Get Involved
Getting involved can help you explore your interests, connect with others, develop skills, contribute to your community, and discover what matters to you.
There are many ways to get involved at UW. You might join a student organization, attend an event, volunteer, find a mentor, get a job or internship, participate in research, study abroad, or simply try something new.
Some opportunities are also called High-Impact Practices (HIPs). HIPs are experiences that are intentionally designed to deepen your learning through active participation, meaningful relationships, challenge, and reflection. Involvement and HIPs are connected, but they are not the same thing. Involvement is the broader idea of participating in the life of the university. HIPs are specific types of educational experiences with characteristics that make them particularly powerful for learning and development.
HIPs give you opportunities to:
- Apply what you are learning to real questions and situations
- Work closely with other students, faculty, staff, mentors, or community partners
- Take on meaningful responsibilities
- Encounter perspectives and experiences different from your own
- Receive feedback and support
- Reflect on what you are learning and how you are changing
- Connect experiences across different parts of your UW education
Getting Started - What to consider when getting involved
Getting Started
You cannot always know what an experience will mean to you until you try it. If an opportunity connects to your interests, values, or goals, it is often worth exploring, even when you are not sure where it will lead.
Finding an Opportunity
If you are curious... Look for an organization, event, research opportunity, class, or experience that lets you explore a question or interest.
If you want to meet people... Try something where you will see the same people regularly. Shared activities and repeated interactions can make it easier to build relationships.
If you want to develop skills... Look for opportunities where you can take responsibility, solve problems, create something, lead, communicate, or work with others.
If you want to explore a career... Consider research, internships, mentoring, volunteering, job shadowing, or experiences connected to a field you are curious about.
If you are not sure what you want... That's okay. Choose something that sounds interesting and try it. You can learn from the experience even if you decide it is not for you.
Evaluating an Opportunity
What interests me about this opportunity?
What am I curious to learn, explore, or experience?
What could I gain from trying it?
Could I develop a skill, meet people, explore a possibility, or learn something about myself?
What is making me hesitate?
Is this opportunity not a good fit, or does it feel unfamiliar, challenging, or outside my comfort zone?
What will it require from me?
Consider the time, energy, cost, and other commitments involved.
What support is available?
Who could help me understand the opportunity or take the first step?
Involvement Opportunities
A broad range of ways to participate in the UW community.
Campus Involvement
- Registered Student Organizations (clubs) — Discover student organizations and find groups that match your interests
- Student Life — Discover ways to connect and get involved.
- HUB — Find events, activities, services, and spaces to connect with the UW community.
- HUB Games — Play games and connect with other students in the HUB.
- Intramural Activities — Join recreational sports and activities with other UW students.
- WAC — Explore fitness, recreation, and wellness opportunities.
- UWild — Participate in outdoor recreation, trips, and adventure programs.
- UW Athletics — Attend games and support the Huskies.
- Student Activities Office — Find events, programs, and resources for getting involved at UW.
- Mentoring Opportunities - A list of on campus mentorship opportunities
- Dawg Daze Leaders — Connect with student leaders who help new students get connected at UW.
Find Your Community
High Impact Practices
A defined set of educational practices supported by research on student learning and development.
Undergraduate Research
Opportunities to explore questions that do not have clear answers while working with faculty, mentors, and other students.
Undergraduate Research
- Office of Undergraduate Research — Learn what undergraduate research looks like and how to get started.
- Research Opportunities Database — Search for research opportunities currently recruiting UW undergraduates.
- How to Get Started in Research — Learn how to find a mentor, identify opportunities, and reach out to faculty or graduate students.
- Summer Research Programs — Explore immersive summer research opportunities at UW and beyond.
- Research Opportunities in Arts & Humanities — Find research opportunities and programs across arts, humanities, and related fields.
- Mary Gates Research Scholarship — Explore funding for undergraduate research conducted with a faculty mentor.
- Undergraduate Research Advising — Meet with a research adviser to talk through your interests and next steps.
Global Learning
Experiences that help you explore cultures, perspectives, identities, and experiences different from your own.
Global Learning
- UW Study Abroad — Explore study abroad and study away programs around the world.
- UW Global — Find global learning, research, and engagement opportunities at UW.
- Global Innovation Fund — Explore UW programs and opportunities that support global learning and intercultural understanding.
- FIUTS — Connect with international and domestic students through cultural exchange and community-building opportunities.
- CIRCLE — Connect with programs and communities that bring international and domestic students together.
- Unite UW — Build cross-cultural connections and friendships with other UW students.
Community-Based Learning
Experiences that connect what you are learning with real-world work alongside community partners.
Community-Based Learning
- Community Engagement & Leadership Education (CELE) Center — Explore community-engaged learning, courses, and opportunities to connect your education with community work.
- Community-Engaged Courses — Find courses that connect academic learning with community-based work.
- UW Community Engagement Knowledge Hub — Learn more about community-engaged learning and opportunities across UW.
- UW Medicine Service Learning & Community Engagement — Explore service-learning and community engagement opportunities in the health sciences.
- Undergraduate Community-Based Internships — Explore paid internships with nonprofit and public-sector organizations.
Internships
Work experiences that allow you to explore a career or field while developing skills through practice, supervision, and feedback.
Internships
- Career & Internship Center — Explore internships, career resources, and ways to gain experience.
- Find Jobs and Internships — Search current internship and employment opportunities.
- Handshake — Search internships, jobs, career events, and employer opportunities.
- Career Exploration — Explore careers and opportunities related to your interests.
- Career Fairs — Meet employers and explore internship and career opportunities.
- Undergraduate Community-Based Internships (UCBI) — Gain paid experience with nonprofit and public-sector organizations.
- Departmental internship programs — Check your major or department for internships connected to your field of study.
Common Intellectual Experiences
Shared academic experiences that bring students together around common learning goals, topics, or questions.
Common Intellectual Experiences
Explore whether your school or department offers shared academic experiences for students.
Example: Common Intellectual Experiences in Law, Societies & Justice
Learning Communities
Learn alongside a shared group of students through connected academic experiences.
Learning Communities
- Living Learning Communities — Explore residential communities organized around shared academic interests, identities, and areas of curiosity.
- UW Honors — Explore interdisciplinary learning, research, experiential learning, and opportunities to learn with faculty and students across disciplines.
- First-Year Interest Groups (FIGs) — Take courses with a small group of other first-year students and build an academic community.
Collaborative Assignments and Projects
Work with others to solve problems, create, and learn together.
Collaborative Assignments and Projects
- Course group projects — Work with classmates to solve problems, create something, or explore a question together.
- Collaborative research — Work with peers or faculty on research projects.
- Design and project-based courses — Apply what you are learning to a shared project or real-world problem.
- Student organization projects — Plan an event, campaign, publication, or other project with other students.
- Capstone teams — Work with other students to complete a substantial project.
Capstone Courses and Projects
Culminating experiences that bring together what you have learned and give you an opportunity to apply it to a substantial project.
Capstone Courses and Projects
- Not all majors have capstone experiences. Check your departmental requirements for more information. Below are some examples
- Civil & Environmental Engineering Capstone Projects
- Informatics Capstone
- Jackson School of International Studies Taskforce
- Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health
ePortfolios
Digital collections of your work that help you reflect on your learning and growth and connect experiences across your UW education.
ePortfolios
- Husky Leadership Certificate — Build an ePortfolio that documents and reflects on your leadership learning and development.
- Leadership Minor — Connect leadership coursework and experiences through an ePortfolio.
Reflecting on Your Experiences
During and after an experience, take time to notice what you learned, how the experience affected you, and what it might tell you about what you want to explore next.
During the Experience
Pay attention to what you are noticing, feeling, and learning as you go.
What am I noticing?
What is catching my attention or making me curious?
How am I feeling?
When do I feel engaged, connected, challenged, or uncomfortable?
What am I learning?
What are I learning about the experience, other people, or myself?
What questions are coming up?
What do I want to understand or explore more?
After the Experience
Give yourself time to consider what the experience meant to you.
What did I learn?
What did I learn that I could not have known beforehand?
What surprised me?
What was different from what I expected?
What did I learn about myself?
What did I discover about my interests, values, strengths, or goals?
Did this experience change what I want to explore?
What might I do differently or pursue next?
What was valuable?
What made the experience valuable, even if it was not what you expected?