GCSP competency requirements
Guiding your path
Grand Challenges Scholars will complete coursework and/or experiential opportunities to achieve the five competencies of the Grand Challenges Scholars Program (social consciousness, multicultural, viable business/entrepreneurship, multidisciplinary, and talent), and showcase their work in a GCSP portfolio.
The Grand Challenges Scholars’ faculty and staff work closely with the undergraduate students to ensure their success in the program.
Talent
Fulton Grand Challenges Scholars will complete two semesters of mentored research or creative project experience related to their chosen Grand Challenge theme in order to gain hands-on experience and more in-depth knowledge of work in their chosen theme area. Students may participate in:
- the Grand Challenges Scholars Program Research Stipend,
- the Fulton Undergraduate Research (FURI) program,
- Research Experience for Undergraduates,
- Barrett, the Honors College research and thesis, or
- independent study with a faculty member.
Multidisciplinary
Fulton Grand Challenges Scholars will gain an understanding of the multidisciplinarity of engineering systems solutions to complex challenges facing society today. To gain an interdisciplinary perspective, students will complete coursework and/or experiences in other fields (outside of engineering) that complements their technical engineering work in order to prepare them to work at the overlap with public policy, business, law, ethics, human behavior, risk, the arts, and medicine.
Grand Challenges Scholars must enroll in FSE 150: Perspectives on Grand Challenges for Engineering (3 credit hours) within their first year in the program to meet the first requirement. This course provides opportunities to learn about global challenges facing society from an interdisciplinary perspective. It meets a Social/Behavioral Sciences (SB) requirement and is designated as automatic honors credit for students in Barrett, the Honors College.
In addition, students will complete an upper division interdisciplinary course OR participate in an interdisciplinary experience to meet the second requirement.
Viable Business/Entrepreneurship
Fulton Grand Challenges Scholars will complete an entrepreneurship course or experience to develop an understanding of the necessity of a viable business model for solution implementation. Through the course or experience, students will learn how to translate invention to innovation, and how to develop market ventures that scale to global solutions in the public interest.
Students will complete FSE 301: Entrepreneurship & Value Creation course, OR participate in a substantial entrepreneurial experience, such as ASU Venture Devils, that aligns with their selected Grand Challenges theme to satisfy the requirement.
Multicultural
Grand Challenges Scholars will complete experience(s) and/or course(s) to develop an understanding of different cultures that is necessary to ensure cultural acceptance of proposed engineering solutions. Students must develop this multicultural awareness and global perspective for them to address the global Grand Challenges and to become leaders of innovation in a global economy.
Students must enroll in one multicultural/global course or participate in a multicultural experience to meet the first requirement. The student then has the option to enroll in one upper division multicultural/global related course, or participate in a multicultural experience.
Examples of multicultural experiences that can be approved to satisfy the requirements include:
- an approved study abroad program or faculty directed study abroad program,
- a global internship,
- a global Engineers Without Borders project, or
- an EPICS project with a multicultural component.
Meet our graduates
Learn how our GCSP graduates completed their requirements.
GCSP Portfolio
GCSP program participants must create a digital GCSP Portfolio to document and reflect on their experiences in the program.
The digital portfolio will contain a representation of the work that the program participant has completed, and will demonstrate how the components are interconnected and aligned with their chosen grand challenges theme.
The final portfolio must be submitted during the student’s last semester to graduate as a Grand Challenges Scholar.
Social Consciousness
Fulton Grand Challenges Scholars will develop an understanding that engineering solutions should primarily serve people and society reflecting social consciousness. Students complete service learning to develop this social consciousness and motivation to use their technical expertise to help solve societal problems.
A student must demonstrate leadership in a significant project related to their grand challenge area for 80 service learning hours, OR enrolled in two semesters of the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) coursework. Service learning may be demonstrated via leadership roles in Engineers Without Borders, Bridges to Prosperity, engineering outreach, or other service learning opportunities that relate to engineering and to service learning.