By Belinda De La Rosa, PhD
Special Assistant to the Dean of Students & Academic Director of Intersections, LLC
Intersections, Women in Math, Science, and Engineering (W.I.M.S.E.), Global Crossroads, Health Professions, Leadership Experience through Academic Development and Service (L.E.A.D.S.), Unit One, Weston Exploration--what do all these words have in common? These are the names of Living-Learning Communities at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Living-learning communities (LLC) are groups of primarily Freshmen students that share a common interest and live on the same floor or hall in groups of 110-650 students. One of the foundational principals of LLC's is that the experiences students have outside of the classroom are important to their engagement and success in their educational endeavors. Through these themed communities students have the opportunity to share unique experiences, resources, and academic opportunities not generally available to all new students. These shared experiences allow students to form bonds between themselves, staff, and faculty which will lead to making a large university feel like a smaller more welcoming one.
These communities are lead by a Program Coordinator, a Resident Director, Multi-cultural Advocates, and Resident Advisors. In addition, two of these living-learning communities are fortunate to have an Academic Director. Global Crossroads has Dr. Raj Gandhi and Intersections has Dr. Belinda De La Rosa whom assists in planning the co-curricular and academic programming. One of the common characteristics of LLC's is hosting classes relating to their theme right in the residence hall. This increases faculty contact students which the literature tells us is an important component for student retention.
Intersections is a community that promotes multi-cultural competency and social justice issues. This fall, Intersections is the first LLC to offer a paid internship for its students to work with faculty members whose research agenda revolves around race and social justice issues. Undergraduate research is a growing trend in higher education and is also considered another important retention tool. Other programming includes a service learning opportunity that is lead by Professor Anna-Maria Marshall. Using a Criminology course as its basis LLC students will have the additional opportunity to participate in a "court watch" program to monitor judicial proceedings in Champaign County in which victims of domestic violence seek orders of protection against their batterers.
Intersections also strives to increase faculty-student interaction through its Scholar dinners. Faculty, post-doctoral fellows, or graduate students are invited to speak about their work and questions are answered over dinner in an informal atmosphere. Intersections also uses experiential activities to promote a sense of community through trips to the National Underground Railroad and Freedom Center, Lincoln Presidential Library, and possibly an international service trip this spring.
Other types of programming also include social events to establish friendship ties, Guests-in-residence, and bi-monthly dialogues relating to race, multicultural competency, or social justice issues. Mentorship is also an important component to student success. Last year Intersections hosted its first celebration of International Women's Day with the co-sponsorship of Women and Gender in a Global Perspective. Among the female faculty and staff invited to dinner and to network with students was Provost Katehi. This successful networking event will become an annual program. If you want to make every effort to ensure your child takes advantage of enrichment opportunities and improves their chances for graduation, contact Dr. De La Rosa (blarosa@illinois.edu) to discuss how they can get involved with Intersections or one of the other LLC's.
For more information, visit University Housing.
