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Brilliant Futures
A Chance To Explore: Inspiring Learning that Leads to Inspired Change.
The Promise of Education
Forward-thinking initiatives in the college are shaping the leaders who will one day shape the world.
Every student arrives with a passion. And here, that passion is refined in a program distinguished by its depth, breadth, and emphasis on fundamental skills and cultural understanding. Here, we teach new generations not what to think, but how. Here, we create the pioneers indispensable in the workplace and in the arena of ideas. Through the Brilliant Futures campaign, we'll continue that vital work, through forward-thinking initiatives that shape the leaders who will one day shape the world.
Creating a Sense of Community | Making Every Education a Global Experience | The Honor is All Ours | Real-World Experience | LAS Academic Advising Academy | Career Counseling—Opening the Next Set of Doors | Access to Opportunity—Merit and Need-Based Scholarships | LAS Teaching Academy
Creating a Sense of Community
The faster that students adjust to campus life, the sooner they'll succeed. That's the logic behind LAS first-year learning initiatives for students, innovative experiences that connect incoming students with peer mentors and up to 18 new students who share many of the same first-year concerns. They meet once a week, learning the ins and outs of campus, making helpful study connections and finding the friendships they'll treasure for life while earning one course credit. Students often list these close-knit communities, which may run from--learning communities, to first-year seminars, to special sections of courses—as among their best college experiences, and that sense of satisfaction is reflected in better academic outcomes and happier students. Currently, about half of our first-year students enroll. But our goal is eventually to see every LAS student connected, committed, and involved on campus through an exceptional LAS first-year experience program.
Making Every Education a Global Experience
In 1949, we introduced Latin American studies—the first international studies major at the University of Illinois. Today, we offer more than 80 percent of all international instruction on campus, and we're making cultural awareness an essential component of education in a world where global economic forces and increasing cultural conflict abound. Through our Global Studies Initiative, we're bringing the world to the U of I, introducing 1,500 freshmen to issues of change and globalization. And through Courses Abroad, we're taking the U of I to the world, immersing adventurous minds in cultures far different from their own, encouraging new growth and perspectives, and building bridges between cultures that may one day form the foundations of global change.
The Honor is All Ours
We affectionately call them our overachievers. Our honors students. The top 10 to 15 percent of each class who are destined to be leaders due to their drive, determination, and talent. At the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, we've created an environment where they thrive, pursuing advanced coursework, conducting research, and developing their leadership skills. And with your help, we'll expand both the size and scope of this exceptional program, making room for even more gifted students and equipping them to return what they've learned—to their college, their communities, and the world.
Real-World Experience
Being part of a research team that rewrote the family tree of a wasp would be a noteworthy accomplishment for a graduate student, but for a freshman, the experience can be literally life-changing. It happens in LAS, from students considering a science career, to undergraduates learning that counseling, cross-cultural communication, and community organization skills can improve the lives of others. In LAS, internships and undergraduate research opportunities are an invaluable part of education, while programs like Illinois-in-Washington further blur the line between the classroom and the real world, taking students from the head of the class to the center of political power. In LAS, students don't just read about the world—they experience it, in ways that make them more competitive in the job market and show the value of an Illinois education to the world.
LAS Academic Advising Academy
It's hard to overstate the value of sound academic advising. It's the guidance that helps floundering students find their path and gifted students reach their full potential. It is second in importance only to faculty excellence in determining a student's satisfaction with their college education. Within LAS, we've set the standard in this crucial area, earning the lion's share of campus advising awards for the better part of a decade. By creating a college-wide Advising Academy—similar to the Teaching Academy—we will ensure that the example set by our leading departments is the standard achieved by all, so that future generations will receive the guidance they need to achieve, explore, and excel.
Career Counseling—Opening the Next Set of Doors
College opens doors. But sometimes students with degrees in the liberal arts need help finding them. Surveys and CEOs constantly indicate a demand for the skills we instill—the ability to think creatively, communicate clearly, and adapt to rapidly changing needs. It's why one Fortune 500 company recently made us a primary stop in its search for productive employees. Even so, there's a tremendous need for career services dedicated exclusively to the liberal arts—to establish relationships with potential employers, to teach students how to showcase their skills, and to prepare them to apply their broad skills with the singular focus they need to excel.
Access to Opportunity—Merit and Need-Based Scholarships
Access to educational opportunity is a founding principal of public universities. The right to pursue an education is one of the beliefs that have made our country a world leader and among the most productive nations on Earth. To retain that edge in an era of global competition, we must continue to cultivate talent and leave open the road to the American dream. And with your help, we can ensure that the state's brightest students have unparalleled access to an education that is a value at any price.
LAS Teaching Academy
Among our faculty, you'll find National Book Award winners, National Medal of Science recipients, and many professors recognized in the art of instruction. And through the LAS Teaching Academy, they're passing their skills to the next generation, teaching the teachers who will inspire the next wave of students to go deeper, reach higher, and accomplish more. Through workshops and peer mentoring with senior faculty, first-year teachers in this exceptional program receive practical instruction from others who have been where they are. And with additional resources, this program will greatly expand to reach mid-career faculty, re-inspire seasoned faculty, and teach instructors at every level how to integrate technology and technique to provide higher education, second to none.
