Academic Opportunities

Blugold Fellowship Program

The Blugold Fellowship program recruits high school students to come to UW-Eau Claire and perform research with a faculty member during their first and second years. The fellowship is awarded to incoming freshmen based on research interest and merit and includes a scholarship and work-stipend. The program places students with faculty mentors and allows them to perform research in order to expose them to scholarship early in their university careers. The program highlights the opportunities available at UW-Eau Claire, including those provided through the UW System Center of Excellence for Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Collaboration.  Visit the website.

Student Success Program

Student Success is a one year academic support program that provides small classes and a structural introduction to the university. Participants are admitted to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire through the Student Success Program because they demonstrate the potential to succeed and may need additional support as they transition to college. The program is a collaborative effort among individuals, departments, and units across campus. Visit our website

Developmental Education Program

The Developmental Education Program, coordinated by the Academic Skills Center, provides courses designed to strengthen students’ college level learning strategies and critical thinking skills. It also serves to familiarize students with a wide range of academic support services and increase academic self-confidence. These courses are designed to meet the needs of students who are entering college with concerns about their academic learning strategies and are available on a preassigned basis. Further information may be obtained from the Coordinator for Developmental Education or visit this website.

Educational and Community Services

Academic Intervention Clinic

The Academic Intervention Clinic, a program sponsored by the Human Development Center, provides school-aged children and adolescents with educational support in the areas of math, reading, and written language. Undergraduate student clinicians, under the supervision of faculty and graduate students, conduct state-of-the-art academic evaluations, develop and implement a comprehensive intervention program, provide on-going progress monitoring, and consult with parents and teachers. The program is housed within the Human Development Center with student clinicians also providing services in local elementary schools. The Academic Intervention Clinic also supports summer reading and math intervention programs for children with learning challenges. Faculty-student collaborative research experiences that focus on applied practice are available to undergraduate students.

Center for Communication Disorders

The Center for Communication Disorders provides diagnostic and intervention services to clients ranging in age from infants to the elderly. Graduate and undergraduate student clinicians, under faculty supervision, work in the clinic with clients who have communication disorders of all types including problems with voice, stuttering, speech sound production, hearing, and language. The Center is located on the first floor of the Human Sciences and Services building and provides services at no cost to clients. Visit the website or call 715-836-4185 for additional information or to make appointments.

Human Development Center

The Human Development Center (HDC) is an interprofessional program that works with individuals and families from western Wisconsin. Under the direct supervision of faculty supervisors, student clinicians from Communication Sciences and Disorders (Speech Language Pathology), Education and Learning, Nursing, Psychology, Special Education, and Family Assessment provide assessment, intervention, and consultation services to children, adolescents, young adults, and families referred from the community. Undergraduate and graduate students from these disciplines work collaboratively on interprofessional teams to provide high quality services to clients. The HDC also sponsors research programs involving academic assessment and intervention, behavioral health, and child and school psychology. The HDC is located on the first floor of the Human Sciences and Services building. Visit the website or call 715-836-5604 for more information.

Psychological Services Center

The Psychological Services Center, a clinic staffed by faculty members from the Department of Psychology's School Psychology Program, is located within the Human Development Center. The center provides psychological and family assessment and intervention, parent training, and academic and behavioral consultation services to clients referred from the community. Allied disciplines also participate in the center, providing a variety of consulting services, including health, education, and assessment.

Intercultural Immersion Experiences

UW-Eau Claire's Intercultural Immersions Office provides students with short-term experiential opportunities to enhance their cultural, social, and equity awareness through financial support from the University. Immersion programs are guided, critically-reflective, domestic intercultural and international experiences that aim to deepen students' intercultural competence through global engagement, study, and experience. Short-term programs (about 30-35 each academic year) take students to various locations within the United States and internationally, led by UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff with curriculum that satisfies UW-Eau Claire's Liberal Education Learning Outcomes. As part of the University’s commitment to providing high-impact learning experiences for all students, Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition supports three different categories of intercultural immersion programs by providing funding to decrease student costs and thus increase access to high-impact learning experiences for all students. Every UW-Eau Claire full-time undergraduate student is eligible to receive Blugold Commitment funding support for one Immersion experience in each category listed below. These categories are:

  1. The Faculty-Led International Immersion Experiences (FLIIE) Program offers short-term (2-6 weeks over Summer or during Winterim) international Immersion programs led by UW-Eau Claire faculty and staff. Each program includes pre-experience preparation and orientation, cognitively rigorous in-country experiential learning activities that allow students to immerse themselves into local cultures, and post-experience guidance to bring learning and the application of their experience back to campus. All FLIIE programs meet the Responsibility (R2) learning outcome criteria and some FLIIE programs include a service-learning component.
  2. The Domestic Intercultural Immersion (DII) Program prepares students to take part in an increasingly diverse and interconnected world by offering short-term programs (1-2 weeks during Fall semester, Winterim, Spring Break, and Summer term) within the United States. By engaging firsthand with underrepresented and historically marginalized populations, communities, and environments within the U.S., participants develop new understandings of prevailing power structures and privilege and how these institutions are embedded in race, gender, class, ethnicity, religion, and other forms of identity to help expand students' interpersonal and intercultural skill set and awareness.  All DII programs meet the Responsibility (R1) learning outcome criteria and some DII programs include a service-learning component.
  3. The International Fellows Program (IFP) for Research, Service, and Creative Activity supports international student-faculty collaborative research, creative activity, and research projects. This program enhances student research skills and international cultural competency, as well as develops faculty expertise in global research topics. Some IFP Immersions include a service-learning component.

For detailed information about each program, visit the website.

International Education (Center for)

International Education (Center for)

The Center for International Education (CIE) provides high quality study abroad programs that challenge students to integrate academically, socially, and culturally into a host institution and community and provides support services to international students and scholars.  Additionally, the CIE supports campus internationalization initiatives and advocates for intercultural competency and lifelong inquiry.  The CIE's innovative work has twice been recognized by the Institute of International Education (IIE) for diversifying participation in study abroad and campus internationalization. 

Two units within the Center for International Education work to support UW-Eau Claire students and faculty/staff:

Study Abroad

The Center for International Education (CIE) strives to make study abroad affordable and integrated into the curriculum so that it is accessible and promotes timely degree completion to all UW-Eau Claire students.  To that end, the CIE offers programs around the world during all terms, works with academic departments to evaluate host university curriculums, and offers students the opportunity to fulfill Integrated (I1) liberal education through through the study abroad experience.  Students will live and study with host country students and other international students from around the world.  Interested students are encouraged to plan for study abroad as early as possible, in consultation with their academic and faculty advisers and CIE study abroad staff.  Credits and grades earned on UW-Eau Claire programs abroad are considered resident credits and are applied directly to the student’s record.  Additionally, regular  financial aid may be used on UW-Eau Claire programs.  The Blugold Commitment Grant, the Wisconsin Study Abroad Grant, and additional Foundation scholarships are also available to support study abroad. Information on locations, academics, terms, costs, and eligibility requirements are available on the Study Abroad website

International Students and Scholar Services

The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire welcomes students and scholars from around the world to western Wisconsin for degree completion and short-term study.  Center for International Education staff manage the following core services: immigration advising and compliance, Sino-American Dual Dual Degree (CHEPD 1+2+1) dual degree management and student support, exchange and sponsored student programs, international student support programs (e.g., Host Friend Program and International Buddy Program).   ​International students should be aware of the following policies that apply to their experience: 

  • ​International students must seek permission for all employment while in the United States due to U.S. immigration limits and regulations on employment. 
  • All international students are expected to live in University residence halls during their first year. A formal written appeal to the housing requirement may be made to the Director of the Center for International Education. 
  • All international students are required by the University of Wisconsin System to enroll in the International Student Health Insurance Plan.

Additionally, the CIE staff provides guidance and immigration support to academic departments on hosting international visiting scholars who advance the scholarly work of the University.

Further information is available from the Center for International Education website.

National Student Exchange

National Student Exchange (NSE) allows students to study at universities throughout the United States, Canada, Guam, Puerto Rico, and U.S Virgin Islands. NSE inspires academic enrichment, personal exploration, and student development by facilitating accessible collegiate study away among member colleges and universities. Students pay tuition to UWEC, experience a new campus in a different region, take classes and earn credits, while staying on track to graduate on time from UW-Eau Claire. All grades and completed course work are incorporated in the student’s UW-Eau Claire transcript, and are considered resident credits.

To qualify, a student must

  • be currently enrolled as a full-time undergraduate student at UW-Eau Claire in the term prior to exchange;
  • have a minimum 2.50 GPA;
  • be in good academic, personal, and financial standing at UW-Eau Claire.

For more information about NSE, contact (715) 836-2003 or visit their website.

Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program

The Ronald McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program is a graduate school preparatory program funded by the U.S. Department of Education and sponsored by UW-Eau Claire. Named after American astronaut Dr. Ronald McNair, the McNair program aims at leveling the playing field in graduate education and to diversify the American research community by class, socio-economic status, and ethnicity. 

The mission of the McNair Program is to prepare scholars for research based graduate studies, and ultimately, a doctoral degree.  Annually, up to 27 undergraduates participate in the UW-Eau Claire McNair Program. At least two-thirds of the participants meet federal income guidelines and are from a family in which neither parent graduated from a four-year postsecondary educational institution and up to one-third of the participants come from groups that are traditionally underrepresented in graduate studies. (The federal government defines “underrepresented” to include: Black (non-Hispanic); Hispanic; and American Indian/Alaskan Native, Native Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders.)

Along with the McNair staff, a dedicated mentor in the scholar’s primary field of research works with the scholar over a two-year time period on research and materials that will assist the student in securing a place in a doctoral program.  Some of the activities that McNair scholars participate in include developing an understanding of the research process, developing an understanding of the grant writing process, working one-on-one on preparing CVs and personal statements, applying for graduate school, and presenting research at the McNair Symposium. 

Visit the website to learn more about the McNair program and for contact information.

Undergraduate Research

UW-Eau Claire is the Center of Excellence for Faculty and Undergraduate Student Research Collaboration. Many students work with a faculty mentor in their discipline to engage in scholarly projects. Results of these projects are presented on-campus at the Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity (CERCA) each spring, and many are also shared at professional conferences or through publication. Students involved in these activities develop a host of skills that prepare them for graduate studies and/or professional employment. Through the Blugold Commitment Differential Tuition program, funding is available to support student participation in research and scholarly projects that produce research results and creative works, and to travel to professional conferences to present their results.

The mission of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) is to maintain a supportive environment for research and scholarly and creative endeavors of the faculty, staff and students. This is accomplished through events that showcase research, such as the annual Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity (CERCA), the Faculty/Staff Forum and the Authors Celebration, through funding programs that support research activities, through publications about campus research activities, and through services such as seminars, workshops and individual consultations on grant-seeking and undergraduate research collaboration. For more information, contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (Schofield 17) at 715 836-3405 or visit the website.