As part of The Grove's Immersive Curricular Experience, the project’s pilot year empowered teams of first-year students, mentored by upper-class peers and supported by faculty affiliates, to drive impactful projects forward and develop solutions to improve lives on campus and in area communities.  In addition to conducting their own research, students engaged with university personnel and professors as well as area community leaders and groups.

Chief Experience Officer Tom Ellett said the program provided first-year students with some fantastic foundational experience.

“They’re finding a problem here or in the world and working together to find solutions for them, through research and by working with student mentors and faculty. I think it’s a really great foundation for them as they get to further define what they want to do and adding new knowledge to the world in any field that they want to go into,” Ellett said.

Approximately 300 first-year students presented over 30 group projects to faculty, students, staff and supportive members of the Quinnipiac community. The wide array of Passion Projects aligned with The Grove’s community learning themes of environmental sustainability, community engagement, equity and inclusion, and health and education, said Program Director, First Year Seminar and the Residential Experience and Professor of Nursing Nicholas Nicholson.

“It’s all part of what we call CELP – our Community Experiential Learning Project - and this is our showcase,” said Nicholson. “It’s a great experience for first-year students. They have the opportunity to work with the upper-class students as positive role models and to work with faculty affiliates who have expertise in the different areas. They also get to experience what it’s like to put together a poster, to be part of a research conference, and to be accountable for their part in the project.”

The first-year students brainstormed and built ideas with their mentors and faculty affiliates during the fall semester. During the spring semester, they engaged in experiential learning and project implementation, capped by the April 24 poster presentation event.

“As you walk around, you can feel the energy of residential life and you see that everyone’s a part of the process,” Nicholson said. “And because it’s their passion, people are really doing some great work. They’re trying to make a difference.”

Business analytics major Giada Izzo, ’28 and computer science major Reed Scampoli, ’28, were members of a team which proposed installing and implementing an environmentally sustainable hydroponics system at Quinnipiac.

“There’s going to be a new greenhouse put on top of the new SITE building, and we’re proposing that they put hydroponics systems into that to give students educational opportunities and potentially grow some fresh greens for the dining hall,” said Scampoli.

Scampoli’s part in the project put him in touch with faculty who assisted him with his research.

“I got to talk to some very interesting people. I spoke with a bunch of professors about the greenhouse that’s going up there, as part of figuring out whether it would be feasible for hydroponics to go into it,” he said.

Izzo said her part in the project led to researching outcomes at universities which are using similar systems.

“It helped to show us why it should be a goal as something to have on campus,” said Izzo.

Health sciences majors Aadil Latif, ’28, and Mathew Wendling, ’28, were part of a team which researched ways to help new college students combat negative mental health outcomes and avoid burnout.

“As first-year students, the transition of going from high school to college is stressful for us, so it just felt natural to talk about mental health, about the workload that we have now, and the different structure of classes,” said Wendling. “We got to do a lot of community involvement and talk with a lot of people on campus discussing how they feel and what would be beneficial.”

The team’s research and campus surveys led to the project’s goal of implementing a designated mental health wellness day, where students would be supported by a wellness event promoting mental health awareness and resources instead of attending classes.

“I think we gained a lot of information about mental health and how it can impact college students,” said Latif. “We also learned a lot more about Quinnipiac’s health offerings, like yoga, free therapy services and Wellness Wednesday. There was a lot to take away just from doing this project.”

A project on light pollution, light usage, and sustainability at Quinnipiac was eye-opening for team members including Emma Norton, ’28, a criminal justice major.  The team researched the different environmental effects of light pollution and excessive use of lights, and surveyed students about their dorm lighting habits. They also collaborated with Vice President of Facilities and Capital Planning, Salvatore Filardi, to gather specifics about light usage on campus and in facilities.

“After doing this project and seeing all the statistics, what benefited us was to realize all that we do to impact light usage on campus, especially in our dorms. I don’t think a lot of us realized how much light was being used. This will help other students to make a change,” said Norton.

As a student mentor, Allison Canahui, ’25, MS ’26, a double major in graphic and interactive design and advertising and integrated communications, assisted her team of first-year students with guidance on their community engagement project. The team’s memorable poster was titled “Making a Paw-sitive Impact.” The project involved volunteering to assist with fundraising and other events supporting a local animal rescue shelter.

“We guided them to reach out to people and provided support if they had any questions regarding the actual group. We helped them to get involved with the shelter and help out at some of their events,” said Canahui.

Student mentor Ashley Smith, ’25, a graphic and interactive design major, said it felt great to help first-year students develop their project successfully.

“It was nice because we had experience being here for a few years, so we were able to help them get acclimated to Quinnipiac and also help them in terms of getting this project organized,” said Smith.

Nina Guidotti, ’28, a film major, said she was drawn to the animal shelter project as an animal lover and as someone who likes to provide hands-on community service.

“I was interested in this project because you had to go off-campus and do something in the community. I learned a little more about the Hamden area and the people who live around here. We found out that a lot of people connected to Quinnipiac founded the shelter and were at the event. It was good to see the community around you that you want to connect with,” said Guidotti.

Guidotti and team member Patrick Lloyd, ’28, a political science major, said they would recommend the Passion Projects experience to other first-year students.

“I would definitely recommend it,” said Lloyd. “It was good to get involved with everyone and it’s not that difficult to get out there, come to the meetings and do your part for the project.”

“I think there may be people who think it would be extra work, but I think this extra work was very manageable. You get a lot out of it, and you have a great experience that propelled your first year,” said Guidotti.