A. Faculty Guide for Course and Module Coding
Please use this online form to make your request
Do you want coding for the COURSE or for a MODULE as part of a course?
Coding for a Course:
All students are required to do the engaged learning component that meets the requirements of the Odyssey credit.
Any student receiving a C or better or a CR in the course automatically receives Odyssey credit.
The faculty member must arrange for the submission of a transcript notation following the choices outlined in the Odyssey Guide.
Coding for a Module within a course:
Students may opt to complete an elective engaged learning module that meets the criteria for Odyssey credit.
Odyssey credit is not automatic with a C or better, or CR, in the course.
Any
student electing to pursue a module associated with a course must
submit a Statement of Intent Form—signed by the course instructor—to the
Odyssey Office (instructor may opt to submit one Statement of Intent
listing all participating students).
When a student successfully
completes the requirements of the module, the course instructor must
request and review the transcript notation and sign the Project
Completion Form. Either the instructor or student may turn in the Form
to the Odyssey Office.
Outline of Criteria for Odyssey Course or Module Coding Requests
Artistic Creativity Criteria
Students’ activities are creative “both conceptually and expressively” or in interpretation of another’s original piece.
Students should develop artistically, and demonstrate growth in the endeavor.
Students present a final product demonstrating “both understanding and skill in executing or expressing it to an outside audience.”
Methods
of critique and response encourage students to deliberate about their
personal aesthetic choices and their role in the creative arts.
Global Awareness Criteria
The aim of the experience is “to help students understand and appreciate cultures or environments other than their own.”
Students
have a “direct and substantial” immersion in “the target culture or
environment” (one to two weeks of continuous immersion at a minimum).
Activities
are designed to provide students with new perspectives about their own
culture or environment and to promote growth and self-reliance.
Students
complete a reflection component designed to help them deliberate on
their growth in cultural understanding and the effect of the experience
on their self-understanding.
Undergraduate Research Criteria
Project is “substantial (in breadth, scope, scale, maturity, effort, and time involved).”
Research methods of the chosen discipline are “learned and demonstrated.”
The
research is conducted “under supervision of a Hendrix faculty member in
the field of study related to the research in question.”
The student
presents the results of his or her research in a public venue
acceptable to the academic department of the area of study.
The
supervisor is responsive to appropriate opportunities for helping the
student “use the experience to explore his or her potential as a
researcher or other professional in the field of study.
Professional and Leadership Development Criteria
For Professional Development Focus:
Activities give the student the opportunity to develop or refine skills related to a specific professional field, AND/OR
Activities “immerse the student in a well-focused exploration of the student’s choices of profession or vocation.”
Project
involves on-site engagement of a minimum of 100 hours or a contractual
commitment over a two-year period (120 hours for official internships).
Students
complete a reflective component, “including written analyses of their
experience” through which they evaluate their “values, interests,
strengths, and abilities as related to a professional field or
vocational options.”
For Leadership Development Focus:
Experience promotes the development of the student’s unique leadership style.
Experience enhances the student’s awareness of group dynamics and what it takes to fulfill goals through engaging with a group.
Experience
requires a minimum of 100 hours of engagement, which may be distributed
across four distinct leadership development commitments.
Students submit a reflective analytical component, including “written analyses of their experience.”
Service to the World Criteria
Projects
involve the student in assistance or support for the provision of
resources, goods, political access, systemic change or other services in
response to serious human and environmental problems.
Projects are
in association with social agencies, service or civic organizations,
public policy initiative, or faith communities on behalf of long-term
social change or helping to solve immediate problems and alleviate
present suffering.
Projects involve a minimum of 30 recorded on-site service hours.
Students
complete a reflective component in which they “analyze the social,
ethical, political, environmental, personal, or religious implications
of what they have seen and undertaken” through the experience.
Special Projects Criteria
Students “extend, connect or deepen their liberal arts learning” through projects do at least one of the following:
-apply different ways of knowing;
-bring together the methods, insights, concerns, or subject matters of different disciplines;
-entail non-traditional ways of approaching a topic;
-are in the spirit of engaged learning without fitting in the other categories.
The project requires a minimum of 30 recorded hours of work by each student.
The project has an objective or “anticipated outcomes” distinct from just having the experience or merely doing the activity.
Students
complete a component requiring them to reflect on their experience of
doing the project and on the outcomes they achieved.
Importantly, please refer to the Odyssey Learning Goals found in Part I of this Guide when making your request for coding.
B. Approval Process for Co-curricular Activities
Proposals
to code co-curricular activities for Odyssey credit must be submitted
in writing to the CEL via the Odyssey Director (you may use
Odyssey@hendrix.edu). 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.
C. Odyssey Projects Proposed by Faculty or Staff
In
addition to offering courses and co-curricular activities that carry
Odyssey coding, faculty and administrative staff are invited to submit
proposals for individual and group experiences and apply for funding as
appropriate. Such proposals and funding requests must be submitted to
the Odyssey Office on the forms that can be obtained from the Office or
downloaded from the Odyssey web page (www.hendrix.edu/odyssey).
For
group projects, please submit a single proposal form that includes the
names and ID numbers of all the student participants. If these are not
known at the time of the proposal, they may be submitted as a list after
the project is approved.
If you are submitting funding requests
for several students to work in your laboratory, please submit the
requests as a group and rank the proposals for the CEL. You are the one
best qualified to judge the quality and feasibility of individual
projects in your discipline.
In writing your proposals and
funding requests, bear in mind that your audience may not share your
disciplinary expertise. Please be complete, but target your language to
lay readers.
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. Supervisor Responsibilities
It
is the responsibility of the supervisor of a course, module, activity
or project to ensure that the experience fulfills the requirements of
the specified Odyssey category. Category descriptions and requirements
are included in this guide. In addition, it is expected that the
supervisor will monitor each student’s progress towards completion of
the Odyssey experience.
Special considerations for pre-approved courses
Simply
by enrolling in a course with Odyssey coding, a student is
automatically registered for Odyssey credit. In order to be awarded the
credit, a student must earn a C or better or a CR.
It is the
instructor’s responsibility to provide the project description that will
go on each student’s transcript. There are three options for doing so:
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.
Regardless of which
option is selected, you are requested to submit the description
electronically before final grades are posted. Please do not submit
handwritten descriptions.
Special considerations for pre-approved activities
Participants
in pre-approved co-curricular activities must submit Statements of
Intent signed by the supervisor and 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 an
attached sign-up sheet. The activity will not be considered complete
and will not appear on a 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.
Special considerations for individual or group projects
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 CEL 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 project may
require of you.
• Help students prepare Odyssey Funding
Requests should they require financial support for their projects. 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 latest 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.
• 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.
(Please note that the reflective piece is read by the supervisor, and
the Odyssey Office does not receive a copy of the reflection or other
project results.) 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 the flexibility 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 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.
E. Guidelines for Faculty Traveling with Students to Present Research
The
Odyssey program expects that a faculty member receiving funding to
travel with students to make presentations about their Odyssey projects
will:
• Help the students register for the conference and apply to present the research.
• Organize and participate in several presentation practice sessions
to ensure that the students are prepared for the conference.
• Make travel arrangements as a group.
• Guide and assist the students at the conference. This assistance may include
o helping the student during the registration process;
o identifying the time and place for the student presentations;
o helping the student make professional and academic contacts in their field.
F. Faculty Liability Coverage
Hendrix
College provides the defense and liability coverage for faculty or
staff personnel acting in the scope of their employment with students,
whether on or off campus.