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Student Engagement







At the Institute for Innovation and Global Engagement (IIGE), we believe that student engagement is key to a transformative educational experience. Our Student Engagement Program (SEP) offers a variety of opportunities designed to enhance classroom learning through real-world experiences and professional development.
Experiential Learning Opportunities
Our SEP provides students with hands-on learning experiences that extend beyond the classroom. These include:
- Field Trips and Site Visits: Students visit globally-connected companies and organizations to understand the complexities of decision-making, entrepreneurship, and innovation. These visits help students develop the flexibility, adaptability, and lateral thinking needed to succeed in an interdependent world. By meeting with executives and professionals, students can explore career options, develop professional contacts, and make critical connections between coursework and careers.
- Community Engagement: Students engage with the local community through various projects and initiatives, fostering a sense of social responsibility and civic engagement. We help students engage with their communities by connecting the local to the global, ensuring they understand the broader impact of their actions.
- Internships: Our program connects students with internships that provide valuable work experience and professional growth.
- Graduate School Exploration: We offer resources and support for students considering graduate school, helping them explore opportunities and options.
- Academic Conferences: Our students attend national and regional academic conferences, presenting their research and networking with scholars and professionals in their fields.
- Study and Research Abroad: Students have the opportunity to study and conduct research abroad, gaining global perspectives and enhancing their academic experience.
- Lectures and Workshops: Students attend various lectures and workshops, both online and in person, from organizations and universities, broadening their knowledge and skills.

Academic Conferences

Field Trips & Site Visits

Research & Study Abroad
Achievements and Recognition
Our students' dedication and hard work have been recognized through prestigious awards and fellowships. Here are some examples of what IIGE students have become:
- Newman Civic Fellows
- Charles B. Rangel Fellows
- Husky 100 recipients
- Washington Campus Coalition for the Public Good Student Civic Leadership Award recipients

2025 Civic Fellow | WA Campus Coalition

2024-25 Newman Civic Fellow
Quarterly Activities
Site visits and other SEP activities are arranged and announced on a quarterly basis. These activities provide ongoing opportunities for students to engage with the professional world and enhance their educational journey.
Previous Trips

Port of Tacoma 2022
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Port of Tacoma 2022
How does the global market play a role in my daily life? What effect do I have on the economic development of globalization? These are the kinds of questions a group of Global Honors students from the Institute of Innovation and Global Engagement sought to answer on their recent tour to the Tacoma Seaport on October 13, 2022. Led by the Chief of Operations, Zachary Thomas, the tour guide, gave students a window into the inner workings of the fourth largest container gateway in the country.
Amazingly, the Alliance between Seattle and Tacoma Seaports handled over $66 billion of trade with 189 partners around the world in 2020. Together they supply over 58,000 local jobs and contribute $12.4 billion to economic activity in Washington State. Many of the students have relatives or know workers at both ports.

Port of Tacoma, 2020
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Port of Tacoma, 2020
Port of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA)
Students visit the Port of Tacoma to meet with John Wolfe, CEO of the Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSPA), and other members of his leadership team, before touring the Port's operating facilities.

Nisqually, 2019
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Nisqually, 2019
Nisqually Indian Reservation (near Olympia, WA)
Students gather after a visit to the Nisqually Indian Tribe's Walker House, where they met with Tribal Council members and Historic Preservation Officers to discover the history surrounding recognition of tribal sovereignty, as well as the impact of that history on the Tribe's decision-making processes today.

Center for Urban Waters, 2018
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Autumn 2018
The Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)
During an engaging presentation and tour, professionals at the Center for Urban Waters demonstrated how its mission - to restore and protect the Puget Sound through collaborative partnerships - underscores the importance of the IIGE's mission to collaboratively produce solutions for our community.

Port of Tacoma, 2018
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Port of Tacoma, 2018
Port of Tacoma (Tacoma, WA)
In the city where "rails meet sails," students tour the Port of Tacoma's operating facilities to discover how the Port directly connects Tacoma to the rest of the world.

Moss Adams, 2017
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Moss Adams, 2017
Moss Adams (Tacoma, WA)
At Moss Adams, students explored career options, developed professional contacts, and discovered how lessons learned in Global Honors classrooms connect to practices and PILLAR Values at this homegrown global accounting firm.

MOHAI, 2017
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MOHAI, 2017
Museum of History and Industry (Seattle, WA)
Students stop for lunch after an experiential learning visit to the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI) with Professor Orlando Baiocchi.

Commencement Bay, 2017
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Autumn 2017
Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)
During a tour of the Center for Urban Waters, students discover how the the Center is working to restore and protect Commencement Bay and the surrounding waters in the Puget Sound.

MOD Pizza, 2016
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Autumn 2016
MOD Pizza (Tacoma, WA)
For the inaugural Student Engagement Program (SEP) site visit, students visited MOD Pizza to meet MOD's Vice President of People and learn about the company's commitment to teamwork, its willingness to take risks in the best interests of customers and employees, and its "unapologetic for-profit" approach to returning profits back to worthy community causes.

Center for Urban Waters, 2017
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Autumn 2017
Center for Urban Waters (Tacoma, WA)
Students receive a warm welcome at the Center for Urban Waters, before participating in a presentation and tour on the Center's efforts to restore and protect the Puget Sound through collaborative partnerships.