offered just before New Student Orientation that introduces students to the neighborhoods of Philadelphia, particularly those near the University, and urban challenges, responsive community organizations, and various faculty research projects at the University that address civic issues.

• Participation during the freshman and sophomore years in a non-credit proseminar with faculty, guest speakers and community representatives. The proseminar meets eight times over the course of the academic year.  This current academic year's theme is: Service and Activism: Perspectives on Civic Engagement. Previous years' themes have been: Citizenship: Past, Present, Future; Poverty: Theory and Policy; Schooling in a Democratic Society: Dilemmas and Prospects; and the Politics of Health.

• Completion of five courses under the following categories:

1. Two Academically-Based Service (ABCS) courses or other approved courses incorporating academic work and service (e.g., Political Science 135: The Politics of Food, Environmental Studies 404: Urban Environments: Prevention of Childhood Lead Poisoning);   
2. One course that addresses a civic/social issue from a historical and/or international perspective (e.g., History 153: Urban Crisis, Political Science 414: Contemporary Politics of the Welfare State), and;   
3. One research methodology course (e.g., Sociology 120: Social Statistics, Urban Studies 200: Introduction to Urban Research);   
4. One additional course of the student's choosing that deals with the subject matter of the proposed capstone project.

Full lists of courses will be provided students in the program and will be updated as courses change at the University. Courses will be selected in consultation with the director and academic advisor of the program.

• Participation in community service or social advocacy work for a minimum of five semesters. During at least one of these semesters, the Civic Scholars should assume a leadership role.

• Engagement in a full-time, subsidized summer internship in a non-profit, government or other public interest setting in the United States or abroad, ideally after the sophomore or junior years.

• Completion of a capstone research project in the spring of the senior year. Students in the program will submit proposals for research projects at the beginning of the spring semesters of their junior years. They will be aided in identifying faculty mentors to guide their research. The research project can be an extended paper for a course or a senior thesis submitted to the student's major; in other words, it does not have to be a stand-alone project and can double-count. Although students will be encouraged to situate their research on such subjects as healthcare, education, housing, poverty, social stratification, and gender, racial and ethnic relations and divides in Philadelphia (or more specifically in the neighborhoods near the University), the research can be based internationally and/or historically. The final paper will contain public policy recommendations. Students will also write a brief abstract derived from their research for wider dissemination.

• Participation in the capstone workshop. During the junior and senior years, the capstone workshops provide a forum during which capstone proposals are conceptualized and capstone projects are developed. The capstone workshops are also an opportunity to learn about resources available to students doing research at Penn. The workshop meets four-five times during the fall semester and three times during the spring semester.

• Maintaining a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.3
  

• Active participation in community-building activities. As part of their engagement in the program, Civic Scholars are expected to participate in activities such as the yearly group retreat and semesterly service learning projects organized by program directors.

Anticipated Trajectory for the Civic Scholars Program

Given the above expectations, there are a number of ways that a Civic Scholar may complete the program's requirements. The grid below suggests just one path through which a student may fulfill them in the course of four undergraduate years: