The Odyssey Program is designed to encourage close collaboration between students and mentors. Therefore, faculty and administrative staff are invited to propose courses, modules attached to courses, co-curricular activities and individual projects for Odyssey credit. This section of the Guide is designed to help faculty and administrative staff in this process. You are strongly encouraged to consult with the Odyssey Office as you prepare your proposal.

A. Coding Requests for Courses and Activities

Hands-on learning can be experienced in the classroom and in various co-curricular activities. The process for requesting coding for each of these types of experience is outlined below.

1. Permanent Course Coding

Either existing courses or new ones may be submitted for Odyssey coding as long as the content of the course is largely experiential and the activities meet the requirements of the proposed category. (This Guide contains specific information for each category.) Classes approved for permanent coding will be added to the standing list of pre-approved courses.

A proposal for a new course with Odyssey coding must be submitted on a Curricular Revision Form (found in the Faculty Handbook) to the Curriculum Committee for approval. The Curriculum Committee will forward the code request to the Committee on Engaged Learning, which will respond with a recommendation regarding coding. The Curriculum Committee will then forward the course and code recommendations to the Council on Academic Policy for discussion and ultimately a vote by the faculty.

A proposal for attaching an Odyssey code to an existing course must be submitted in writing to the Committee on Engaged Learning. This committee will send its recommendation to the Curriculum Committee, which will then forward the coding recommendation to the Council on Academic Policy for discussion and ultimately a vote by the faculty.

Please note that a course may carry more than one Odyssey code. However, a student in the class may receive Odyssey credit in only one category. A student must earn at least a C to receive Odyssey credit for any course.

2. Proposals for One-Time Courses and for Modules within Courses

In addition to standing courses that are coded for Odyssey credit via the traditional Curriculum Committee process for curricular revisions, Hendrix faculty are encouraged to consider proposing the following as pre-approved Odyssey experiences: a) existing courses that will be taught on a one-time basis for Odyssey Credit or b) Odyssey modules attached to courses. In contrast to Odyssey-coded courses, such modules are entirely elective, allowing students to opt to do the extra work of the module or not, much in the same way that W-2 credit may require additional assignments and is optional in the courses that are so designated.

Proposals for either one-time course offerings or for modules must be submitted to the Committee on Engaged Learning. This committee will evaluate the proposal and notify the Curriculum Committee and the individual who submitted the proposal of its decision. No action by the Council on Academic Policy or the faculty is required.

3. Approval Process for Passages

Passages are groups of three or four courses that are designed to share thematic interdisciplinary threads. Students who participate in a Passage will be able to earn two Odyssey credits: UR for a capstone research project and SP for completing the coursework and submitting a journal that reflects on the connections between these courses. The development of this program has been underwritten by the Mellon Foundation.

During the academic year before a Passage is offered, the sponsoring team will simultaneously propose the elements of their Passage to the Curriculum Committee and to the Committee on Engaged Learning. The Curriculum Committee will focus on the course elements of the Passage while the CEL will focus its attention on the Odyssey experience included in the Passage. If both committees approve the elements of the Passage, the proposal will then be forwarded to the Council on Academic Policy for placement on the agenda for a faculty meeting at which time the faculty will consider the proposal as with any other curricular revision.

NOTE: Any new course developed that will be part of a Passage must be approved via the normal course approval process beginning at the departmental level.

4. Co-curricular Activities

Proposals to code co-curricular activities for Odyssey credit must be submitted in writing to the Committee on Engaged Learning. Proposals must include a rationale for the coding request and an explanation of any additional work that will be required of students who wish to earn the credit. For example, in some categories, such as PL and SP, a reflection component is mandated. The Committee will consider the proposal and make a decision. If the activity is approved, it will be added to the standing list of pre-approved co-curricular activities.

B. Course and Activity Supervisor Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the supervisor of the course, module or activity to ensure that the experience fulfills the requirements of the specified Odyssey category. Category descriptions and requirements are included in this Guide.

Each instructor of a pre-approved course will receive an Odyssey sign-up sheet to pass around in the class. Each student who wishes to register for Odyssey credit must sign the sheet, which will be returned to the Odyssey Office by the instructor. Participants in pre-approved co-curricular activities are usually responsible for submitting their own Statement of Intent Forms. However, leaders of large group activities may choose to submit a group form with a sign-up sheet.

The activity will not be considered complete and will not appear on the student’s Odyssey transcript until the supervisor has signed the Project Completion Form, and it has been accepted by the Odyssey Office. Students are expected to write their own descriptions of their experiences in pre-approved activities. For pre-approved courses, however, the instructor may choose from the following three options:

Option A: Use the standard description developed when the course was approved for all students in the class.

Option B: Develop a faculty-written description tailored to the particular offering of the course being completed. This option allows the instructor to provide more detail about the experiences of the students in that given semester.

Option C: Include a short faculty-written description on the transcripts of all the students enrolled, but allow each student to add a few sentences describing his or her unique experience in the class. In this case, the student completes the Odyssey credit by earning a C or better in the class and has the option of altering the description at a later date.

C. Coding Requests for Individual and Group Projects

In addition to offering courses that carry Odyssey coding, faculty and staff, as well as students, are invited to submit proposals for individual and group experiences. Such proposals must be submitted to the Odyssey Office on the proposal form that can be obtained from the Office, photocopied from this Odyssey Program Guide (Appendix B-2), or downloaded from the Odyssey Web page (www.hendrix.edu/odyssey). Project proposals are accepted on a rolling basis, but funding requests must be submitted according to the following schedule of deadlines: February 1 (for summer projects and courses for the following academic year), April 1 (for fall projects), and October 1 (for spring projects).

D. Project Supervisor Responsibilities

Agreeing to serve as supervisor for an Odyssey project (including planned presentations at NCUR and discipline-specific meetings) means that faculty and administrative staff will be substantially engaged with the student (or students) throughout the course of that project. The Odyssey Office and members of the Committee on Engaged Learning stand ready to assist faculty and administrative staff in guiding students at any point in their projects. In following the trajectory of an Odyssey project, here are some things that faculty or administrative staff supervisors should be prepared to do:

• Assist the student in developing the proposal with an eye toward the specific Odyssey category under which the student is applying. If you have reservations about the articulation of the project or whether it potentially qualifies for Odyssey credit, please contact the Odyssey Office. Do not feel compelled to approve a proposal simply because a student has asked for your help. Before signing any Proposal Form, please be sure you have read carefully what the student intends to do and that you understand what this may require from you.

• Help students prepare an Odyssey Funding Request should they require financial support for their project. You might suggest that they attend one of the Funding Request Workshops sponsored by the Odyssey Office, or consult the advice available to students on our Web site, www.hendrix.edu/odyssey. This information includes a PowerPoint presentation from the Funding Request Workshop sponsored by the Odyssey Office.

• Urge all students to bring drafts of Proposal and Funding Request Forms to the Odyssey Office for review and advice before they submit them for final consideration. Remember that the process of preparing proposals and funding requests is an integral part of what students gain from their participation in the Odyssey Program. Working on these documents helps the student to better define the shape, scope, and significance of the project. In the case of a funding request, prior consultation with the Odyssey Office can lessen the chance that it will be rejected due to an avoidable omission or a technicality.

• Check with students along the way as they work on their projects. One analogy here might be to think of supervising an Odyssey project as comparable to working with a student on an independent study or on an internship opportunity. Different students require different levels of guidance and support—some may work relatively independently while some may benefit from more consistent monitoring.

• Guide students in the final stages of their work. This may involve helping them to bring together a reflective journal or it may mean reviewing the draft of a research presentation a student plans to deliver at a conference. It may also mean contacting the Odyssey Office to help students find an appropriate venue in which to present their work. The Odyssey Exemplars series provides students with numerous opportunities to share their experiences with the campus community.

• Remind students to submit a Project Completion Form. This form includes the language that will ultimately appear on the student’s Odyssey transcript, so it is important that you review it carefully. Should you have any questions as to the appropriateness of the language on the Project Completion Form, please contact the Odyssey Office for assistance. You may also wish to consult the guidelines for writing a project description found in Appendix E of this Guide. Because a student cannot receive Odyssey credit until the Project Completion Form is submitted and approved, this last step in the process is a critical one.

The arc of an Odyssey project may vary dramatically from student to student. Should you have any questions about your role as a supervisor at any point along the way, please feel free to consult with the Odyssey Office staff or the members of the Committee on Engaged Learning.