What is Immersion Vanderbilt?
Immersion Vanderbilt is a degree requirement for all Vanderbilt undergraduate students.
Immersion Vanderbilt consists of two key parts:
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- Immersive Experience: real-world experience; hands-on learning
- Culminating Project: what is created based on the student's immersive experience(s)
Role of the Experience Mentor and Culminating Project Adviser
The faculty or staff Immersive Experience mentor may periodically check on the progress of their student mentee and offer opportunities for critical reflection.
The faculty adviser for the final Culminating Project helps the student identify the appropriate culminating project type, develop a plan for completion, and assess the student's learning. The final culminating project can take many forms and may be presented at a showcase, fair, or performance at the faculty adviser's discretion.
Advising Requirements
Faculty and staff are essential to the success of Immersion Vanderbilt. They direct students through hands-on learning, the application of knowledge and skills, and critical self-reflection. The amount of time spent guiding students through their Immersion Vanderbilt journey is decided entirely between the faculty or staff mentor and the student.
Vanderbilt University faculty and staff members can mentor Immersive Experiences. However, undergraduate research and final Culminating Projects must always be advised by a faculty member.
Staff members interested in serving as mentors should contact the Office of Experiential Learning and Immersion Vanderbilt (EL&IV) to learn more.
Submit a Proposal
Submit an Opportunity Proposal to be added to the Opportunities Database on the Immersion Portal. Posting these opportunities allows you to connect and partner with students on projects, research, and internships.
Immersion Portal
Use the Immersion Portal to check on a student's progress and access additional Immersion Vanderbilt Resources.
*Faculty and Staff may need to complete the FERPA tutorial and quiz or request access to the view the Immersion portal
Undergraduate Course Tagging
Purpose:
Class tagging provides students with additional awareness of opportunities to complete Immersion Vanderbilt that are embedded in the curriculum.
General Guidance:
Experiential learning provides students with hands-on, active learning opportunities where the student learns through the acts of doing and reflection. Classes that include direct or indirect community or civic engagement, or methodological training for research or production are examples.
Culminating projects offer students the opportunity to integrate and apply their learning to the creation of a final project. Projects may include but are not limited to poster presentations, academic papers, artistic pieces, prototypes, and podcasts. Classes that result in a substantive research paper, an installation or creative work of art, or a public presentation are examples.
Support:
The Office of Experiential Learning and Immersion Vanderbilt has partnered with the Center for Teaching to identify and collect resources to help you design, enhance, and assess classes that you would like to tag for Immersion Vanderbilt. Please contact Amy Johnson (amy.m.johnson@vanderbilt.edu) if you would like to learn more about the tagging project or Immersion Vanderbilt. You are invited to contact Joe Bandy at the Center for Teaching (joe.bandy@Vanderbilt.Edu) for additional support or to learn more about experiential learning and culminating projects.
Resources:
General information about rubrics/rubric for community engagement project
Rubric to assess experiential learning class (1)
School & College Faculty Contacts
Each school and college has a designated faculty contact for Immersion Vanderbilt.
Explore the School & College Faculty Contact page.
To receive access to all information for advisers on the Adviser Resource page, please contact the Office of Experiential Learning and Immersion Vanderbilt (EL&IV).