The Discovery Program

Students and faculty engage in research projects, taking learning outside the classroom.

The Discovery concept promotes innovative educational practices and active teaching-learning relationships centered around collaborative problem-solving. Students are encouraged to reflect on life’s great questions and to develop their abilities to find solutions to the problems facing the world. In a learner-centered atmosphere, students are given the opportunity to get a hands-on head-start in their career while making a real difference in the world around them.

Benedictine College students and faculty share an intellectual journey which seeks to revitalize liberal arts education by applying the strengths of a liberal education to bridge the gap between learning and working. The challenges of the twenty-first century are guided by the traditions and values inherited from centuries of intellectual, cultural, and spiritual growth. Graduates who participate in the Discovery program are better prepared for the collaborative and creative demands they will encounter in the workplace.

Discovery Day has become a central academic event in the spring semester. Through Discovery Day, students experience the excitement of presenting (orally) and displaying (visually) their year’s intellectual ventures which have become an integral part of their learning experience.

Benedictine College’s Discovery Program prepares students for lifelong learning by engaging them in interdisciplinary Discovery Projects. These projects offer students a meaningful context for their liberal arts education by integrating multiple perspectives, translating understanding into performance, and extending learning beyond the classroom.

Criteria for Becoming a Discovery Scholar

The student has demonstrated a multi-year effort. In other words, the student must have completed two or more projects in more than one year.
The student was the project leader (oversee all aspects of the project and be the primary presenter at the Discovery Day Symposium). A project can only have one project leader.
The student’s Discovery projects were of a very high quality. The primary assessment tool for the quality will be the faculty/staff recommendations. See next bullet.
The student has submitted a completed application, including a well-written essay describing his/her contribution to the Discovery Program. This application will also include two recommendation forms. These recommendations must come from faculty/staff who have first-hand knowledge of the student’s progress and project contributions. One of the letters of recommendation must come from a faculty/staff sponsor on the project in which the student was the leader. Application forms will be made available online following Discovery Day.

Discovery Committee

Dr. Julie Bowen
Dr. Terry Malloy
Dr. Chris Shingledecker
Dr. Jeremy Stubblefield
Dr. John Romano
Dr. Andrew Downs