How it Works

Project Portal and digital badge icons.

The Project Portal is a robust platform for mentored projects, intentionally designed with compelling benefits for faculty and the university at large.

How it Works

As students engage in mentored projects, they will complete co-curricular activities through ELN Digital Badges, which are designed help them build skills and competencies for their career, then display their achievements on their digital resumes and ePortfolios for future employers and graduate schools. This new system provides:

  • rich data on student learning and success
  • compelling stories to advance strategic communications
  • maximum benefits for faculty mentors related to building capacity in their work

Learn More

Students work through and earn digital badges that guide and support their project experience. The digital badges are based on ELN's PEARL model and competencies outlined by the National Association for Colleges and Employers (NACE).

Student Testimonials

"Determining the competencies that I wanted to work on was something that I didn't think about doing, but I believe will be very helpful throughout my project."

"After completing this badge, I learned a lot about the purpose behind my research, and what I want to take away from it to improve upon myself and my skill set."

List a Project

The Project Portal is powered by faculty and community partners who mentor our undergraduate students as they explore exciting ideas, challenges, and places through meaningful hands-on projects. List a project on the Portal to invite undergraduate students to collaborate!

Faculty Benefits

  • Work with better prepared students who come with clear goals and understanding of context.
  • Project and conference funding for students whom you mentor.
  • Student impact data and stories of their experiences will be shared to enhance external engagement and grant applications.
  • Engage graduate students in mentorship and capacity building.

Strategic Communications

  • Find new topics for dynamic content development.
  • Generate compelling stories of students, faculty and university partners.
  • Utilize digital gallery of student projects for outreach and recruitment.
  • Use projects as a means to connect with alumni for engagement in student learning, professional networking and philanthropy.

Capacity Building

  • Collect rich data from digital badges to assess impact on student growth, success and retention.
  • Support access and equity to experiential learning and international education opportunities.
  • Share outcomes with key university partners to harness the outputs of this dynamic system.