Work-in-Progress: Defining Criteria to Evaluate Achievement of the NAE Grand Challenges Scholars Program Competencies

Abstract

This Work-in-Progress paper describes criteria defined to evaluate achievement of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) Grand Challenges Scholars Program (GCSP) competencies: Talent, Multidisciplinary, Viable Business/Entrepreneurship, Multicultural, and Social Consciousness. The NAE GCSP is currently implemented at more than 90 institutions around the world, with each institution defining the specific requirements their students must meet to achieve each of those five competencies. Students in the GCSP achieve these competencies through their engagement in courses, co-curricular experiences, and extra-curricular experiences. To date, few published attempts have been made to define criteria that can be used to determine whether a particular course or experience meets the desired outcomes of each competency. At ASU (Arizona State University) GCSP, an attempt has been made to define such criteria so that the program committee can assess the achievement of the outcomes of each competency and approve courses and experiences in a consistent manner. These criteria have also been used to help GCSP students better understand what type of courses and experiences could potentially count toward a competency.