VCU news

By Mike Porter

The new five-story residence hall being constructed along the south side of West Grace Street is hard to miss. What it will represent for VCU and the community when it opens in the fall of 2012 will be hard to ignore.

Virginia Commonwealth University’s new VCU ASPiRE (Academic Scholars Program in Real Environments) is a one-of-a-kind effort in the United States to link living and learning together in a four-semester experience that focuses on service learning and community engagement, all centered in the new LEED-certified West Grace Street South Residence Hall.

“We looked at best practices taking place at other universities across the country and then created something that is uniquely VCU,” said Seth L. Leibowitz, Ed.D., who is serving as interim director as ASPiRE launches. “VCU is taking living-learning to a new level.”

Leibowitz said ASPiRE also fits closely with VCU’s strategic plan, Quest for Distinction, by reinforcing overarching themes of helping VCU to become a leader among national research universities in providing all students with high quality living and learning experiences focused on inquiry, discovery and innovation in a global environment and by helping the university become a national model for community engagement and regional impact.

ASPiRE is coordinated through VCU’s Division of Community Engagement.

"Through partnerships with the community, ASPiRE students will experience unique learning opportunities, in and out of the classroom, that will better prepare them to be engaged citizens and leaders," said Catherine W. Howard, Ph.D., vice provost of the Division of Community Engagement.

“Beyond benefitting students, ASPiRE is designed to make a real and lasting positive impact in our communities through the creation of sustained and strategic partnerships with local schools, neighborhood associations, nonprofit organizations, local businesses and government agencies,” Howard said.

ASPiRE Living 23 study lounges and 13 common lounges 3,500 square feet of first-floor lobby and lounge area Over 6,000 square feet of program classroom, meeting and office spaces on the ground floor Apartment style rooms with washers, dryers and kitchens Access to parking 12-month living contracts Single and double-room options   ASPiRE Learning Community engagement-focused living-learning program for sophomores A four-semester curricular sequence with seven credits of course work State-of-the-art classrooms and faculty offices on the first floor

The first 148 sophomores selected to participate in the program will live, learn and volunteer together at the new residence hall, starting in Aug. 2012.

“This is a really great way to motivate sophomores to succeed at VCU,” Leibowitz said. “It’s an amazing opportunity for students because they build social connections with others who share their interests in service. ASPiRE will encourage students to persist in their education. Through close relationships students develop with faculty, they will learn to network and develop critical skills to help them be successful in college.”

Leibowitz said ASPiRE is designed for students in any undergraduate major program and could help students who are undecided about their major get exposure to a variety of academic major programs and service areas they can choose from as they explore their options.

The first group will live on the first and second floors of the residence hall. As the program grows, additional space will open for sophomore, junior and senior students. By 2014, 420 students will participate in the program.

Interest from students is already intense. In October and November, organizers held information sessions to explain the program. More than 200 students had applied to participate by the Nov. 23 deadline. The students who are accepted will become more familiar with ASPiRE through orientation sessions planned this spring.

The academic component of ASPiRE consists of seven credit hours spread over the sophomore year. ASPiRE staff and faculty members from a variety of academic disciplines will work with the students and community partners to develop and sustain mutually beneficial partnerships.

Program participants and faculty will participate in service learning focused around the environment, youth health care, the arts and improving economic and social conditions in the surrounding communities.

Ultimately, ASPiRE will include undergraduate research projects, study abroad opportunities and summer internships.

ASPiRE students will also have plenty of opportunities to learn outside of the classroom, building career skills and connections with area nonprofit organizations and businesses. This will create greater levels of participation in service learning and more variety of service-learning course offerings.

"Service-learning and living-learning programs are both high-impact educational practices that have been linked to increased student success in college,” said Lynn Pelco, Ph.D., professor and director of Virginia Commonwealth University Service-learning at the Division of Community Engagement. “By combining these two high-impact practices, VCU has developed an innovative program for upper-level undergraduates that will benefit both students and the Metro Richmond area.”

ASPiRE’s first course, “Introduction to Community Change,” teaches students how to get involved with projects that bring community change. In the second semester, students work in teams with faculty members and community partners to develop projects that address community-identified needs.

ASPiRE students also will take a writing and rhetoric course, which will be customized to allow them to write on social issues that appeal to them.

To learn more about ASPiRE, visit http://www.aspire.vcu.edu/.