The UM Civic Scholars Program encourages students to become engaged citizens and to cultivate their capacity to create positive social change in their communities. Students interested in civic and community engagement, volunteer service, and leadership development have the opportunity to participate in the program and be designated UM Civic Scholars. The University of Miami encourages civic engagement and community-based learning through a variety of courses, research projects, and co-curricular programs. Academically, community-based courses and research opportunities are available each semester, in addition to internships with local community organizations. Students also may engage in co-curricular service activities through more than 40 service-based student organizations and volunteer service projects. Through these efforts, we can leverage the resources of the University to address pressing needs in our local, national, and global communities.
Sign up for more information about this exciting new opportunity!
Who should apply?
Freshmen or Sophomore students with at least 15 undergraduate credits and must have at least a 3.0 GPA.
Applications Details:
Applicants must submit a completed application, a one-page resume, UM unofficial transcript, and a 500-word statement indicated your interest in the program and its alignment with your academic goals. The statement should response to the following questions:
- Introduction (name, classification, major)
- What interests you in the Civic Scholars Program?
- Address up 2 of the following questions:
- How do you see service influencing your academic goals?
- Reflect on a community service project you have been involved in. What did you learn from that experience?
- What do you believe are the most pressing issues facing our community today and why?
- What do you think are some of the root causes of the issues impacting our community?
Requirements:
- Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0
- Complete 4 three-credit CIVIC community-engaged learning courses (for a total of 12 credits)
- One School of Education and Human Development Course (Recommended)
- EPS 321: Understanding Human Service Organizations or EPS 361: Community Psychology and Development
- Three other CIVIC courses of the student's choice
- One of these courses must have a focus on South Florida
- Students may appeal for courses with CIVIC designation to apply to this program. In these cases, the student should write a memo justifying the inclusion of the course and have it approved and signed by Dr. Robin Bachin, Founding Director for Civic and Community Engagement. The signed memo must be attached to the completed tracking form.
- Complete a focused capstone project (typically during junior year) that helps build capacity within a community organization. This may consists of the following:
- Internship with an approved community organization through the Toppel Internship Program
- One-semester community-based research project approved through the Office of Civic and Community Engagement
- Community-based senior thesis project
- Enroll in a 5 week Reflections Seminar during your final spring semester at UM which includes a Presentation of Learning component
- Participate in at least three co-curricular service and leadership development experiences
Service and Leadership Development Experiences
Other experiences must receive approval by the Butler Center
UM Civic Scholars Program Resources
