UNC Charlotte is proud to be one of six urban-serving institutions in the Student Experience Project (SEP) funded by the Raikes Foundation. SEP is a partnership between the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), the Coalition of Urban Serving Universities (USU), the College Transition Collaborative (CTC), the Project for Education Research that Scales (PERTS), EducationCounsel, and five partner institutions: Colorado State University, Portland State University, the University of Colorado-Denver, the University of New Mexico, and the University of Toledo.

About The Student Experience Project

The Student Experience Project (SEP) is a collaboration of university leaders, faculty, researchers, and national education organizations committed to innovative, research-based practices to increase degree attainment and fostering a sense of belonging on campus.

The Challenge

Colleges and universities are enrolling more student populations than ever before. Yet, one-third of new college students will not graduate within six years. There remains a need for additional support and action to provide every student with an equal opportunity to graduate from college. Research has shown that some students do not do as well in our classrooms as their counterparts. Some of the forces contributing to these differential outcomes are extrinsic — students’ prior academic experiences or the off-campus jobs they must hold down to pay for college. But, as uncomfortable as it is, we must also acknowledge that there are intrinsic factors at play because there is evidence that faculty’s beliefs about mindset manifest in how students experience the course’s design, syllabus, pedagogy, and classroom environment — predicts outcomes.

UNC Charlotte’s Faculty Avengers

The Faculty Avengers Community of Practice started in the Fall of 2019. The goal of the instructor team is to create a continuous support network in which instructors can learn together, share ideas, and develop resources to support changes in classes. Together, we have implemented evidence-based changes in their classroom that have improved students’ sense of belonging, identity safety, social connectedness, and growth mindset.

For a brief overview of key concepts, strategies, and resources, view the “Resources” tab above. To learn more about SEP, please contact A.J. Simmons, Associate Director of First Year and Transition Programs at AJ.Simmons@charlotte.edu.