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Citizen Scholar Receptions
"Tell me and I forget. - Benjamin Franklin |
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The Vision
Transformative Graduate Education (TGE) is an initiative introduced by the Graduate School at Virginia Tech to expand and modernize the graduate experience. TGE is comprised of three main interconnecting elements: the Preparing the Future Professoriate/Professional (PFP2) program, the Graduate Education Development Institute (GEDI), and Citizen Scholar Engagement (CSE). Together, these three components enhance the preparation of and better equip Virginia Tech graduate students with knowledge and the skills needed for meaningful and relevant contributions to the 21st century.
A typical graduate student experience usually is composed of three main elements: research, coursework, and teaching. These three components often take place within the closed and over-simplified university environment. Thus graduate students frequently move through their graduate education with very little practical experience or interaction with the real world. How ironic it is that institutions of higher education continue to prepare students for service in the world by sheltering them within the walls of small classrooms and cramped laboratories.
Citizen-Scholar Engagement (CSE) at Virginia Tech is a program designed to give graduate students an opportunity to utilize their academic skills and knowledge in a real-world setting. It is hoped students who participate in the experience will gain "public scholarship" - scholarship in service to the community, the state, the nation, and the world. Community-based collaborative projects, leadership training opportunities, "global" seminars, and a variety of similar activities prepare the student to serve in varying capacities. Participants in the program take the scholarship they gain in school and apply it as good citizens. Thus they become "Citizen Scholars."
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