Grant Summary
$24,858 over 12 months. A Jesuit education seeks to develop students to become "men and women for others" by fostering the development of higher-order analytic skills and social responsibility, and emphasizing the importance of teaching and learning in a real-world context. The Jesuit Humanitarian Action Network (JUHAN) was created to help Jesuit liberal arts colleges further these goals, and in particular, to develop a "signature" reputation for preparing students intellectually, morally, and experientially to respond to communities in need. For their planning year, Fairfield, Fordham, and Georgetown Universities—all members of JUHAN—will design an assessment methodology for the network which they can model and then see replicated by the other member campuses. The primary components of the work include:
- Developing a leadership team at each campus consisting of 10 students, 2 faculty, and 2 student affairs administrative staff;
- Hosting events and speakers on campus;
- Offering courses related to humanitarian issues and action during the spring 2008 semester;
- Convening a 3-day National Humanitarian Action Conference in June 2008.
Direct assessment will focus on student papers and projects completed in the courses, while indirect assessments will draw on data from national survey instruments such as the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), and the College Senior Survey (CSS). The collaborative will consider creating a more targeted survey instruments or perhaps an addendum to the national surveys that will allow them to focus more specifically on the impact of JUHAN on students.