Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education

The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education coordinates and oversees wide areas of undergraduate education relevant to all seven undergraduate schools and colleges. Members of the office work closely with the schools and colleges and other offices across the University to promote academic success for all undergraduate students and cultivate intellectual inquiry, both in and out of the classroom.

The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education partners with the Vice Provost for Engagement and Land-Grant Affairs who oversees the Community-Engaged Learning Initiative and the Vice Provost for International Affairs to make engaged and global learning core to the undergraduate educational experience. The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education also collaborates with the Provost’s Fellow for Pedagogical Innovation to support teaching and learning.

The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees the following areas and offices:

Diversity and Inclusion

Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives

The Office of Academic Diversity Initiatives coordinates and helps lead university-wide academic initiatives focused on diversity, inclusion, and achievement, including supporting academic student diversity efforts, and providing guidance and referrals to enable students to access campus resources. This office oversees the NYS Opportunity Programs, including the Educational Opportunity Program, the Higher Education Opportunity Program, the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program, the Cornell Pre-Professional Program, the Posse Scholars Program, and the Community Development and Social Justice Program.

The 2016 McNair Scholars Induction Ceremony.

Teaching and Learning

Center for Teaching Innovation

The Center for Teaching Innovation, overseen by the Vice Provost for Academic Innovation, supports Cornell University teaching community members with a full complement of individualized services, programs, and campus-wide initiatives designed around creating and sustaining multicultural, rigorous, and vibrant learning environments.

Learning Strategies Center

The Learning Strategies Center is the central support unit for all undergraduate students at Cornell, promoting equity and achievement for all undergraduate students. Through program offerings that encourage students to develop effective approaches to mastering the academic rigors of Cornell, the Center strives to engage students in the learning process and support their efforts to become more successful and independent learners. The Center is responsible for the University’s summer bridge program and Prefreshman Summer Program.

LSC tutors are fellow-students in Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Math, Physics, and Statistics.

Academic Integrity

The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education supports a range of initiatives for faculty and students that are designed to maintain a climate of academic integrity. All new undergraduate students attend an orientation program on academic integrity and receive the Essential Guide to Academic Integrity at Cornell, designed to help students learn the importance of academic integrity and its requirements and key concepts.

Office of Undergraduate Research

The Office of Undergraduate Research provides strategic leadership for advancing undergraduate research across the university, generating information, serving as liaison, and enhancing the institution’s awareness of developments around undergraduate research in U.S. higher education.

University Courses

University Courses are designed to provide a common academic experience for undergraduate students through a cross-college curriculum of courses that foster intellectual discovery, promote debate, and address complex issues of the day.

Students in the biomedical engineering lab creating an artificial ear using 3-D printing.

Office of Internal Transfer

The Office of Internal Transfer assists undergraduate students who are considering transfer between schools or colleges within Cornell. The director of Internal Transfer provides advice for students who are unsure of their broad academic interests, and helps students discover and pursue their best academic fit.

Assessment Processes

The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees and coordinates assessment processes across the campus, providing support and information to faculty and programs, and advancing efforts in collecting and using information about student learning. The Vice Provost also oversees university accreditation by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Living/Learning Communities and Faculty Involvement

Learning Where You Live Courses

Learning Where You Live (LWYL) is an academic, living-learning initiative comprised of courses taught on North and West campuses. These unique courses are designed to bring faculty and undergraduate students together in comfortable, welcoming settings that eliminate the formal barriers of the traditional classroom, foster a sense of “home” and social belonging, encourage sustained interaction between students and faculty, provide students with opportunities to explore topics outside of their intended fields of study, and promote active participation of students in their learning experience. Imbued with a liberal education orientation, LWYL courses are meant to encourage intellectual curiosity, exchange, and exploration in and outside of the classroom as core features and values of a Cornell education.

North Campus Faculty Programs

North Campus Faculty Programs supports Faculty-in Residence and Faculty Fellows in the North Campus residence halls for first-year students, with the aims of encouraging intellectual curiosity, risk-taking, and exploration; inspiring learning outside the classroom; unifying and bridging academic specialization to offer a one-university experience; and supporting, advising and mentoring first-year students.

West Campus House System

The Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees the House Professor/Deans in the West Campus House System, a community of upper-level students and faculty gathered in a spirit of inquiry and active citizenship, offering students an actively engaged community of their own – one that fosters personal discovery and growth and nurtures scholarship, creativity, and responsible stewardship.

Advising & Support

More than 125 student-facing professionals are available across campus to support students in a variety of ways throughout their time at Cornell.
More information on Advising & Support