Piedmont College Compass Program (PCCP)

The role of the Compass Program is to engage students with individuals and contexts they may not otherwise encounter, and to develop an avenue for them to set goals, as well as reflect on insights gained and challenges faced during a distinctive experience. Further, the inclusion of an Experiential Learning Transcript as part of each graduate’s permanent academic record enables work outside the classroom to be easily recognized by prospective employers and graduate school admissions committees.

The PCCP Mission is as follows:

Recognizing the capacity of undergraduate education to be all-encompassing, the Piedmont College Compass Program expands the scope of academic inquiry to include experiential learning. Through exploratory excursions in selected areas, students engage with their peers, as well as faculty, staff, and participants in the wider community. Informed by reflection, these ventures cultivate a sense of direction while providing tools to navigate myriad spheres of responsibility.

Students will design and propose “Experiential Learning Endeavors” (ELEs) that point in the direction of any of six Compass Points of Interest:

• Service-Learning: Experiences beyond the Piedmont campuses in which students apply skills and gain knowledge in endeavors that make a discernible impact toward meeting a need
• Social Ethics: Experiences in which students demonstrate awareness of competing factors that inform the resolution of ethical dilemmas
• Creativity and Innovation: Experiences in which students design or develop something that serves a purpose, cultivates understanding, or is otherwise aesthetic or effective
• Cultural awareness: Experiences in which students encounter individuals whose cultural, ethnic or socioeconomic background differs from their own, thereby broadening their awareness of the breadth of values, beliefs and practices present in the world
• Vocation: Experiences which expose students to intellectual and professional pursuits as a means of clarifying their passion while cultivating a sense of calling and responsibility through discernment of their gifts, talents, skills and potential
• Leadership: Experiences in which students adopt multiple models of collaborative leadership in varied contexts to achieve specified outcomes

Students enrolled at Piedmont for all four of the undergraduate years (96-120 credit hours) are required to complete 45 hours of Experiential Learning Endeavors.  Transfer students who are required to take Piedmont 1101 (transferring with fewer than 24 credit hours) are also required to complete 45 hours of Experiential Learning Endeavors.  Transfer students who are not required to take Piedmont 1101 (transferring with more than 24 credit hours) are required to complete 30 hours of Experiential Learning Endeavors.  Students who complete the requirements for a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Physics (dual degree program with Georgia Tech) or Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science (dual degree program with Kennesaw State University) are required to complete 30 hours of Experiential Learning Endeavors.

Each ELE entails sponsorship by a member of the Piedmont College faculty or staff. All endeavors will originate with a project proposal and include a reflection component. Activities in which students have other obligations may be adapted to meet PCCP requirements, among them: internships, Maymester travel, athletic teams, employment on or off-campus, or volunteering for community agencies. Students may complete endeavors individually or as part of a collaborative effort. Upon completion of each endeavor, students will submit a succinct description of what they gained from the experience to the Compass Office; it subsequently will be filed with the Registrar. These summaries will comprise an Experiential Learning Transcript, which will be a component of each graduate’s permanent academic record. The Compass Program, under the auspices of the Department of Student Affairs, will maintain lists of prospective endeavors, available sponsors and other current information about the program on PilgrimNet. Questions may be emailed to compass@piedmont.edu.