Meritus Scholars Faculty Information

Meritus Scholars is a Metropolitan State University of Denver audit program for community members who are 60 years of age or older. The program is housed in the Center for Individualized Learning and has been in existence since the early 1980s. The Meritus Scholars program supports Pillar 3: Civic and Economic Engagement of the 2030 MSU Denver Strategic Plan.

For more information about the Meritus Scholars program visit our website at Meritus Scholars Program.

Attendance by Meritus Scholars participants in a course is at the discretion of the faculty member and department chair. As a faculty member,

1. You may integrate participants into your classroom as you desire. The level of their participation is at your discretion.
2. Because the program is audit only, you are not required to grade (and you are encouraged NOT to grade) a Meritus Scholars participant’s homework, papers, and participants are not required to complete any of the course requirements or meet pre-requisites.
3. Participants do not contribute to credit hour production since they do not pay tuition.
4. There is no extra compensation for allowing participants to attend a course.
5. You are allowed to submit Care Reports or request the program to remove a student from the course.  Please confer with Sara Jackson Shumate, Ph.D. at [email protected] prior to submitting a Care Report.
6. There must be empty seats in the course for you to approve participants attendance.
7. If you do not want Meritus Scholars to participate in your courses, please contact [email protected] and we can add your courses to the course restrictions list.

• Participants can attend two courses per semester.
• Participants are allowed to attend in person and online courses as resources permit.
• Meritus Scholars are held to the same code of conduct as tuition paying students.

• Participants register through the Center for Individualized Learning (303-615-0525) and NOT through the Registrar’s office. We use Dynamic Forms for program registration.
• If a participant appears on your roster, notify Susan Heath, Meritus Scholars Coordinator, at 303-615-0525 or email [email protected] They may have registered through the university registration system and could receive a bill for tuition.
• You can contact the program if you are unsure of a participant’s enrollment in your course or want to have them removed from your Canvas course.

• Meritus Scholars participants should never appear on your class roster; however, they will appear in Canvas.
• Please do not add participants to your Canvas course if you are unsure of their enrollment status.

• • If they are not registered through the Meritus Scholars program, they will not have access to the university systems they need to participate in a course.

• Please refer participants to [email protected] if they need Canvas access.

You can request to have a participant removed from your Canvas course. Email [email protected]. Please include the student’s full name, the course name and CRN#, and 900# (if you know it).

• Participants now have access to a free university student identification card so they can access campus buildings and classrooms.
• Participants can also use their IDs to access campus events and student services like the library.

• You can provide meaningful and valuable life-long learning to community members over 60 years of age.
• You can promote and enjoy cross-generational collaborations, enhancing the university community.
• You can expand your students’ horizons and yours by encouraging inter-generational learning.
• Student classroom interactions are enhanced by the participation of Meritus Scholars in class discussions, projects, etc.

The Meritus Scholars Advisory Committee supports Meritus Scholars programming. The Committee provides recommendations and guidance to the CIL staff on Meritus Scholars programming, community outreach, and maintaining campus partnerships. The committee also supports CIL staff in the development and assessment of program goals and initiatives.

If you are interested in joining the committee, please contact Sara Jackson Shumate, Ph.D., Director, CIL at [email protected].

Do you have questions about the Meritus Scholars program?  Please contact the CIL Director Sara Jackson Shumate, Ph.D. or the Program Coordinator, Susan A. Heath, M.Ed. at [email protected].