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Students in the Summer SAIL Environmental Studies program birdwatch at Mt. Pisgah Arboretum as part of a nature journaling hike.
The Student Academy to Inspire Learning (SAIL) is an innovative pre-college program that serves Oregon middle and high school students from low income and historically underrepresented backgrounds, including many potential first-generation students. SAIL aims to encourage teens across the state, through early exposure and exploration, to believe they can succeed at higher education.
Over the summer, SAIL offers free, weeklong residential and day-only programs on the UO campus. Programming is also offered throughout the academic year through pre-college mentoring and outreach events.
UO faculty support SAIL programs by volunteering their time to offer presentations in their area of expertise. Faculty coordinators from each department design, organize and recruit presenters to meet with SAIL students during summer programming.
outreach events organized
2024 Summer SAIL by the numbers:
- 249 day-only program participants.
- 100 residential program participants.
- 139 faculty members participated in SAIL programming.
- 17 different academic programs offered.
- Students attended from 60 different cities in Oregon.
More Opportunities
SAIL offered a variety of opportunities for students to attend immersive pre-college events on campus during this academic year. They included hundreds of students attending the Undergraduate Research Symposium, Foreign Language and International Studies days, a biomechanics event, and several pre-college fairs and workshops.
Outreach and Mentoring
- This year, the program was able to reach approximately 4,500 students and families through 55 total outreach events. Events included classroom presentations, college student panels, college & career fairs, SAIL events on campus, tabling at community & school events, presentations to groups visiting UO campus, among other events.
- SAIL has mentors in place at seven different high schools within the Eugene 4J and Springfield school districts. Four SAIL student leads and 21 student mentors visit these schools on a weekly basis to connect with students. SAIL mentors also connect with high schools outside of Lane County through online communications.
Donor Support
Thanks to donor support, the program provided eight General Scholarships to students this year, worth between $1,000 and $2,000 each. SAIL also provided two Housing Scholarship to students, worth $15,000 each, towards room and meal charges in UO residence halls.
SAILing Onward
A surprise visitor joins the end of week celebration for summer SAIL.
Throughout the academic year, SAIL served thousands of high school students from across the state of Oregon via pre-college mentoring and outreach events. Furthermore, SAIL is increasing its partnerships with K-12 institutions across the state of Oregon and continues to develop new relationships with UO faculty and campus organizations.
SAIL staff collaborates with UO Admissions’ Connections and Orientation programs and serve on numerous committees both internal and external to the UO to spread program awareness and opportunities.