Definition of Scholarship, Research and Creative Activity
Scholarly or creative activity is defined as the process of research leading to scholarly or creative products and the active participation in one's discipline or in interdisciplinary work.
Scholarship, particularly in comprehensive teaching universities must be framed in a way that it is inclusive of a range of scholarly activities. VIU utilizes the expanded definition of scholarship and research which classifies four types of scholarship as proposed by Ernest Boyer. These include:
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scholarship of discovery which includes original research that advances knowledge,
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the scholarship of integration which includes synthesis of information across disciplines, across topics within a discipline or across time,
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the scholarship of application which involves the application of disciplinary expertise with results that can be shared external to the University, and
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the scholarship of teaching and learning which allows for public sharing and the opportunity for application and evaluation by others.
The scholarship of engagement, or the use of scholarship to understand and solve pressing social, civic and ethical problems is critical to VIU’s special purpose mandate.