Department website: https://honors.ua.edu/programs/university-fellows-experience/
Following the classical purpose of education, the production of good citizens, The Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program strives to prepare the most able and dedicated students at The University of Alabama for remarkable lives of leadership in and service to their community, state, nation, and world. Thomas Henry Huxley wrote, “The great end of life is not knowledge, but action.” Similarly, our mission is to shape and enable students with exceptional innate gifts and abilities to use the knowledge gained for leadership and service. It is expected that throughout their lives, Witt Fellows will make a difference for the good, again and again.
Upon graduation, students should be able to address, through an understanding grounded in practice, the following critical questions pertaining to leadership, scholarship, and citizenship:
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Engaged citizenship: What does caring deeply about the world look like?
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Empathetic, dynamic leadership: What are best practices for effective leadership in today’s highly dynamic and diverse environments?
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Ethical, transformative scholarship: What does it mean to be a transformative ethical scholar?
Admission and Graduation Requirements
Acceptance into the Witt University Fellows Program is extremely competitive. Incoming freshmen with an ACT score of 32 or an SAT score of at least 1420 (evidence-based reading and writing plus math) and a high-school GPA of 3.8 or higher are eligible to apply. A student who meets the automatic eligibility requirements may access the application once accepted to The University of Alabama.
Any incoming freshman who does not meet the automatic eligibility requirements to apply may use the Nomination Path to Apply. Once accepted to The University of Alabama Honors College, a student may be nominated by a high school representative or a UA faculty member.
The Witt Fellows selection committee will consider record of impact in the community, leadership achievements, extracurricular activities and essays with equal weight to grades and test scores. This program seeks students who ultimately will make a difference throughout their lives; therefore, creativity, productivity, community engagement, leadership and personal growth are points to highlight on the resume and in the application. Semi-finalists are notified in early January; finalists are invited to on-campus interviews in February.
To complete the requirements of the Social Innovation and Leadership minor, Witt Fellows must maintain an overall GPA of 3.5 and complete 16 credit hours of coursework. Under extraordinary circumstances, course substitutions may be granted by the director.
| Social Innovation and Leadership Minor | Hours | |
|---|---|---|
| UFE 101 | Understanding Poverty | 3 |
| UFE 102 | Soc Invest:Role of Innovation | 3 |
| UFE 201 | SystemicChange:Soc Entrpren | 2 |
| UFE 202 | Soc Innov:Collective Impact | 2 |
| UFE 301 | Leadership&Change:Global Persp | 1 |
| UFE 302 | Impacting a Global Society | 1 |
| UFE 303 | Making an Impact | 1 |
| UFE 400 | Magnum Opus Experience (UFE 400 may be repeated for a total of 6 credit hours ) | 3 |
| Total Required Hours | 16 | |
Contact
For more information, contact The University of Alabama Honors College, The Dr. Robert E. Witt University Fellows Program, Box 870169, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0169; (205) 348-5500; honors.ua.edu.