What is VIP program?
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program is a project-base model to create a learning environment with real world situation. Undergraduate students, graduate students and faculties establish a long-term, large-scale, and multidisciplinary team that focus on the real project in community and try to provide solutions via faculties’ professional works. Not only to develop the deep knowledge and expertise but also acts of discovery, design, creativity, innovation, and research in one or more fields.
Sophomore student join the team for 3 years training. Through probation, learning, and practice stages, they can learn and practice skills in a real project, experience different tasks on a multidisciplinary team, and make contributions to the team project.
Members are from many disciplines and different year, so that could run a large-scale project embedded in professors’ research efforts. Long-term courses design provides the practice of mentorship with experienced students mentoring freshman and graduate students mentoring college students.
The program is trying to nurture student who can discover the world, notice the problem, analyze the circumstance, and provide the solution.