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Residential Colleges

About Residential Colleges

About Residential CollegesThis vibrant collage showcases the diverse community of Residential Colleges. It features multiple photographs of students and staff members engaged in social interactions and community events. On the left, a woman with short gray hair wearing a gray cardigan and yellow beaded necklace smiles warmly. The center section captures groups of people conversing and connecting outdoors amidst green foliage, creating a sense of community and belonging. On the right side, a man in a blue checkered shirt smiles at the camera, and nearby a diverse group of students pose together joyfully indoors at what appears to be a residential college event. The bold white text "RESIDENTIAL COLLEGES" is prominently displayed across the center of the collage. The overall composition conveys warmth, inclusivity, and the vibrant social connections that define residential college life.

 

Residential Colleges are more than a set of buildings. Through intentional and mutually beneficial educational networks, Residential Colleges creates experiences rooted in discovery, creative inquiry, and engaged citizenship. The residential college system cultivates student success through opportunities to engage with faculty, the intentional creation of a supportive community, and connections to campus resources.

Click through each tab in the menu below to learn about the key mechanisms Residential Colleges employs to promote student success.

Faculty Engagement
Faculty Engagement

A group of undergraduate students having a pleasant conversation with a Prof. Elizabeth Meadows, former faculty head of house. They are standing under a tent and participating in a Vanderbilt orientation program.

Interacting with world-class faculty inside and outside of the classroom is the hallmark of a Vanderbilt education.

Within the residential college system, students are presented with the opportunity to interact with, learn from, and experience life with a professor who spends their days researching world problems and educating future leaders before coming home to a unique residential community. Faculty heads connect students to other faculty members through informal interactions, faculty salons, and other events throughout the academic year.

For students not living in a residential college, Residential Colleges provides ample opportunities to connect with faculty in formal and informal settings. From Dean’s Dinners and field trips, the annual Murray Lecture, and Sophomore Year Experience events, Residential Colleges is committed to facilitating opportunities to get to know Vanderbilt's incredible faculty.

Community Building
Connecting to Campus Resources

The residential college system includes two areas of focus: the first-year experience and upper-division student engagement. These focus areas are broken down into several key programs and initiatives.

All first-year students reside on The Martha Rivers Ingram Commons. After the first-year, students may apply to transition to another upper-division residential college for sophomore year and beyond. By participating in the residential college system, students get to know other students, faculty, and staff and become more connected and involved in their residential community and broader Vanderbilt network.

Residential Colleges also oversees all orientation programs (International Student Orientation, CommonVU Orientation, and Transfer Student Orientation) as well as the Sophomore Year Experience. Through these initiatives, Residential Colleges creates opportunities for student engagement that align with six pillars (sense of self, integrative learning, dialogue across difference, advocacy, leadership potential, and global connections).

To learn more about each of the pillars, click on the corresponding tabs in the drop-down menu.