School:University of San Diego
Contents
Overview
Undergraduate Degrees
- Anthropology
- Architecture
- Art History
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Biochemistry
- Biology
- Biophysics
- Chemistry
- Communication Studies
- English
- Environmental and Ocean Studies
- Ethnic Studies
- French
- History
- Interdisplicinary
- International Relations
- Italian Studies
- Liberal Studies
- Mathematics
- Music
- Philosophy
- Physics
- Political Science
- Spanish
- Theatre
- Theology and Religious Studies
- Visual Arts
- Economics
- Business Administration
- Business Economics
- Finance
- International Business
- Marketing
- Real Estate
- Accountancy
- Computer Science
- Electrical Engineering
- Industrial and System Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
Graduate Degrees
- International Relations
- Acting
- Environmental and Ocean Sciences
- Master of Science in Nursing
- Master's Entry Program in Nursing
- Healthcare Informatics
- Doctor of Nursing Practice
- PhD of Nursing Practice
- PhD in Nursing
- Peace and Justice
- Social Innovation
- Conflict Management and Resolution
- Cyber Security Operations and Leadership
- Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership
- Business Administration
- Accountancy
- Executive Leadership
- Finance
- Global Leadership
- Real Estate
- Supply Chain Management
- Taxation
- Business and Corporate Law
- Comparative Law
- General LLM
- International Law
- Legal Studies
- Juris Doctor
- Counseling
- Higher Education Leadership
- Marital and Family Therapy
- Nonprofit Leadership and Management
- Master of Education
- Special Education
- TESOL, Literacy and Culture
- Leadership Studies
- Cyber Security Engineering
Changemaker Hub
The Changemaker Hub is a resource for students on campus to actively learn and engage with social justice and social innovation on a global scale and local scale. This is an Ashoka U certified organization on our campus that allows us to actively network with other universities around the globe passionate about social innovation. This resource provides education and experience human-centered design, user testing, community engagement, and much more.
Initiatives on Campus
Current initiatives on our campus include a variety of events across multiple departments. Our Changemaker Hub promotes social innovation and entrepreneurship through Social Change Corps, Changemaker Student Committee, hosting a social innovation lab and promoting social innovation to incoming students. Our Career Development Center encourages students to go on a “Torero Trek” which is an opportunity for students to travel across the country to learn about career opportunities from innovative and diverse businesses. In addition to departmental initiatives, students who have created their own organizations on campus also promote and take part in social innovation and entrepreneurship. Some Student run organizations include: Net Impact Club, TEDx, and pancake peeps. These Organization along with many others go above and beyond to take action and hold events throughout the year.
In addition, USD is currently implementing a strategic plan "Envisioning 2024". This strategic plan has been put in place to capitalizes on the university’s recent progress and aligns new strategic goals with current strengths to help shape a vision for the future as the university looks ahead to its 75th anniversary in the year 2024. Through this process we are analyzing how we can enhance student success, strengthen diversity, inclusion, and social justice, and improve other aspects of our campus.
Areas We Can Improve
USD offers a wide range of events and opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds but we can still improve some aspects of our campus. We feel that we can re-imagine parts of the Freshmen Orientation experience so as to accommodate all students better and ensure we are offering the most engaging and innovative opportunities our campus has to offer.
Events on Campus
-My Story
-What I Be Project
-Dinner with Strangers
-Changemaker Challenge
-Social Change Corps
Feedback from Students
When we interviewed some students on campus we found that there were a few common concerns among the students. Many voiced concerns about the lack of transportation from and around campus. When interviewing students it was also made apparent that we can do a better job publicizing some opportunities better to students such as grants offered and opportunities for students to use what they learned in the classroom in real life. Students also shared that they enjoyed our events that were linked to the community such as My Story and Dinner with Strangers and they would appreciate working more with the local USD community.
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Analyzing our Landscape Canvas
Active students who hold leadership positions and who take initiative are more aware of various opportunities for innovation, but the general student body and alumni often lack a way of connecting to our Changemaker identity. We consider this a big problem that we want to explore and further research. In addition, in the "spin out" section USD lacked a long-term support system of students interested in innovation and entrepreneurship after graduation. While USD offers a variety of ways to get involved while attending the college, it lacks a connect to alumni and supporting students after they graduate.
Strategic Priorities
Session 4 Strategic Priorities How do we bridge the gap between opportunities for social innovation/entrepreneurship and students?
Connect a network of motivated students interested in innovation to be the student representatives for our USD Changemaker Identity. USD Thread: Our idea is to model a component of the nonprofit organization called Thread at our university. Students would apply to the program both as current student leaders and incoming first year students. 100 students would be selected into the program. Every month a group of 10 students randomly assigned to a different group every month would meet to discuss a specific topic related to social justice, innovation, and the USD sense of community both on campus and off campus. After 10 dinners and discussions with a new group of 10 people, we will have a large dinner with all 100 participants of USD Thread to discuss their ideas and findings with the administration. As a sociology major I know that tackling most social justice issues starts with a conversation and informing people of different perspectives. This idea of Thread is to connect a diverse student body to identify with our changemaker identity. We have prototyped a similar model to Thread with a Changemaker event called "Dinner with Strangers". The discussions have always been very engaging and the students feel very connected after having the space to talk about important issues. I think expanding this event with more structure and purpose would greatly contribute to building connections among a diverse student body.
Providing a platform that connects local socially conscious companies with internship opportunities for USD Expand the Impact Career Fair: Vet companies that match our changemaker identity and bring them to campus for a career fair. Student Internship Blog: Students can share descriptions and pictures of their summer internship. This would be in conjunction with the Summer Internship Award so the students receiving the award would have their internships highlighted and posted on social media.
Connect students and local businesses Allow students in courses to collaborate with business and work together to solve problems. We lack substantial entrepreneurship opportunities for students at USD so we hope to build off of the ones we have and create new ones with local startup businesses. Farmers Markets are very popular in San Diego with multiple locations and a hub for local entrepreneurs. This marks an excellent entry way for students to help with local businesses and gain valuable skills in a start-up culture.
Connect student leaders To connect student leaders we have decided to create a Changemaker Student Core. This Core allows leaders of Student run organizations with similar mindsets to work together and encourage collaboration and increased involvement. With student leaders working together we can ensure that social innovation and entrepreneurship events are better publicized and also better attended. With a shared calendar we can make sure that events do not overlap allowing students to get involved with as much as possible on campus. We will also work with Associated Students to make sure student voice is heard. We will make sure there is a strong connection between associated students and the Changemaker Hub as both can strongly benefit from each others support.
Marketing/University Partnerships: Roadmap for Student Involvement Market to students through an independent forum discussing opportunities that that students can get involved in. Students will be able to promote, discuss, and actively engage in conversation about meaningful passions and common interests with other students on campus. This will help promote and navigate the opportunities on campus and allow students to engage in what they are looking for. It will reduce the clutter. Connect students with other innovators across other university campuses.
In order to expand opportunities on and off campus we will reach out to other universities interested in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. These events will include, hackathon, social innovation competitions and design thinking bootcamps to engage with the issues in our community.
Connect the USD Community with the Linda Vista Community Expand Social Change Corps: The Social Change Corps (SCC) supports students wanting to explore changemaking opportunities by providing financial support and mentoring. This initiative promotes students’ understanding of social issues and social justice as they actively participate in a community-based or social enterprise experience, locally or abroad. The 2017 SCC offers $500 during a semester for a team of three to five students to explore who they are as Changemakers and to develop their skills in framing social issues and creating innovative approaches to addressing them. All the SCC teams receive mentoring from the start.
Facilitate the connection between students and alumni (increase consistency) 2 pronged approach Incorporating networking with alumni into certain classes For example, all diversity “D” classes require students to connect with one person/do an informational interview with someone outside their typical contacts and get a new perspective on their passions, goals, etc “Changemaking Across Disciplines” networking events on campus Once a month casual dinners with alumni from a bunch of different fields Could take on the format of a panel, small group discussion
Please take a look at our Strategic priorities video at https://youtu.be/6y2aofmyf-M.
