A Challenge is a like an assignment. We're just not calling them assignments because the word "assignment" implies that everyone in the class has to complete it. It also sounds boring. In this course, students will not have assignments. Instead, each week they will have a series of Challenges from which to choose. As long as the complexity levels of the Challenges they complete add up to 3, they are good to go. Also, we like the word Challenge because it sounds different and exciting. Keep that in mind as you write your proposal.
What's the deal with these "complexity levels"?
You don't have to worry about this. Complexity levels will be assigned by the instructor. But if you're curious, here's how it will work: Each Challenge will be assigned a complexity level of 1, 2, or 3 based on its complexity and the perceived effort it will require to be completed. Each week, students will be presented with a menu of Challenges including three Level 1 Challenges, two Level 2 Challenges, and one Level 3 Challenge. They must complete at least 3 complexity levels worth of Challenges. So, a student could complete three Level 1 Challenges, one Level 3 Challenge, or one Level 2 and one Level 1 Challenge. Make sense?
What is the purpose of all of this?
The Bob Graham Center for Public Service received a grant to promote civic engagement at UF. One of the ways in which we plan to do this is by offering a digital course in civic engagement at the undergraduate level. The course is IDS 2338: Rethinking Citizenship: Identity, Collaboration and Action. It will be offered as a hybrid Honors section this coming fall. In the spring, the course will be exclusively online and open to all UF undergraduates. We want it to be a really cool course and we figured that the best way to achieve that would be to solicit input from all academic disciplines on campus.
I want $500. What do I do?
Submit a proposal! It's really easy to do. Just go to the "Submit a Proposal" tab of this website and click on the link provided. The link will take you to a Google form that you must complete in full. Really, we just need some basic identifying information and a paragraph that explains your idea for a Challenge. If we like your idea, we will invite you to submit a fully-formed Challenge by July 1st. Upon submission of your fully-formed Challenge, we will give you $500. Also, your Challenge will be eligible for prize money.
Tell me more about this prize money thing.
We will have a panel of experts in civic engagement and learning review the submitted Challenges. They will rank them and the top three Challenges will receive an additional $500, $300, and $100 respectively.
Are you really going to hand people wads of cash?
No, silly...but that would be fun. The money will be disbursed in that magical way UF disburses money. If you have direct deposit with the University, you will likely wake-up one glorious morning to find an extra $500 in your account. Otherwise, you will receive a check. If you are a graduate student who has a loan package, it is possible that the money will be applied directly toward loan repayment, meaning you will owe $500 less upon graduation. If you have questions about this, please contact your Student Financial Affairs adviser.
I don't have any good ideas for Challenges. What can I do?
Have you read the "Objectives & Explanations" page of this website? If you haven't, you should. It lists the seven objectives from which you must choose to base your Challenge around, as well as explanations for those objectives and examples of Challenges for those objectives. We suspect that reading this page will help to get your creative juices flowing.
How much work are we talking when it comes to writing a "fully-formed Challenge"?
Go to the "Example Challenge" page of this website to see an example of a a fully-formed Challenge. There are five required elements to a fully-formed Challenge: The objective it addresses (which you just choose from a list of seven objectives that we provide), a catchy title (be creative!), instructions, the resources students need to complete it (3-5 multimedia and public domain resources), and a rubric. If your proposal is selected, we will go over all important details and expectations at the June 5th informational assembly.
I don't think my academic discipline has anything to do with civic engagement. Should I still submit a proposal?
YES! You definitely should still submit a proposal. We believe that civic engagement falls under the purview of all academic disciplines and areas. In fact, well-renowned civic engagement scholar Peter Levine once said, "There is no academic discipline of 'civics.'" Instead, civics is the business of all academic disciplines. That's exactly why we have opened this competition up to the entire University and not just specific colleges or departments. We want proposals from all academic areas AND we want those proposals to reflect in some way the academic disciplines from which they originate.
Can I work with someone?
Sure! By all means. Just know that you will have to split the $500. Also, please use the contact information for only one of you when you submit a proposal.
Can I submit more than one proposal?
YES! We will consider up to three proposals from the same UF faculty member or graduate student.
What are all of the important dates and deadlines for the competition?
- June 1st: Proposals due by midnight
- June 3rd: Notification of proposal acceptance by noon
- June 5th: Mandatory information assembly at 4:30 p.m. in Pugh Hall
- July 1st: Fully-developed Challenges due by midnight
