Lipscomb receives Lilly NetVUE Professional Development Award to support CVD initiative
Kim Chaudoin |
The Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) has awarded Lipscomb University a $12,000 grant as a Professional Development Award to assist in expanding programming of the Center for Vocational Discovery (CVD) through the development of a senior capstone course. A program of the Council of Independent Colleges, NetVUE is supported by the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc. and member dues.
Lipscomb’s CVD is in its third year and continues to build its programming and curriculum. As the university is in the process of revising its general education curriculum, the Provost’s Office is positioning a key course, “Virtue, Flourishing, and Vocation,” to serve as a capstone for the segment of a student’s vocational journey that takes place at Lipscomb. Students will take the course in their junior or senior year with a faculty member from their college or discipline. This course, though discipline-specific sections, will consider how one's discipline or career can be rooted in and informed by Christian notions of virtue and human flourishing with a focus on vocation and ethics.
The NetVUE grant will provide funding to train and equip the teaching faculty for these courses in vocational exploration so they may guide and facilitate their respective sections, and support the development of the common curriculum and assignments to be delivered in each section of the course. Specifically, the grant will support an initial multi-day seminar and working retreat where a key working group of faculty members will engage in curriculum development that will expand the vocation-related work that is taking place on our campus by embedding it into a core academic offering.
“We are grateful for the support of NetVUE as we develop a key initiative in our initiative to integrate vocation and academics,” said Lipscomb President Candice McQueen. “The goals, activities and envisioned outcomes are aligned with Lipscomb’s Impact 360 strategic plan, and this grant will help us deliver our best as we develop this new initiative. The benefits will be felt by students and professors for years to come.”
“It is our goal to walk alongside our students as they discover God's vocational call on their lives. This grant will allow Lipscomb to foster a community of practice amongst our faculty and staff as we support one another in teaching vocational exploration and serving as ambassadors and champions for vocation,” Provost Jennifer Shewmaker added.
The CVD opened in fall 2022 to help students discover their purpose while also preparing for a career beginning with the freshman class. The CVD takes students on a four-year journey of life discovery that unifies their entire university experience. Each year of a student’s experience they have a specific focus that is integrated into academics, student life and spiritual formation activities. Learn more here.
NetVUE is a nationwide network of 300 colleges and universities formed to support and enrich vocational exploration and discernment among undergraduate students. The CIC administers NetVUE with guidance from an advisory council comprising representatives from participating institutions. To learn more about NetVUE, visit cic.edu/networks/netvue/.