New Program Addresses Poverty, Social Issues

Baylor University students, faculty and staff from across the University began a groundbreaking interdisciplinary poverty studies program this fall designed to create a catalyst for social change around issues of poverty, civic engagement, and social and economic justice.
Only the third undergraduate program of its kind, the Shepherd Poverty Program at Baylor is based on Washington and Lee University's nationally recognized Shepherd Program for the Interdisciplinary Study of Poverty and Human Capability. 
"The Shepherd Poverty Program represents a wonderful opportunity for Baylor University to partner with the community to address issues of poverty, civic engagement, and social and economic justice through discipline-based service learning, internships, research and evaluation," said Rosemary Townsend, director of business affairs, who will serve as coordinator of the Shepherd Poverty Program at Baylor.
The program will be under the administrative auspices of the Division of Student Life and the supervision of a faculty director and faculty-directed steering committee. Dr. Gaynor Yancey, associate dean for baccalaureate studies and professor of church and community in the School of Social Work, and Dr. Jon Singletary, BA '93, assistant professor of social work, will serve as faculty directors. 
A three-year strategic plan for the Shepherd Poverty Program at Baylor includes multiple initiatives, such as:
• creating a forum for students to develop their strengths in preparation for answering a call to sustained leadership, whether in private life, private enterprise, social issues or the church;
• beginning the interdisciplinary process to establish a minor in Poverty, Civic Engagement, and Social and Economic Justice, housed in the School of Social Work, which would be available to all degree programs across the University;
• providing competitive grants that will be available to outstanding faculty and qualified student interns involved in discipline-based projects; and
• launching regional, national and discipline-related international internship programs in 2008.