Academic-Residential Co-Curriculum

VPUE’s Academic-Residential Co-Curriculum (ARC) program aims to connect undergraduates with faculty and academic staff. ARC seeks to enhance undergraduates’ opportunities to form lasting professional relationships and networks, and to develop lifelong mentors.

ARC supports co-curricular and community building opportunities to enhance undergraduates' ability to form lasting professional connections with academic mentors who are invested in students' success.

Professor Larry Diamond and small group of undergraduate students sit around a wooden table outside for a photo. — Professor Larry Diamond and a group of undergraduate students reflect on their work on Democracy Day.

We focus on

developing spaces for intellectual and academic exchange and conversation outside the formal classroom;
providing significantly enhanced opportunities for faculty-student connection and network-building;
helping develop friendly events and mixers for mentorship and informal advising;
supporting efforts to nurture students’ confidence, positivity, and sense of belonging;
building faculty understanding of students—their lives, ambitions, and interests.

Examples of programs run or supported by ARC

Site visit to the Tenderloin and Urban Alchemy led by Professor Forrest Stuart
A weekend at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland, OR led by Linda Paulson
"Heartrender" - A Student-generated project, Zach Lo and Ben Schwartz
Ancient Egypt in California (San Jose and Los Angeles) led by Professor Grant Parker
"Family Dinners" hosted by the Center for Human Rights and International Justice
"Negotiating Transitions" panel with the Distinguished Careers Institute for Transfer students
Small group coffee hours with Faculty and Senior Lecturers (such as Professor Jamil Zaki, Senior Lecturer Nick Parlante) led by Jennifer Randall Crosby

Grant funding opportunities by ARC

Students posing for a group photo outside in Ashland, Oregon.

ARC Grants

ARC grants are open to all faculty, instructors, and students. The essential requirement for an ARC grant is that the funded activity will foster a space for undergraduate students to interact and develop intellectually and professionally beneficial relationships with their faculty and instructors.

Learn more about ARC Grants

Özgen Felek teaching her undergraduate course 'Islamic Manuscript Illumination: History, Theory and Practice'.

Nexus Departmental Grant

Open to academic departments and pre-professional organizations, the Nexus Departmental Grant primarily focuses on supporting academic community building solutions, peer mentoring, and honors support.

Apply to a Nexus Departmental Grant