Student Engagement Initiatives

Linda Krzykowski, Ph.D., Assistant Vice Provost for Student Engagement

Student Engagement, housed within the Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education works to provide opportunities and pathways for students to be active and engaged in their studies both inside and outside the classroom. We offer First Year Experience programs for both freshman and transfer students. Students find many different ways to connect with their professors, including:

• Living-Learning Communities provide incoming freshmen and transfers an opportunity to live with and take classes with others who share their interests. Students participate with faculty and current UAlbany students in and outside the classroom: www.albany.edu/student_engagement/living_learning_communities.php
• The Freshman Seminar allows students to explore an area of interest and gain insight into the academic expectations of the University at Albany. A wide variety of one-credit Freshman Seminars are offered by teaching faculty in the fall semester. Freshman Seminars are limited to 25 students per section, offering first-year students the opportunity for personal interaction with a faculty member. While exploring the chosen topic, students will also be introduced to the academic expectations, opportunities, and challenges of University life: www.albany.edu/student_engagement/freshman_seminars.php
• Transfer Student Engagement includes Transfer Communities and special classes to help new transfer students transition to UAlbany and find the academic and social support they need to succeed: www.albany.edu/transfer_students/
• Explore UAlbany — During Great Dane Beginnings Opening Weekend, incoming students attend lectures on cutting edge topics and meet faculty before classes start: www.albany.edu/student_engagement/64147.php  
• Food for Thought — A program where students and professors meet for lunch:
  www.albany.edu/student_engagement/63992.php
• Munch with the Major — Students intending to major in a specific discipline meet faculty and staff from that area and learn how to be successful in that discipline. With a focus on informational conversations over dessert, students learn about undergraduate research opportunities, internships, different tracks within the major, and what successful graduates who have majored in the department have done: www.albany.edu/student_engagement/63993.php
• Supporting faculty and staff who volunteer as advisors for students, Clubs and Groups: www.albany.edu/involvement/facultyadvisors.shtml
• Fostering UAlbany academic traditions like Baccalaureate Torch Reception and Food for Finals:
  www.albany.edu/spirit/traditions.shtml

For additional details, visit: www.albany.edu/student_engagement/.