Grant Summary
$25,000 over 12 months to develop the Vanguard Odyssey (VO) program, embedding transformative texts in general courses that are flagged for students as part of the VO Pathways, and creating two stackable credentials, a 9-credit Human Experience badge that can nest within a 15-credit Certificate of Proficiency in Critical Inquiry and Communication. The VO program will be built around a set of shared place-based texts that speak to Arkansas communities and civic heritage, with the goals of cultivating the skills that support student persistence, civic participation, and workforce readiness in an AI-intensive future.