USU Initiatives

Collaborative Opportunity Grant

The Collaborative Opportunity Grant (COG) is a grant-funded project designed to support emerging and innovative university-community partnerships to improve 21st Century skills delivery, acquisition, and transferability to the workforce. Projects focus on transforming institutional practices, programs, policies, and culture with a particular emphasis on improving experiences of low-income, first-time in college (FTIC), or transfer students. USU has awarded grants to 15 different member institutions to develop and scale collaborations with external organizations such as other four-year universities, community colleges, school districts, businesses, or local governments.

Funder: The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

Federal Investments in University Success

Federal funding can bolster institutions to center equity, evidence, and excellence in their student success initiatives. Federal Investments in University Success (FIUS) provides resources, networking, and training to USU and APLU member institutions. It aims to elevate evidence-based student success strategies, promote collaboration and knowledge sharing among peers, and offer technical assistance to support universities interested in applying for federal funding. The project places special emphasis on institutions that serve diverse populations and those in regions with historically underserved communities and opportunity gaps.

Funder: Arnold Ventures

GTAs as Change Agents for Equitable Student Experience  

Building upon the principles and practices from the Student Experience Project (SEP), USU is collaborating with the University of New Mexico and the University of Colorado Denver to expand SEP’s model of faculty professional development to graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). At each institution, a collaborative team of graduate students, faculty, and teaching experts supports GTAs to implement evidence-based teaching practices, including wise feedback and social belonging statements, toward fostering an inclusive learning environment. These efforts are geared toward enhancing GTA success, positively impacting undergraduate and graduate student experiences, and pursuing improvements to department culture and policy.

Funder: The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Partner: Equity Accelerator

Student Experience Project

The Student Experience Project (SEP) has utilized more than a decade of social psychology research on the link between student belonging and academic achievement to engage USU and APLU member institutions in a multi-year network to transform the college student experience. Nearly 300 instructors from 6 institutions introduced SEP-developed inclusive teaching practices to create a more equitable student experience in their classrooms. This project has yielded a resource hub that includes reports, a comprehensive library of evidence-based practices, a Community of Practice Handbook, and the First Day Toolkit.

Funder: The Raikes Foundation

Partners: Equity Accelerator (formerly College Transition Collaborative), Education Counsel, PERTS, and Shift

SEP Institute 

Leveraging tools and frameworks developed and tested in the Student Experience Project (SEP), the SEP Institute supports institutions in designing and implementing a faculty community of practice to create a more positive and equitable student experience in the classroom. Using a cohort approach, campus teams of administrators, staff, and faculty receive access to SEP technical assistance and resources as they engage in an in-person workshop followed by facilitated monthly virtual meetings. USU and APLU support participating teams in designing a community of practice that will help further their institutional student success goals, and have worked with nearly 30 member institutions since 2023.

Funder: The Raikes Foundation

Urban Adult Learner Institute

Drawing from USU’s highly successful Partnership for Adult Learner Success (PALS) project, the Urban Adult Learner Institute (UALI) is a virtual, modular institute that builds awareness, disseminates best practices, and gathers national momentum in support of undergraduate adult learners. Through UALI, participants earn badges and a certification to advance equitable access, persistence, and completion rates for adult learners who are often balancing work, family responsibilities, and financial constraints. Adult learners possess a wealth of assets, face specific challenges, and require tailored support to succeed. UALI uniquely positions participants to be educators and advocates for this important student population.

USU Webinar Series

USU sponsors a series of webinars to provide member institutions with information, tools, and technical assistance on a wide array of topics related to educating and advocating for students in an urban context. These professional development experiences, led by industry experts and key partners of USU and APLU, are designed to facilitate maximum engagement and learning for participants. Topics include federal grant acquisition, effective data use and sharing, national data on student identities and experiences at urban-serving universities, supporting students’ basic needs, leadership, and strategic planning.