The UGED Bulletin
The Undergraduate Education (UGED) Bulletin aggregates announcements, highlights, and reports from across the Division of Undergraduate Education. Published on a biweekly basis during the academic year and monthly in June and July, the UGED Bulletin is a great way to learn about the many ways the Division of Undergraduate Education is supporting student learning and success. If you'd like to be added as a recipient of the Bulletin, please fill out this subscription form.
Spring & Summer 2026 Highlights
VIP Program Coordinator Kay Orzech participated in C-STAR Panel at HSI Forum
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program brings together 70+ research, design, and creative inquiry teams from across multiple campus units at the U of A, serving approximately 400 students per semester. On March 23rd, on the C-STAR internal grant recipient panel, Kay Orzech discussed how Assessment & Research is investigating VIP student outcomes. Undergraduate students who participated in VIP during the last five years (n=737) are being compared with a matched sample of U of A main campus students to understand the program’s impact on retention, graduation, and overall student success.
Center for Career Readiness Receives Lumina Foundation Grant
The Lumina Foundation has selected the University of Arizona Center for Career Readiness as one of 16 institutions nationwide to advance career-connected high-impact practices. The selection recognizes CCR's distinctive approach to transforming student employment into a catalyst for career readiness, belonging, and student success.
The two-year grant will support CCR's work with supervisors of student employees, deepening how students connect their day-to-day work experience to transferable skills that serve them throughout their academic journey and beyond. The effort is led by Annie Kurtin, director of experiential learning, and Katie Beauford, senior student employment specialist, with support from Emily McCarthy, executive director, and Megan Forecki, Ph.D., lead institutional assessment professional.
Learn More About the Award
Learn More About the Initiative
A Student's Journey recognized by Tribal College Journal
A Student's Journey (ASJ) is an internship-based program for tribal college students interested in transferring to a university to pursue a four-year degree. Recently, Tribal College: Journal of American Indian Higher Education highlighted the ways that ASJ has helped students transfer to the U of A.
Papers, Presentations, & Reports
Summary of the January 2026 UGED Retreat
A division-wide day-long retreat was hosted by the Division of Undergraduate Education on January 15, 2026, and included approximately 45 people.
Conference on Learning and Student Success (CLASS) Presentations, Roundtable Discussions, & Posters
"Assessment as a Driver for Collaboration: General Education Assessment at the University of Arizona." Presented by Elaine Marchello and Yvonne Zhang.
"Student Perspectives on Civic Learning / Civic Knowledge." Poster by Yvonne Zhang and Elaine Marchello.
"Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Turn Assessment Data into Institutional Action." Poster by Laurie Sheldon and Elaine Marchello.
"Measuring What Matters: A Learner Self-Assessment." Presented by Amanda Parkman, Matthew Austin, Keisha Fuller, Jhonatan Henao-Muñoz, Jeri Heileman, and Angelina Serratos.
"Onboarding as a Function of Care: Creating Connection in an Online Employee Onboarding." Presented by Chris J. Rosales, Jeri Heileman, and Tom Murray.
"Faculty Collaboration to Support Student Well-Being in Classes." With Jessica Hill, Lisa Elfring, and Jim Hunt.
"Listening Bravely, Designing Boldly: Lessons Learned from Redesigning Curriculum with Students." Presented by Devon Thomas Jones and Robert Stephan.
"Virtual Exchange/COIL and General Education: Why Strong Alignment Isn’t Translating to Scale." Presented by Megan Allen, John Pollard, and Devon Thomas Jones.
"Preparing Students for Lifelong Learning: Leveraging High-Impact Practices to Center the Student Experience in a Novel General Education Curriculum." Presented by Katie Southard, Audrey Tocco, Treya Allen, and Ryan Winet.