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THE CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE
Today’s Honors Program at CSB+SJU is designed to create connections between students,
faculty, and the greater community.
We teach why it matters that you as a community member can take your skills and act as a leader in your community – helping toward the common good
Emily Paup, Ph.D.,
associate professor of strategic communication studies and Honors Faculty Fellow
Coursework in the Honors Scholars program includes a set of five classes connected by the theme “community.” It involves undergraduate research, experiential learning and developing proposals and strategies for enhancing the common good of the community. Why community, though? What made it important to build this elite program around involvement, connections and partnerships beyond the campuses?
“From past experience, we know our Honors Scholars will become leaders in their communities,” explained Beth Wengler, Ph.D., director of the Honors Scholars program. “We want to prepare them to make positive change, whether that is in their career, in their church or place of worship, or their volunteer work.”
“The program’s curriculum is intentional in developing students’ awareness of how to use their liberal arts learning,” added Emily Esch, Ph.D., associate director of the Honors Scholars program.
The program culminates with student-led research projects developed in partnership with organizations such as the Stearns History Museum, the Great River Children’s Museum or the Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota.
The Honors program always grounded me in the sense that I could actually see the culmination of my hard work and the difference I was making in my community,”
Honors Scholar Brigid Conway ’24.
Racially Restrictive Covenants
in Stearns County
Partners: Great River Covenants Project and Stearns History Museum
Scholars: Savannah Supan ’24, Equoia Gibson ’24, Robert Smith ’24, Chiamaka Chijioke ’24, Eileen Otto ’24, Connor Veldman ’24
Addressing a legacy of segregation, this project uncovered over 100 property deeds with racially restrictive clauses in Central Minnesota. Their impactful research has garnered media attention and grant support, paving the way for community education through a series of documentary videos.
Sexism at CSB+SJU: Changing Our Campus Future
Partner: CSB+SJU First-Year Experience program
Scholars: Emma Lundgren ’24, Morgan Ebel ’24, Elizabeth Hamak ’24, Eliana Schmaltz ’24, Nathan Smisek ’24, Ryan Engel ’24
For this project, scholars framed their research around the question “How does sexism present itself uniquely on our campuses because they’re split – geographically and by gender,” said Liz Hamak ’24. They conducted extensive research, then worked in partnership with the First-Year Experience (FYX) program to develop a lesson to be explored in FYX classes. Honors Scholar Eliana Schmaltz ’24 explained, “Our initiative (will) do something that coed institutions won’t do and single-sex institutions can’t do. Coed institutions don’t focus on conversations relating to men, but a women’s college won’t prioritize those conversations either. We have an opportunity by being in between the two.”
Meet Your Neighbor
Partner: Great River Children’s Museum
Scholars: Mark Spangler ’24, Fiona Smith ’24, Erin Martin ’24, Ryan Imm ’24, Lauren Funke ’24, Brigid Conway ’24
As one of the first features at the new Great River Children’s Museum in St. Cloud, the “Meet Your Neighbor” station showcases Nancy Frost Bellmont ’74, a trailblazer in women’s sports. Our Honors Scholars engaged with Bellmont to produce educational materials related to her story and create a Cultural Connection Kit to teach children about sports and gender equality. Erin Martin ’24 explained, “Knowing that … the Children’s Museum depends on the work you’re doing adds new weight to our efforts. It adds to the fun of it!”
Social and Emotional Intelligence Training
Partner: Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota
Scholars: Jacob Gathje ’24, Sarah Skrove ’24, Kelly Kieser ’24, Hannah Tatge ’24, Mateo Cisneros ’24, Sara Hoppe ’24, Elise Sande ’24
Honors Scholars conducted a semester-long community-engaged learning project for the Boys and Girls Club, developing mental health resource training videos for staff and volunteers. The project included the creation of an informational video about social and emotional intelligence, with examples of activities Boys and Girls Club staff can use to support the social and emotional learning of their club members. “Boys and Girls Club were really excited about this,” said Laura Taylor, Ph.D., associate professor of theology and Honors Faculty Fellow advising on this particular project. “They told us they just didn’t have the bandwidth to work on this themselves. And now, they plan on using it as soon as January.”
Part of what we’re teaching is not only why the liberal arts matter, but why it matters that you as a community member can take your skills and act as a leader in your community – helping toward the greater common good
Emily Paup, Ph.D
Active Calming Center Staff Trainings
Partner: Boys and Girls Club of Central Minnesota
Scholars: Peyton Kopel ’24, Genevieve Woods ’24, Paige Thompson ’24, Morgan Van Beck ’24, Emilio Hernandez ’24, Jackson May ’24
The Active Calming Center (a tool designed to help children manage their emotions) at the Boys and Girls Club benefited from video training materials developed by these scholars, designed to help staff effectively manage children’s emotional well-being. Each video contains the purpose of a particular step in the process, proper and improper ways to use the materials in that step, and details on how to best support youth during that step. “Engaging with community partners like this shows us the power of our liberal arts educations,” says Honors Scholar Morgan Van Beck ’24. “As graduating seniors, we know that we are ready to go out into the world and make a difference because we have already done it.”