Unique Course Components

• Rooted in philosophy of American Pragmatism & John Dewey, students serve as the Board of Directors  
• 4 Course Sections: 
  • Problem Identification  
  • Approaches to Change 
  • Evaluating Organizational Approaches 
  • Decision-Making 
• Teams: Students serve on 2 learning teams throughout semester: 
  • Content teams formed based on philanthropic interests – responsible for identifying, researching, and deciding on orgs to put forth for consideration  
  • Administrative teams: Leadership, Board, Giving Ceremony, Alumni relations, Funding Allocation 
• Reading Response Posts (RRPs): reflection on the required readings  
• Needs Assessment 
  • Students read local community needs assessments at beginning of semester 
    • Metro Social Services Community Needs Evaluation 
    • Davidson County Community Health Needs Assessment  
• Teams focus on interventions that address area of needs identified in community: 
  • Students pitch a problem to their group and write a paper on the problem  
  • Students write a paper considering at least two alternative conceptual approaches to the problem their group selected to focus on  
  • Teams prepare for visits to organizational finalists (describe criteria for evaluation and develop interview guide). Students participate in at least one site visit  
  • Team prepares briefing book describing need/opportunity, definition of issue and theory of change, recommended organization, why it was selected, how money could be used, and how it should be evaluated  
  • Students note at least one pro, con, and question for each briefing book 
  • Each team presents to the class about their issue and org they nominated for funding and how impact should be evaluated  
  • Develop evaluation plan for organization in next 1-2 years  
  • Students complete assessment of teammate participation 
• Philanthropy Learning Activity Post: select and outside class learning opportunity: visit Community Foundation of Middle TN or volunteer at an organization that is addressing your teams’ issue/concern  

Guest Speakers

• Ethan Fesperman, Vanderbilt Career Center
• Wade Munday, Director of Corporate Responsibility, Bridgestone Co.