Bridge to the Colonnade:
The Advanced Immersion and Mentoring (AIM) program
As Washington and Lee continues its commitment to increasing the diversity of our student body and fostering a more inclusive environment, AIM, our Quality Enhancement Plan, promises to be an excellent way to support and engage students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds.
AIM is being modeled after the former Advanced Research Cohort (ARC) Program for STEM fields, expanding across all disciplines (the humanities, arts, social sciences, business and the sciences), with the goal of empowering a broader group of select incoming first-year students from diverse backgrounds. A successful AIM experience will allow participants to return in the fall with an increased sense of belonging and confidence as they begin their first year of college. It will also engage AIM participants beyond the initial summer experience in their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years at W&L.
A key feature of the AIM experience is providing early access to the campus community, including advising and exposure to campus resources so students can develop both personal and geographical ownership of the W&L community.
About half of the AIM summer program is an immersive academic experience, working directly with a faculty mentor and current W&L students. The faculty mentor from the summer academic experience will also serve as the student’s initial adviser, allowing the participants an opportunity to develop a relationship with their advisers long before First-Year Orientation. The other half of the program includes intentional leadership development, community outreach, and career and professional development, thereby providing a unique opportunity for participants to develop relationships with Student Affairs professionals.
We encourage you to articulate your ideas for the AIM summer program, as well as for additional support programming that would impact all students during the academic year. Join the conversation by clicking on the “Tell us your thoughts” tab and adding your ideas.