Beginning in 2004, the UW-Superior Faculty Senate has endorsed six new Programs designed to further the campus public liberal arts mission.  Each Program has become part of the campus' commitment to providing students with a dynamic engaging learning experience. Each provides or directs activities on campus and in the community that prepare students for 21st century careers and life-long learning.

Academic Service-Learning (AS-L)

Academic Service-Learning (AS-L) is community-engaged learning, embedded within a credit-bearing course, enhancing students' understanding of the course's learning objectives and of their sense of civic responsibility.  AS-L allows students to apply what they are learning in class in the community and learn while serving, benefiting both student and service recipient.

Courses with an AS-L experience will provide students an opportunity to have hands-on, real-world experiences by applying knowledge from the course while simultaneously meeting identified community needs. Research has shown that AS-L experiences provide students with a distinctive advantage for their career and/or graduate school preparation.  

AS-L is a part of an even larger institutional commitment to community engagement that is directly connected to UW-Superior’s mission and has been a signature aspect of a UW-Superior education since 2009.  UWS is leveraging its strengths as an anchor institution—one in which community engagement is deeply ingrained, fully institutionalized and effectively taught and implemented. 

Since its founding in 2009, 117 professors incorporated AS-L into 894 course sections.  As such there were 11,686 student experiences with 551 community partners.  Students completed over 240,000 hours of service within their AS-L experiences.

Senior Experience

Each department has a required Senior Year Experience. SYE supports students' integration of their extensive college learning experiences and the deep knowledge of their major field of study. The SYE is a culminating experience and creates a capstone to the student's UW-Superior education.

Each student is required to share his or her Senior Experience work with the campus and wider community. These public presentations of Senior Experiences are uniquely designed by each discipline in accordance with expectations of the particular field of study and serve as a celebration of their achievements.

Center for Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (URSCA)

The value of undergraduate research, scholarly and creative activities (URSCA) to students is widely recognized. Engagement in URSCA strengthens students' critical thinking, analysis, and problem-solving abilities, whether it is in science or literature, psychology or the arts. UW-Superior promotes student involvement in a broad range of research and scholarly work, beginning in the first year on campus and culminating in senior capstone projects. In addition to research and creative assignments in courses, students have opportunities to assist faculty with their research or scholarship, and also to pursue their own independent projects, mentored by a faculty member. UW-Superior offers a Summer Undergraduate Research Program, funded by the UW-Superior Foundation, and supports student participation in events that provide opportunities to present research, including an annual campus symposium, Research in the Rotunda in Madison, the UW System Symposium for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, and disciplinary conferences as funds allow.

Writing Across the Curriculum

In recognition of the key role writing plays in a liberal education, the Writing across the Curriculum Program aims to promote a culture of writing at UW-Superior.