Engineering Connections Residential Community
An investment in Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØEngineering student success
In addition to the support already offered by the university, college and academic departments, first-year engineering students have staff dedicated to developing co-curricular, social and wellness programs just for them.
From meetups for identity-based affinity groups to dinners with their major cohort, these programs will be specifically designed to help engineering and applied science students build the sense of belonging they need to succeed — from their first day through graduation day.
Explore life in Williams Village
Why a Residential Community?
Engineering Connections residents will live with others who understand what it’s like to be an engineering student, with challenging first-year coursework and project-based labs. But with our community making up about 50 percent of the entire Williams Village population, they’ll also have ample opportunities to connect with students from other colleges who share similar interests and identities.
Today, about 62 percent of engineering students participate in residential programs. Studies show — again and again — that those first-year residential experiences increase retention and student success. Our mission with Engineering Connections is to extend that opportunity to all engineering and applied science students.
Frequently Asked Questions
In fall 2023, the College of Engineering and Applied Science introduced a holistic residential academic experience for all of its first-year students designed to build a strong engineering community that supports student success and retention through graduation. This creates the opportunity for the 38% of the college's students not currently participating in a residential program to benefit from the proven support of the experience.
This residential academic experience will co-locate all engineering first-year students together at Williams Village.
As well as providing convenient access to both East and Main Campuses, Williams Village features the campus’s newest dining hall, its own recreation center and makerspace, and the Village Market retail shop. Williams Village also provides on-site tutoring services already, which will be further supplemented by Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØEngineering resources.
No. The College of Engineering and Applied Science will continue to teach classes in the Engineering Center and other locations on Central Campus, as well as on East Campus in the biotechnology and aerospace buildings.
The college took an innovative approach to student support and retention by designing a first-year experience through the holistic residential experience. The campus also supported this initiative given the college’s strong track record of commitment to student success and follow-through.
There is strong empirical evidence that first-year residential experiences increase retention and student success. This evidence comes from national studies* and our own data and experience with the Engineering Honors, Global Engineering, GoldShirt and Engineering Quad residential communities.**
* National Student Clearinghouse. First-Year Persistence and Retention for .
* Hodge, J. Q., & Lagoudas, M. Z., & Harris, A. M., & Froyd, J. E., & Hobson, M., & Pope, J. A. (2011, June), Influencing the Academic Success of Undergraduate First-Year Engineering Students Through a Living Learning Community Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2—18160.
** Â鶹Ãâ·Ñ°æÏÂÔØBoulder Engineering , RAP Participation
Students from other majors will still live at Williams Village and will mingle with engineering students. Also, nearly half of the courses taken by first-year engineering students are outside of engineering.