Project Leadership

Recommendations of the Task Force on Student Success

In addition to providing Strategic Advising and guidance throughout the Task Force on Students Success and Academic Resource Center Working Group processes, OSEI is leading implementation of the following recommendations made by the Task Force on Student Success:

• Establishment of a centralized academic support office: Following the recommendations of the ARC WG, the OSEI established the Office of Academic Support for Undergraduate Students (OASUS), hired the inaugural Director, and piloted training and tutoring resources in Spring 2024. For AY24-25, OASUS has expanded Drop-In Study to 21 courses, piloted Peer Assisted Learning, and hired two additional staff. A testing accommodations center will open in Spring 2025.
• Pre-matriculation courses: The OSEI collaborated with the Program in Writing and Communication (PWC) to pilot COMM 105, a pre-matriculation course for new student-athletes focused on critical reading, writing, and navigational skills.
• Equitable access to undergraduate research: The OSEI supported OURI in expanding faculty-mentored research opportunities for first generation and low-income students through SURF, Moody SER Scholars, and CREST.

Take Flight STEM Pathway

The Take Flight STEM Pathway is a partnership between Rice University, San Jacinto College, and Lone Star College designed to increase access to and completion of STEM degrees. The program supports high-achieving students from under-resourced backgrounds in a variety of ways to promote their continued interest in STEM fields, facilitate completion of their associate’s degree, and prepare them for transfer into a 4-year STEM degree program.

Moody Gift/Experience Coordination

In fall 2021 Rice received an unprecedented $100 million gift from the Moody Foundation to enhance and expand students’ “beyond the classroom” experiences. The 12 endowed funds created by this gift are embedded throughout the university to support a wide variety of new and existing programs that enrich the student experience. OSEI leads the overall coordination effort for The Moody Experience, which includes convening regular stakeholder meetings, providing support and resources to fund leads/units, developing branding and communication campaigns, and assessing and sharing the impacts of the gift.

Summer Undergraduate Research Support Program

Since 2022, OSEI has led and coordinated a campus-wide effort to align resources and offices (CAPC, OURI, Dean of Natural Sciences, Dean of Engineering, Office of Research Development, and GPS) in support of faculty hosting undergraduate researchers through REUs or other summer programs. The support includes community-building activities, a workshop series focused on professional development and communication, a summer research symposium, training for graduate student mentors, and evaluation of the impact of REU programming on student development and persistence in STEM. In the past four years, this initiative has supported 25 faculty and 350 students, many of whom are first-time researchers.

Faculty and Staff Handbook: https://rice.app.box.com/file/1454290010247?s=c8qsjwaub76mwzvuvwbpoayj0aemhtph