With the new school year at its launch, Guilford College’s Center for Principled Problem Solving is once again geared up to give back to the community.The Center for Principled Problem Solving (CPPS) supports students, faculty and staff in applying Guilford’s core values both in and out of the classroom.
“The Center was created to strengthen and further develop a strong theme already present in the Guilford curriculum,” said the CPPS Project and Communication Manager Kim Yarbray in an e-mail interview. “Also, the Center is charged with assisting and finding resources for efforts to put our core values to work in the world.”
Since its inception in fall 2007, the CPPS has sought to better incorporate principled-problem solving into Guilford’s curriculum. The CPPS also supports campus projects and initiatives whose goal is to enact the college’s core values.
Junior Marissa Dungan is a part of the Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program, an integrative academic program that encourages students to engage in civic engagement and learning to apply the college’s core values.
“I think it (Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program) takes a group of individuals and helps them understand the mission of the school,” said Dungan. “I think it’s important for college students to gain knowledge of how to solve real world problems.”
In addition to coursework and internships, Dungan and her fellow CPPS scholars have been working on a project to help improve handicap accessibility on campus.
“It’s a life-changing experience which is not easy, but it pays off in the end,” said junior Layth Awartani, another student in the scholars program.
The CPPS has funded a number of projects in the past, including a student-run photography project that engaged the children at Glen Haven – an after-school tutoring center for recent immigrants -and the new commemorative mural in King Hall.
Yarbray also said in an e-mail interview that a new project has just been approved. The project is called the “Sexual Diversity Project” and it emerged from the summer 2010 course, “Gay, Lesbian, Queer Studies.”
“It will work to engage the community in shame-free public dialogue about these fundamental identity issues that they feel are generally confined by shame and embarrassment,” Yarbray said.
CPPS has recently been given a $2.5 million endowment from the Mosca family. The Mosca family gave the endowment in hopes that the outside community would match the amount, putting CPPS at its $5 million goal. The grant money will make it possible for the program to attract more members and better future CPPS projects.
The program is in its third year, and next year the CPPS will be assessed and evaluated on the improvements it has completed so far, which will determine its future.
For more information or to get involved, contact CPPS Director Mark Justad.
All are encouraged to join in the efforts of the CPPS to help strengthen the college’s core values and give back to both the campus community and Greensboro as a whole.