Academic Integration

The TAMU Division of Student Affairs is committed to providing a holistic educational experience for our students. To foster this, Division of Student Affairs staff routinely seek out partnerships with TAMU faculty in which the in and out of classroom experiences can blend to form 'seamless' educational opportunities for students.

Academic Integration Knowledge Community
Several staff members in the Division of Student Affairs meet regularly as part of an academic integration knowledge community. Faculty are welcome to participate.

For information contact:
Craig Rotter
979-862-1233
crotter@tamu.edu

Recent Academic/Student Affairs Integration Projects

Department of Residence Life and Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication
The Leadership Learning Community

The Leadership Living Learning Community (L3C) is a freshman academic interest group created through a partnership between the Department of Residence Life and the Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communication. It is open to first year students of all majors at Texas A&M University. Starting in the fall of 2006, all participants will live in Aston Hall.

Students who are in this interest group live in a community in which activity is centered on the concept of developing leaders. The purpose of the program is to socialize freshman in a reflective yet challenging environment, exposing them to leadership theory that can be applied in the programming aspects of the learning community.

The L3C is a truly collaborative effort designed for freshmen who have an interest in leadership development. Courses in which the students enroll are "team taught" by a student affairs professional and an assistant professor. Students selected for the program complete a one semester credit hour curricular course in leadership development in the fall semester and a one semester credit hour curricular course in peer mentorship in the spring semester. The courses are paired with co-curricular community events. The program also has additional opportunities for peer mentors in the sophomore year including the opportunity to complete a three semester credit hour curricular course in personal leadership development in the fall semester and three semester credit hour curricular course in professional leadership development in the spring semester.

For additional information please contact:
Dr. Craig Rotter
Student Engagement and Leadership Education Specialist
Department of Residence Life
Phone: (979) 862-3155
Email: craigr@housing.tamu.edu

Dr. Nicole Stedman
Assistant Professor
Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication
Phone: (979) 458-1213
Email: NStedman@aged.tamu.edu


Department of Multicultural Services and Department of Political Science
Cross Cultural Understandings

Diversity educators from the Department of Multicultural Services work with Dr. John Robertson to deliver cross cultural focused curriculum in his Introduction to Comparative Politics course.

The curriculum focuses on definitions of cultural, the use of cultural scales for making cross cultural comparisons, drawing connections between culture and the student's field of study, comparative politics, and an understanding of the complexity of culture.


Memorial Student Center Forsyth Center Galleries and American Studies Program
Interdisciplinary American Studies

The MSC Forsyth Center Galleries have been heavily involved with academic integration since our founding (1990). The Director and Curator of the Runyon Art Collections, teaches Honors sections of History 459 "American Society and Culture, American Studies 300 "Imagined Americas," and will be teaching American Studies 481 "Envisioned Americas" in Fall 2006.

Students from other classes, including art history, English, history, and architecture, also study and research the art and art exhibitions. Through the permanent multi¬million dollar Bill ('35) and Irma Runyon Art Collections, the Galleries give students direct, first¬hand access to original masterpieces of American, English and French art in complement with their academic studies.


Department of Student Activities and Several Academic Departments
StrengthsQuest

StrengthsQuest provides an opportunity for students and staff to discover natural talents and to gain insights into the development and utilization of those talents in all areas of life, particular in achieving higher levels of academic success. The StrengthsQuest tool and curriculum has been utilized at Texas A&M in several different venues since 2001. The Department of Student Activities has paved the way in providing this learning opportunity to students in several classroom settings including:

.Mays College of Business
  - Marketing 442, Dr. Paul Busch
  - Marketing Leadership Course (Master's Students), Dr. Paul Busch
  - Business Fellows Program, Dr. Tim Peterson
  - Freshmen Honors Business Class, Dr. Tim Peterson
.Dwight Look College of Engineering
  - Industrial Distribution Course, Ms. Brooke Bond
.College of Education and Human Development
  - Adult Learning, Dr. Kevin Jackson

In each of the courses listed above, faculty members have creatively applied the Strengths philosophy to the curriculum in order to increase self-awareness, teamwork effectiveness and academic and personal development for each student within the class. In addition to class settings, this tool has also been used to develop staff and other groups of students such as student organization executive teams and leadership groups. In the summer of 2005, the entire staff of the College of Liberal Arts participated in a staff development experience where the focus was on teamwork and professional development.

If you are interested in learning more about this tool and the opportunity to integrate this content into your course or program, please contact the Department of Student Activities at 845-4878.


Memorial Student Center Student Programs Office and Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
Aggie Nights

Aggie Nights, a late night program facilitated by the MSC Student Programs Office, partnered with RPTS 31: Recreation and Tourism Programs. This course is designed for program planning, leadership, and operations/administration of programmed experiences and includes the development of special events and participant satisfaction. Dr. Clifton Watts, associate professor, chose Aggie Nights as a partnership to provide a social laboratory to his students as an opportunity for his students to experience program planning first hand. Students were responsible for designing programs in consultation with Aggie Nights Staff, writing a program proposal, program management and implementations as well as assessment and debriefing once the program was complete.

By the end of the experience, students should have an enhanced understanding and application of principles learned in class; be aware of the complexities associated with coordinating a large-scale special event; and be able to implement and develop specific programs based upon skills taught in class and practiced through Aggie Nights.


Department of Student Activities Center for Community Engagement and Several Academic Departments
AggieServe

Beginning in January of 2006, staff from the Center for Community Engagement has been present in four academic classrooms to present information about volunteerism, what quality service and active citizenship is and how serving can provide you with similar experiences as paid internships. Finally, we unveiled AggieServe to the students and faculty members as a tool they can use to become more involved in service. AggieServe is an online outreach project sponsored by the Center for Campus and Community Engagement. The site was established to bring non-profit organizations/community agencies in the Bryan and College Station area together with campus volunteers. Our end of year data reflects that we are currently averaging over 3,500 users a month that are actually viewing an agency profile or service opportunity.

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
  .Department of Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications
     - 1.25.06 ADEV 344-102 Leading Volunteers (Dr. Nicole Stedman/Arthur Felix)
     - 1.26.06 ADEV 344-501 Leading Volunteers (Dr. Nicole Stedman/Arthur Felix)
     - College of Education and Human Development
  .Department of Health & Kinesiology - Physical Education Activities Program (Kristen       Slagel, M.S.)
  .Department of Health & Kinesiology - NYSP Activity Director (Dottiedee Agnor, M.S.)

College of Liberal Arts
.Department of Sociology - (Dr. Carol Albrecht) - Intern Student for Alternative Spring   Break
Last year and this coming fall/spring, we have students referred from Dr. Albrecht complete internships with ASB for course credit. The student serves as the site-leader trainer for the organization and completes a research and assessment project over the course of the year. Last year the assessment revolved around student perception of ASB on campus, issues, recruitment information, and social issue preference information.

Bush School
.Public Service Career Fair - this was the center's fist year to be invited. Staff was able to distribute information pertaining to AggieServe to students seeking careers in public service as an alternative to paid internships.

Staff from the center have presented to two additional communities on campus: Aggie Access and International Students and Mentors. The Aggie Access presentation focused on a global to local perspective on volunteerism. It included a volunteer fair designed specifically for the student population; prior to the presentation, students in the Access community were assessed to determine previous volunteer experiences, current volunteer interests and demographic information. This data was used to determine which agencies to invite to the small fair. The International Students and Mentors presentation introduced volunteering in the United States to a group of international students. Information on federal laws as they apply to international students and volunteering was supplied during this presentation as well.

For more information on how the center can contribute to your student's learning experience, please contact us at serve@stuact.tamu.edu


Department of Multicultural Services and Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences
Whoopstock

In 2006, staff from the Department of Multicultural Services worked with Dr. Clifton Watts to use Whoopstock (a major annual event) as a learning laboratory. The purpose of Whoopstock is to foster diversity education through entertainment.

Students in Dr. Watt's RPTS 311 course articulated intended learning outcomes for Whoopstock participants and designed methods to measure the extent to which those learning outcomes were met.


Department of Recreational Sports and Several Academic Departments
TAMU Outdoors

The Rock Wall Director from the Department of Recreational Sports teaches KINE 199 for the Department of Health and Kinesiology. TAMU Outdoors outfits and guides KINE199 activity class trips.

The Student Recreation Center Indoor Climbing Facility hosts several design and architecture classes for informational teambuilding exercises. Construction Science uses the ropes and the Indoor Climbing Facility to demonstrate construction harness wear to students.

The Director and Assistant Director of TAMU Outdoors guest lecture in Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences (RPTS 301 Leisure Studies and Outdoor Education) on rock site management.


Memorial Student Center and Several Academic Departments
OPAS Youth Orchestra of the Americas with Paquito D'Rivera

During the week of Oct. 11-15, 2004, the Youth Orchestra of the Americas with Paquito D'Rivera worked with several World Music classes in the Dept. of Performance Studies. But the most successful effort occurred in Dr. Tom Green's graduate seminar in on "Folklore Form and Methods" in the Anthropology Dept. This seminar covers creativity in performance, the relationship between Afro-Caribbean music and American blues and jazz, and the pop trail in the music continuum. Mr. D'Rivera, renowned jazz saxophonist, talked to the class about the origins of jazz in South America. Prior to his visit to the seminar and in preparation, they had viewed Calle 54, a movie featuring D'Rivera and other Latin jazz greats. Dr. Green reported that this was one of the best activities he had ever had in class.


Memorial Student Center and Several Academic Departments
Dancing Wheels January 25-27, 2006

The Dancing Wheels Company consists of both standing and seated dancers. While they were here preparing for their presentation of The Snowman, they participated in HLKN classes and in secondary special education classes. Dancers (both seated and standing) from Dancing Wheels leading an advanced dance workshop for Carisa Wagner's HLKN class. The professional dancers focused on experiential lessons in using mobility to engage special needs dancers as well as non-disabled dancers. Seated dancers can perform the same positions as standing dancers, just seated. A lecture/demonstration to students in SEFB 320 (secondary special education) and SEFB 414 (Low-incidence disabilities). Speakers were both seated and standing dancers from Dancing Wheels. Students were highly engaged in the lecture demonstration mentioned above as the performers, some disabled and others not, shared their experiences as professional dancers.

Memorial Student Center and Several Academic Departments
Woven Harmony activities during week of Oct. 11-15, 2005

Robert (classical guitarist) and Rebecca (weaver) Bluestone worked with Manda Rosser’s Military Science 481 leadership class to help students understand the importance of finding themselves and spending time alone learning from themselves and their own creativity. The instructors emphasized that the way to be excellent at any endeavor is to practice.

Robert and Rebecca Bluestone also worked with Christine Bergeron’s (HLKN) advanced dance composition class, in which student dancers use artwork as inspiration for their choreography.


Multicultural Services and Communication Department, College of Liberal Arts
Civil Rights Tour

The Department of Multicultural Services has organized a Spring Break field trip every year since approximately 2000. The tour is a seven-day trip that takes up to twenty students to multiple places of significance during the Civil Rights Movement, and introduces them to veterans who took active part in the movement. At the end of each day, a DMS staff member facilitates group conversations. During these conversations, students are asked to share their observations and reflections. They are also asked to make daily journal entries. Approximately one month after the tour, students are asked to write a formal reflection paper, make a presentation, or participate in focus group interviews to explore, as a summative evaluation, how they look back on the tour and what it did to them.

The field trip never was a stand-alone event; it was always combined in some form with an undergraduate-level class. The teachers and course numbers of that class have changed over time, and for the Spring 2005 semester, the context for the tour has changed again. Students from two classes are able to join the tour. First, there is the COMM 489 class. Students signed up for this class are required to participate in the tour. Second, there is the COMM 425 class, called Rhetoric of Civil Rights, taught by Dr. Rigsby. For the students enrolled in this class, participation in the tour is optional. Either way, the Civil Rights Tour is a model for integration of curricular and co-curricular programming.

The mission of the program is to make the world a better place by inspiring Aggies to continue the struggle for social justice and equal opportunity.

The overarching goal of the Civil Rights Tour is to inform and inspire students about the Civil Rights movement – its events, its key players, its victories, and the price that the civil rights workers were willing to pay to achieve success. In a more abstract sense, the goal is to merge the past and future into the present. It is to change the perception of the Civil Rights Movement as a past, historical, somewhat detached event to a movement that still makes its presence felt today. By speaking to activists who attended events such as the March on Washington, the students will realize that the Civil Rights Movement is still alive, and they will be compelled and inspired to consider the future – their own futures, the futures of the organizations they are affiliated with, and the future of race relations in this country and beyond, and how they can help shape those futures.