Portfolio
The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education (VPUE) leads initiatives and programs that broaden access to learning opportunities, provide essential academic supports, emphasize diversity education, and ease cross-college faculty and staff collaborations, ensuring that all undergraduates get the most out of their Cornell education.
Assessment
The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees and coordinates assessment processes across the campus, providing support and information to faculty and programs, and advancing efforts in collecting and using information about student learning. The Vice Provost also oversees university accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
Cornell Student Experience Initiative (CSEI)
The CSEI team works with campus partners across the university to support student engagement and inform student development professionals in their assistance of undergraduate students at Cornell. This is accomplished by implementing technology built on and integrated with the Salesforce platform. Projects are developed to encourage collaboration across the Cornell community and provide centralized information. This, in turn, makes it equitable and easier for students to access opportunities across the university. Analytics are collected and reviewed, which inform institutional research, priorities, and decision-making.
Faculty Living-Learning Programs
To further enhance the undergraduate experience outside of the colleges and schools, many faculty members are engaged with faculty living-learning programs in the residential spaces as live-in residential faculty, faculty affiliated with on-campus residences, and instructors of Learning Where You Live courses. Interactions in these spaces focus primarily on intellectual engagement, cultural understanding, community-building, and wellness. Through planned events and informal interactions, faculty often engage in informal mentoring about the transition to college, academic and career planning, and campus and community resources.
In partnership with the division of Student and Campus Life, the office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education offers two types of living-learning initiatives: Those that are explicitly connected to the undergraduate residences and those that are more closely aligned with the academic experience.
North Campus Faculty Programs oversees faculty involvement on North Campus and in the university-owned residential communities on South Campus. The primary focus is on the first-year experience with the aims of encouraging intellectual curiosity, risk-taking, and exploration; inspiring learning outside the classroom; unifying and bridging academic specialization to offer a one-university experience; and supporting, advising and mentoring first-year students.
The West Campus House System was created by faculty to offer upper-level and transfer students a residential experience with extensive faculty involvement. In the house system, students and faculty gather in a spirit of inquiry and active citizenship, offering students an actively engaged community of their own – one that fosters personal discovery and growth and nurtures scholarship, creativity, and responsible stewardship.
In addition to the two residentially-based initiatives, faculty living-learning programs oversees Learning Where You Live (LWYL) courses. LWYL courses are fundamentally different in both form and content from typical courses at Cornell. They are designed to bring faculty and undergraduate students together in comfortable, welcoming settings that eliminate the formal barriers of the traditional classroom, foster a sense of “home” and social belonging, encourage sustained interaction between students and faculty, provide students with opportunities to explore topics outside of their intended fields of study, and promote active participation of students in their learning experience. Imbued with a liberal education orientation, LWYL courses are meant to encourage intellectual curiosity, exchange, and exploration in and outside of the classroom as core features and values of a Cornell education.
Health Professions Advising Center (HPAC)
HPAC provides resources to undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in health professions. HPAC advisors assist students in making informed decisions on career growth and trajectories and provide information on various healthcare professions. This includes connecting students to alumni, internships opportunities, and various relevant resources across campus. Students are encouraged to reflect on their strengths and core values and how this aligns with their vision for their future profession. Pre-health advisors provide expertise and guidance on academic preparation, standardized entrance exams, the application process to health programs, and how to navigate the interview process.
Intergroup Dialogue Project (IDP)
IDP is an academic initiative that facilitates critical dialogue to foster human connection, social identity, communication, and strategic change to create a more inclusive campus. IDP educators and scholars develop and lead scaffolded programs for students, faculty, and staff across the university that are grounded in research and data to support behavioral change on an institutional level. All incoming undergraduate students must complete the Community at Cornell program in their first semester at Cornell, where they learn and practice skills for meaningful and collaborative communication. Sessions are facilitated by current undergraduate students, IDP alum, graduate students, and staff. Students across colleges have the option to take additional courses that they can take for credit. Other offerings vary in length, size, and participation.
Learning Strategies Center (LSC)
LSC serves as a central academic support unit for undergraduate students. LSC’s services include office hours, tutoring, study skills consultations, workshops, and courses, which aim to ensure that students are able to meet and exceed Cornell’s high academic standards. LSC plays a pivotal role in assisting students as they transition to college life and acts as a mechanism to demystify academia. Staff create resources that give students insight and tools that they can use throughout their time at Cornell. Knowledge such as how to read a syllabus, definitions of general academic terms, what to do in the event of a class absence, and what to expect from and how to use office hours prove to be essential guides for students in navigating their undergraduate experience.
Additionally, LSC’s team of instructors and staff offer supplemental courses to support students in large introductory classes. These supplemental courses provide students an opportunity to gain additional practice with challenging course concepts.
The Pre-Collegiate Summer Scholars Program (PSSP) is an invitation-only program that prepares students for the challenges of their first year at Cornell. Students arrive prior to the start of the academic year and take summer session courses, determined by their college, and attend workshops and guest lectures, to become familiar with college life and build community.
Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives (OADI)
OADI serves as a central office providing academic and professional development support to students who are traditionally underrepresented and/or underserved in higher education. OADI’s mission is to ensure that all of Cornell’s students have equal and equitable access to opportunities that empower them to leverage their own agency as they seek to achieve their academic, professional, and personal goals. Signature programs are in part supported by grants from New York State Education Department (HEOP and CSTEP), SUNY (EOP), and Federal TRIO Grant (Ronald E. Post Baccalaureate Achievement Program). Programs not only allow students to leverage resources to be successful but also provide students with a sense of community, engagement, and belonging. OADI collaborates with partners across campus, helping to support students on their journey and exposing them to opportunities so that they can take full advantage of all that Cornell has to offer. OADI advisors provide academic, financial, professional, and community guidance for undergraduate students participating in signature OADI programs. Guidance and support from advisors provides essential support for students as they navigate their undergraduate experience at Cornell, particularly for students who identify as first in their families to attend college, low income and/or students of color. Additional methods of support come from a peer mentor program and graduate students mentoring undergraduate OADI participants.
Veterans at Cornell
Veterans at Cornell works with partners across campus to provide programming and support for undergraduate student veterans and current members of the military. The Undergraduate Student Veteran Program Director supports students from pre-application through to graduation, providing guidance on matters such as financial aid, veteran education benefits, and the enrollment process. Specialized programs are offered to assist veterans in their transition to Cornell and provide a strong sense of community and belonging.