University of Montana Seeking Community Partners for Third Annual Big Sky Experience

The University of Montana will hold its third annual Big Sky Experience, a team-based immersion opportunity for new undergraduate students, at the beginning of fall semester this August. The University seeks campus and community partners to offer unique, hands-on experiences for these new Grizzlies.

First-year UM students participating in the in Big Sky Experience, part of UM’s New Student Orientation, build connections and friendships with one another, as well as become integrated within the larger Missoula community. The events aim to increase students’ sense of belonging and engagement in their first few days on campus.

This year’s Big Sky Experience will run Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 24-25. Groups of 20 students, led by one UM Advocate student leader, will immerse themselves with a local  community partner for three hours on each day from 9 a.m. to noon.

Big Sky Experiences fall within six categories: environment and sustainability; science and technology; communication and artistic expression; business and entrepreneurship; health and human development; and justice, policy and public service.

Alongside several returning partners like the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Blackstone LaunchPad, and Soft Landing, 2021 saw a variety of new organizations and nonprofits provide experiences for new UM students. Big Sky Experiences last year included partners like Missoula Public Library’s Makerspace, which offers Missoulians of all ages the chance to use innovative technologies such as 3D printing, laser engraving and other tools. Students toured the library and learned about the breadth of free educational resources available to them, and then worked on two different hands-on projects using graphic design, 3D modeling, laser engraving and 3D printing.

“The Big Sky Experience was an amazing opportunity for us to show incoming UM students the technology and tools that they have access to off – campus as members of the community,” said Ira Sather-Olson, a library specialist at the Missoula Public Library who runs the Makerspace. “Having the students work on a creating a tangible product – laser engraved business cards – was an excellent opportunity for them to learn how to create something from scratch that they could use for future educational or employment opportunities.”

Community partners interested in hosting a Big Sky Experience are asked to complete a project proposal. Proposals are due Monday, May 16.

Contact: Devin Carpenter, director of New Student Success, UM Office of the Vice Provost for Student Success, 406-243-2332, [email protected].

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