Omidyar program now requires classes

Classes will now be a requirement for students in the Omidyar Scholars program to receive their scholarships. The classes were created to ensure that graduating students will have all the skills necessary to become "active citizens," the goal of the program.

The University College of Citizenship and Public Service (UCCPS) runs the program, which is designed to cultivate leadership in students interested in active citizenship. The program was initiated in 2000 and currently has 62 students enrolled.

One course is geared towards mostly sophomores and the other one is mostly for juniors and seniors, Student Leadership Program Director Carey Levitt said.

The sophomore class, "Asset Bases Community Project Design," matches each student with a faculty fellow to help plan a yearlong project. Nancy Gabriel, a Community Engagement Specialist at UCCPS, teaches the course, in which students are expected to work on a project for eight to ten hours a week.

Students will work with different organizations in Chinatown as a part of the class. They expect to "try to help them figure out what they believe the community needs most and then help implement programs accordingly," sophomore Eitan Hersh said.

The upperclassmen class, "Leadership of Community Projects," aims to teach the concepts of Asset Based Community Project Design and the leadership skills to get other students and community members involved, taught by UCCPS Director Molly Mead.

The classes will give scholars an "increased exposure to theories and models of leadership to help create positive social change," Levitt said.

UCCPS is also offering a freshman seminar through the Experimental College, as a feeder for the Omidyar Scholars. Freshmen were sent letters over the summer, and accepted students are planning to join the Omidyar Scholars program in the fall of 2003.

The freshman seminar is divided into four parts. Students will first analyze the concept of active citizenship, and the founding of UCCPS. They will then participate in experimental activities to figure out what interest and values related to active citizenship appeal to them. Students will have to participate for a minimum of three hours a week in an on-going community project. Finally, the students will have to learn about the background and importance of their project.

The courses are designed to help the "Omidyar scholars achieve greater linkage with their overall educational experience," Levitt said. "The idea is to make active citizenship essential to every classroom, rather than an 'add-on' activity for students."

At the moment the classes are only offered to students in the Omidyar program. Levitt hopes, however, that in coming years the scholars themselves will be able to teach courses to incoming freshman