Augustana University Civitas Honors Program Application

The Latin word “Civitas” means, in its broadest sense, “citizenship:” exercising the rights, privileges and responsibilities of a given place. The Augustana University Civitas Honors Program invites students of exceptional quality to consider the values central to responsible citizenship at Augustana, in the United States, and in the global community. Founded on Lutheran theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s essay The Structure of Responsible Life, Civitas provides students with a rigorous intellectual exploration of the intersections between vocation, citizenship, and local, national, and global service.

Applicants should hold a minimum 3.5 high school GPA to qualify for admission. International students must hold a minimum score of 600 on the SAT Evidence Based Reading/Writing test or sub-scores of 27 or higher for the ACT English and Reading tests in order to be considered for Civitas admission. The first-year cohort is limited to 40 students. Applications are reviewed on a monthly basis, beginning on October 31, until the first-year cohort is full. Please direct questions to Dr. William Swart, Civitas Director (swart@augie.edu).

Your high school transcript, and ACT/SAT scores (if provided) are already on file with the Office of Admission and will be made available to the Civitas committee for evaluation. In addition, please complete the application below.

Student Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Birthdate

Mailing Address

Country

Street

City

Region

Postal Code

High School Name

High School City, State

Graduating Class Size

The Civitas program seeks students who understand that intellectual development is equally important as their high GPA or SAT score. We are looking for students interested in the rigorous exploration of the values, practices, and decisions involved in leading a responsible life and practicing local, national and global citizenship. Ideally, the person best suited to Civitas honors is the student who is willing to partner with faculty and students in small discussion classes designed to push the boundaries of their thinking.

Please note that although you will submit an electronic application, the best answers are composed off-line, carefully edited, and then uploaded to the online form below.

To apply to Civitas Honors, please address the following questions:

The Civitas Honors Program encourages students to consider how they benefit from being a member of a community and, in return, their responsibilities to that community. We define “citizenship” as the awareness of the privileges we’ve received from being a part of a community and then using those advantages to serve others. In approximately 200 words, how you would apply this definition to your practice of citizenship (in your school, extracurricular activities, or community activities). Use specific examples.

Civitas courses are mainly non-lecture courses that emphasize discussion, writing, and creative or experiential projects over memorization and test-taking. In approximately 200 words, tell us how you responded to this kind of classroom environment in high school and/or how this kind of classroom experience could benefit your future goals (college major, career aspirations, personal growth, etc.) Provide specific examples.

Please upload or submit a piece of work that your feel best exemplifies your intellectual or creative ability. Your submission might include a piece of art, a written work (research paper, essay, poem, etc.), a science project, a musical composition, or a video. It may be something you submitted for a grade or any intellectual work you deem appropriate. This requirement is intentionally flexible; our goal is to gain a more holistic sense of you and what excites you academically and intellectually. Physical objects submitted for consideration will be returned to the students after their application is considered.

If you have a submission that is a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) or PDF (.pdf), you are welcome to upload that here.

To submit a video or any other material, include the link below.

The admission committee will not evaluate the project itself. Instead, in 500 words reflect on the following questions:

How does your project reflect what excites you about this topic/subject and why did you decide to submit it? What stumbling blocks did you encounter as you produced this work and how did you respond to those challenges? How did the project challenge you to think in new ways or teach you important intellectual or life lessons?