Pepperdine University

Developing the Undergraduate Student as Scholar: An Institutional Approach to Early Student Engagement, also known as the Student as Scholar Program (SASP), will engage 760 students over four years (190 students annually) in original research and scholarship beginning their first term at Pepperdine with the overarching goal of developing students as scholars. Integration of research into the curriculum will consist of ten sections of first-year seminar courses, drawn from each of the eight academic divisions, which will be devoted to research and inquiry. Project directors will equip ten enthusiastic and experienced faculty members to utilize learner centered practices to encourage students to design and implement original research projects as first-year students. Through innovative pedagogical methods, faculty mentors will help facilitate a transformative shift in thought, empowering first-year students to pursue their own ideas and make scholarly contributions to their disciplines. All SASP participants will complete mini-grant proposals as a final intellectual exercise in the course. They will have the option to seek funding for summer projects. The anticipated impact of these courses will be seen in the number of students pursuing subsequent research experiences, publishing scholarly articles and applying for nationally competitive awards.