After its first full year of operation, the University College for Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) is discarding various ventures to focus on its Omidyar Scholars program. The program, which has more than doubled in size since its inception last year, will now receive more faculty attention.
The changes were spurred by an internal review conducted at the end of last semester by UCCPS officials and the Omidyar Foundation, which provided the initial $10 million grant to fund the college's first five years. The Omidyar Foundation applies business practices to the nonprofit world and oversees the use of the grants it awards.
"The entire focus of UCCPS is going to be shifted in the direction of Omidyar scholars," said Carey Levitt, UCCPS student development coordinator. "Last year was the first year of its existence and it was kind of spread all over the place," Levitt said.
The college will now place more energy on helping the 47 Omidyar Scholars use the $4,000 community project fund they will now be granted annually to promote active citizenship and public service.
"We're providing a lot more training to the group this year," said Molly Mead, director of UCCPS. The scholars, Mead said, asked the UCCPS to give them "more structure."
Tufts Alumni Pierre Omidyar (LA '88) and Pamela Omidyar (LA '89) told the Daily last fall that their scholars program is an effort to find lasting solutions to community problems. "We want to make a measurable difference. In order to do that, you have to be accountable, and the people you give money to have to be accountable," Mrs. Omidyar said.
Omidyar scholars spent much of last year becoming familiar with the mission and the goals of UCCPS. "Last year was a big year for us in terms of getting to understand, learning more about what the mission of UCCPS is and what exactly the definition of being an active citizen is," said sophomore Omidyar Scholar Christina Zahara. "For us, not doing a whole lot last year was the most effective thing we could do."
Students on the UCCPS advisory board say it is difficult to measure the UCCPS' success. "The problem with measuring active citizenship is that there are no good indicators. That is something the staff has kind of acknowledged," said junior Brad Crotty, a UCCPS board member. "One thing that we would like to see is more student input and more student dealings with UCCPS. Unfortunately, those kind of things are going to be more limited this year," he said.
While the UCCPS is reducing its programs, it expanded the Omidyar Scholars program from 21 to 47 scholars. Some scholars, however, say increasing the number of scholars could damage the program, but that Tufts must follow the advice of the Omidyar Foundation. "Keeping small numbers would help us to get things together," Zahara said. "The money that was given to UCCPS was meant to have a program in place, the UCCPS, and have it double in the second year."
The UCCPS shrunk several programs to improve its mission to incorporate active citizenship into the University curriculum. The college will no longer plan events with the Office of Student Activities and has limited its involvement with the Leonard Carmichael Society (LCS).
Other significant cutbacks include the elimination of two courses that were offered through the Experimental College last year, one of which was the Leadership for Active Citizenship class co-taught by then-President John DiBiaggio and Dean of the UCCPS Rob Hollister. President Emeritus John DiBiaggio says he wants to teach the course this spring, but the UCCPS says it will no longer fund the high-profile speakers that have historically lectured to his students.
The college has also discontinued its Task-force for the Enrichment of Academia in Citizenship and Humanity (TEACH) program, which in conjunction with the Experimental College trained students and faculty members to integrate active citizenship into the curriculum. The only class the UCCPS offers in the Ex College is "Education for Active Citizenship," taught by Lisa Boes, a doctoral candidate at Harvard. The class, which has a small enrollment, may not be offered next semester.
But the UCCPS will maintain a handful of programs it began over the past year. They include a program that provides stipends for students with internships in active citizenship positions, a student advisory committee, and Education for Active Citizenship grants.
In a Sept. 5 announcement, the UCCPS requested Education for Active Citizenship grant proposals of up to $5,000 from students, faculty, and staff to be submitted by Oct. 3. The college will also continue its support for the Nia project, which targets black high school youth for mentoring education and community advocacy.
