JOHNSON CITY (August 4, 2021) —Beginning this fall, a new Changemaker minor will
be offered through the Honors College at East Tennessee State University. The Changemaker Scholars minor is an update and
revision to the current Presidential Honors Community Service Scholars program for
which it replaces. The first cohort of 25 Changemaker Scholars was selected in spring
2021.
The purpose of the new minor is to engage students to think about and work on problems
at a more systemic level and to develop innovative, sustainable, scalable, and measurable
solutions.
Dr. Chris Keller, dean of ETSU Honors College, identified the term “changemaking”
as an up-and-coming term both nationally and internationally, noting there are more
than 40 changemaker programs worldwide, with approximately half of those in the U.S.
The reason for creating a minor rather than a new program within the Honors College,
said Keller, was not only to lend it more coherence and structure but also to include
it in the student program of study which will allow students to utilize financial
aid opportunities.
“The changemaker minor equips students with the mindset, knowledge, and skills to
effect positive social change in their communities,” added Keller. “Grounded in theories
and methodologies of social innovation and social entrepreneurship, the minor affords
students opportunities to study, develop, and implement regional social change projects
in collaboration with partners in education, government, industry, and nonprofit sectors.
The minor connects closely with ETSU’s strategic efforts to ‘improve the lives of
the people in our region.’”
The 18-credit program will provide opportunities for students with a variety of interests
and majors to gain a deeper understanding of social problems, collaborate with campus
and community partners to find creative solutions to these problems, and integrate
a changemaker mindset into their academic, personal, and professional lives. Courses
include topics local to Johnson City, the region and abroad, as well as coursework
in social innovation, service learning and grant writing.
For more information, contact Dr. Keller at kellercj@etsu.edu, call 423-439-6076, or visit etsu.edu/honors/.