BSC Fellows for a Whole Integrated Student Experience (BWISE)

Application for 2016-17

(For details regarding completing and submitting linked/ downloaded application, see “Application Instructions” below.)

BWISE is a group of undergraduates who are committed to helping other students develop and thrive in their learning at Harvard College. They work with the Bureau of Study Counsel (BSC) in a volunteer capacity.

Mission Statement

Together with the BSC staff, and taking a whole-student, reflection-oriented approach to learning, growth, and development, BSC Fellows work to guide and inspire students to approach their learning with strategy, skill, and a spirit of curiosity; to develop a sense of voice and authority in their scholarship, relationships, and leadership; and to discover a sense of what is authentically motivating and meaningful for them in their life and learning at Harvard.

Commitment

BSC Fellows commit to participate in BSC workshops and other programming for students, join in BSC-based discussions with faculty members and freshman advisors, advise the BSC on its services and programs, and partner with student organizations to create student-initiated events.

To ground themselves in the mission of the BSC and BWISE, BSC Fellows commit to participation in a weekly reflection and discussion group, facilitated by the BWISE supervisors. The group is a context in which students dedicate time and attention to contemplating and integrating their intellectual, social, and personal experience: How are we connecting what we are studying with what is authentically meaningful to us? How are we connecting what we learn in one course with what we learn in others? What in our life and learning leaves us feeling enlivened, engaged? How is our experience at Harvard changing how we think about our intellectual and creative work and our way of participating in the world?

Contemplation will take the form of searching, substantive, sustained conversation as well as experiential exercises that help us attend and attune to how we bring the whole of who we are to our experience of learning. Reflection and discussion are in the service of connecting – e.g., connecting different aspects of our experience; connecting to self, other, world, and purpose – and are based on the assumption that what we create and contribute in the world (of Harvard and beyond) is rendered wiser and more potent by virtue of such connectedness, or integration.

The time commitment averages out to 3 to 4 hours per week, including the Wednesday reflection and discussion group. As you might expect, depending on the activities and events, some weeks of the semester the BSC Fellows are busier than others.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Complete the application, and send the completed application (as an email attachment*) to all three BWISE supervisors: Robin Johnson Warrington (), Sheila Reindl (), and Claire Shindler () and by 11:59 p.m., Monday, March 7, 2016. Please also have your student recommender send the letter of recommendation to the three supervisors as an attachment. Interviews will take place as needed after the application deadline. (*If you’re seeing this page in hard copy, the application can be downloaded from

Applications are kept confidential; only the BWISE Committee (comprising Bureau counselors and current BSC Fellows) will read them.

Name:Click to enter text.

Year:Click to select year.

House/Freshman Dorm:Click to enter text.

Concentration (or possible anticipated concentration): Click to enter text.

Where did you hear about BWISE? Click to enter text.

BSC Fellows are required to attend a weekly reflection and discussion meeting at the BSC on Wednesdays, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. If you join BWISE, will you commit to this meeting time beginning in the fall of 2016?

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How much time each week are you able to commit to BWISE?Click to enter text.

Short Essay (roughly 350 words)

We would like to learn about what motivates you to seek this role and what you anticipate you might want to do in this role. In your experience, what do you need to feel fulfilled, creative, and effective in your academic life and learning? What do you feel you are missing in your experience as a student? As you think about it, what role might the BSC and BWISE play in helping students engage more fully and authentically in their learning? (We welcome specific ideas and possibilities.)

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Recommendation Letter (the letter must come from a Harvard student who knows you):

What qualities does your friend have that you think would make your friend a good BSC Fellow? (250 words or less)

Recommender: Please email your recommendation to all of the BWISE supervisors:

Robin Johnson Warrington

Sheila Reindl

Claire Shindler