For many Rockhurst students, the subjects of leadership, faith, innovation, research and service are the experiences that make the university unique and unlike other college experiences. But for first-year students for Fall 2017, the launch of the RU Academies will present the opportunity to explore and envision the overall Rockhurst experience in a new, yet already established way.

The RU Academies are special programs intended to enhance and diversify the experiences of current and prospective students. The different academies, five in all, are optional programs for new students that package a variety of events, programs and activities to help new students engage in their college experience from the moment they step on campus.

Matt Ellis, associate vice president for enrollment who was involved in the academies’ creation, emphasized the experiences they offer are nothing new to Rockhurst.

“The academies aren’t necessarily developing new things that we don’t have,” Ellis said. “It’s really just taking our strengths, and putting it out there in a different way, [because] these are some of the areas in which we have the greatest strengths.”

Beginning with the 2017-18 academic year, incoming freshmen will have the opportunity to choose from activities within five different academies:

• Emerging Leaders
• Living Faith
• Innovation
• Undergraduate Research and Creativity
• Service

Within each academy are different experiences, such as One Day KC in the Innovation Academy or the Emerging Leaders Workshop Series in the Emerging Leaders Academy. More information on each academy is available on the RU Academies webpage.

Many involved with the planning of the academies program consider RU Academies to be an extension of the core values and ministries already existing.

For Angie Carr Robinett, Director of Student Life who is heading the Emerging Leaders Academy, the inclusion of more opportunities across the academies is a “no-brainer.”

“As a Jesuit school, leadership is a part of our mission: Where Leaders Learn,” Carr said. “We would be inept if we didn’t offer more leadership opportunities for our students.”

Those leadership opportunities aren’t limited to the Emerging Leaders Academy, as each academy plans to offer activities and opportunities that align under specific and collective core values.

Psychology professor Risa Stein sees great opportunity and need for the Innovation Academy she’s overseeing, specifically because of the perspective and value placed on service at Rockhurst.

“There is a big segment of innovation that fits Rockhurst’s mission perfectly, and that is with social justice and social innovation,” Stein said.

That kind of creative thinking is what the academy’s designers hope will make them grow and flourish as more and more students become involved. While Ellis points out that the academies were originally introduced as a concept for prospective students, he believes they can expand as current students become interested, even within the first semester.

“I encourage anyone who has viewed the academy website and is interested in joining an academy to reach out to the heads of that program and see what their options are,” he said.

Carr and Stein both point out that there are tangible ways that current students, and, in fact, agree that upperclassmen support of the academies is vital to their ultimate success.

“When first year and upperclassmen students both participate, there is a two-fold process,” said Carr. “For first-year students, they are able to learn from upperclassmen’s experiences because they look up to them, and for upperclassmen it is a good opportunity to hone their facilitation skill and really get involved.”

For Stein, it is less about being an upperclassmen or a first-year student, but approaching it from the common ground of a Rockhurst student.

“Personally, I’d like to see more diverse groups of students come together to think about how their different perspectives and frames of mind can meld with other students,” she said.

Ultimately, students have shown they seen the value in the experiences provided by the academies because they continue to engage in those activities beyond the structure of the academies. The ultimate success of the academies is completely student-driven, according to Ellis.

“I think it comes down to the interest of students, because there is always room to grow, evolve, focus, and fine-tune,” he said.