Why RISE?

The RISE program was inspired by the success of the Howard Hughes Medical Insitute Inclusive Excellence REALISE grant program housed in the Biology, Chemistry, and Physics department from 2016-2023. Student success rates increased by 10% or more in the faculty’s courses who went through the REALISE professional development program!

The REALISE Students (a collaborative student group with close faculty mentorship) provided programming in the STEM college for students to build their science identity and find community within their academic home. These programs inspired the RISE Faculty Institute and RISE Community Action Teams.   

• The REALISE capstone report [PDF] shows the impact that REALISE had on our students and campus
• Built by a collaborative team, the RISE program was affirmed as Radford University’s Quality Enhancement Plan (QEP) [PDF]. This document outlines the proposed RISE program that has now been adopted and launched at Radford University.

See this video about the impact of REALISE and how the project inspired the entire university-wide RISE program.