Ruff Scholarship
The Ruff Scholarship, a generous annual donation from Jim and Walta Ruff, is actually multiple scholarships.
This scholarship supports current and prospective teachers studying in the CSU English Education program. Multiple awards for up to six credits of tuition may be made annually. Applicants must demonstrate how they will use the funds toward professional development or their degree.
Eligible applicants include individuals in any one of the three following categories:
- Employed, full- or part-time, as an English language arts teacher in a public school or
- Current undergraduate or graduate students who are within 30 credits of completing their degree and have financial need or
- Undergraduate or graduate students who will be student teaching in the spring and in need of financial assistance to reduce the number of hours outside of student teaching that they would work to pay tuition.
We seek applicants with the desire to achieve any or all of the following goals:
- deepen and broaden their knowledge in areas relevant to their teaching
- critically engage with literacy studies, literary scholarship, academic and creative writing, and/or teacher inquiry
- revitalize their work with students, especially those from historically marginalized or underserved populations
- connect to a professional community with shared interests
- begin or continue a graduate degree in English
Applicants who self-identify as members of marginalized populations are strongly encouraged to apply. The application deadline is September 9, 2026.
We offer graduate-level English courses in the late afternoons (starting at 4pm or later) once per week.
Fall 2026
E503 Qualitative Research Methods (Investigating Classroom Literacies)
This course prepares those interested in working in classrooms to participate in teacher action research and to (continue to) enter into professional conversations to advance educational change. Students in the course will have the opportunity to engage in their own research interests as they move toward the goals of the course. Students will develop a classroom literacy topic they are interested in exploring and work through a research cycle to investigate that topic. Students will hear from a variety of researchers in the field and also explore their own identities and positionalities and how they come into their research interests and processes. The class is open to students in all programs.
Spring 2027
E632 Professional Concerns: Youth Participatory Action Research
This course explores the study of youth participatory action research, methods, and the importance of community. We will examine the ways in which research can engage students and communities alongside sociopolitical and sociocultural practices of civic engagement and literacy practices. Students will learn strategies they can use to support and empower young people as activists, writers, and civically engaged community members. The class is open to students in all programs.
Ruff Scholarship Application
Fill in and submit this digital form to apply for the Ruff Scholarship
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