Building Communities
Build a strong community
When you engage in our Grainger Engineering student communities, you offer students the opportunity to understand how curriculum in the classroom applies to the real world and what future engineering career opportunities await them.
We have a variety of initiatives that strive to build a connection between the students and their new home from their first days on campus. These programs endeavor to build both social and academic engagement, which provides them with the skills they will need to be successful during their time on campus, resulting in much higher student retention during the first-year and sophomore years. You can participate in any of these activities. We’re ready to work with you to plan out something specific to your company that will have the greatest impact for you and our students.
Women in Engineering (WIE)
Women in Engineering (WIE) offers a mentoring class for women engineering students. Benefits include:
- Each incoming student is paired with an engineering upperclassman and a faculty member.
- Seminar speakers from corporations and academia make presentations to the class on professional and leadership skills.
- Corporate mentors provide electronic mentoring to the participants.
Academic Redshirt in Science and Engineering (ARISE)
ARISE is a program that provides academically talented students coming from low -income backgrounds support and preparation to successfully earn their engineering degrees from the University of Illinois. If accepted, students are directly admitted to The Grainger College of Engineering.
Morrill Engineering Program (MEP)
The mission of the Morrill Engineering Program (MEP) is to empower African American, Hispanic, and Native American engineering students, support their success as scholars, and leverage a community of students, staff, and alumni to achieve excellence in engineering. MEP hosts a variety of activities throughout the year to enhance the student experience.
Launch
Launch welcomes the incoming engineering students with food, activities, and fun during the first week of classes. Opportunities for extracurricular activities are presented by student groups at booths throughout the event. This event creates a foundation to build a supportive environment for our students.