In spring 2025, a group of undergraduates engaged in cross-cultural music production and performance with the wind orchestra La Banda Sinfónica Integrada de las Américas in San Roque, Colombia. Yet another group conducted eye-tracking studies to understand how dyslexia can affect code comprehension among peers learning computer programming. A third team designed a senior housing navigation program, in collaboration with A.W.A.K.E. Nashville, to help connect seniors in the Greater Nashville area with secure and affordable housing, among many other experiences.
These student experiences were led by last year’s recipients of the Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant. Now in its third year of funding, the grant encourages transformative educational experiences by supporting student-faculty collaborations across the university.
During the spring and summer of 2025, 70 professors from eight schools and colleges led Immersion Vanderbilt cohorts funded by this grant, mentoring a total of 494 students as they participated in experiential learning opportunities. Faculty recipients identified cohorts of two or more students and advised them in completing immersive experiences and culminating projects for Immersion Vanderbilt.
“The Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant supports our faculty as they develop high-impact experiential learning opportunities that span a wide range of disciplines. Their commitment to advancing student learning is what makes a Vanderbilt education world class, and the Office of the Provost is proud to support those educational endeavors,” Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Tiffiny Tung said.
IMMERSION IN ACTION
The cohorts led by this year’s grant recipients reflect the wide-ranging areas of research and innovation carried out by Vanderbilt faculty. The educational opportunities funded by the Provost’s Immersion Faculty Grant have had a significant impact on student learning and development, as noted by faculty grant recipients and student cohort members.
For Brian Bill, senior lecturer of biological sciences, the Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant supported the design of a student-created video game to teach concepts from parasitology. The project will be published on itch.io and used in his parasitology course.
“This project gave us the opportunity to make concepts in parasitology more interactive,” Bill said. “The Provost’s Faculty Grant made it possible for us to experiment with this innovative approach, and I will bring the finished game into the classroom next spring.”
Susan Verberne-Sutton, principal senior lecturer of chemistry, said the idea for her Immersion Vanderbilt cohort emerged after attending the 2024 1vyG Conference with three of her students: Suhaah Nadir, BA’25; Izabella Maestroiani, Class of 2027; and Kathleen Hartono, Class of 2027.
“Immersion Vanderbilt is an opportunity to cultivate student leadership, and through it, first-generation students empower themselves by helping others,” Verberne-Sutton said. “I have had the honor and privilege to work with truly exceptional first-generation students like Suhaah Nadir, who through hard work and merit gained access to Vanderbilt and the incredible resources it provides.”
The Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant has supported the group as they developed, tested and analyzed faculty advising, peer mentorship and roundtable discussion programs for first-generation college students at Vanderbilt. The funding also helped advance Nadir’s immersion project, which supports first-generation students through mentorship, advocacy and parental engagement.
“Many students expressed how comfortable they felt sharing their concerns with faculty mentors and their undergraduate mentor or mentee—no question felt too basic, and no perspective seemed like it would be misunderstood,” Nadir said of the faculty-student mentorship groups she helped establish. “The groups ranged from biochemistry to history to business, and yet they were united under one goal of student success regardless of what playing field they started on.”
The Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant also allowed Dan Morgan, principal senior lecturer of earth and environmental sciences, to lead a group of students through geological fieldwork training. Students prepared and then carried out fieldwork of their own, learning technical and leadership skills to support their peers in the process.
“This immersion experience taught me much about the process and practice of geological research methods and the importance of collaboration in fieldwork,” said Eloise Shehan, Class of 2026. “I am grateful to this experience for showing me the value I find in hands-on learning.”
Faculty are encouraged to apply for this year’s Provost’s Faculty Immersion Grant—applications are being accepted. The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13. For more information or assistance, faculty can contact Carolyn Roberts, senior director of Immersion Vanderbilt, in the Provost’s Office of Undergraduate Education at carolyn.roberts@vanderbilt.edu.
