What is it: The Cooper Union Summer Bridge is a free opportunity for incoming Cooper Union students to connect with the Cooper community, refine crucial academic skills, and ease the transition to Cooper life. Facilitated primarily by Writing Associates and Peer Mentors, the program foregrounds student-driven, mentor-supported exploration and problem-solving. Students build strategies and techniques that strengthen the writing, thinking, reading, and making practices central to their studies at the Cooper Union.

Who is it for: All incoming and transfer students are eligible, but space is limited. Any student will benefit from the program’s introduction to key campus resources and learning strategies, but students who are anxious about succeeding in academic work—especially reading, writing, research, and communicating in front of an audience—are especially encouraged to participate. Registration will open May 15th.

When does it happen: The Summer Bridge offers both online and in person options. Online students will need a strong internet connection and a device that supports working collaboratively in documents. Program hours and meeting times are staggered to try to reach students across multiple time zones and to work with students’ summer schedules. See below for more information on time commitment.

Note: If you don’t have access to the technology required to participate, please reach out to us at summerbridge@cooper.edu.

Two ways to participate: Thinking Groups and Workshops

Thinking Groups: Thinking Groups meet once/week for seven weeks in July and August. Each meeting is two hours and students should expect to do an additional hour or two of independent work each week. Space is limited. In these groups, students work collaboratively to develop a research question and create a project that they will showcase at orientation.

This summer, the Thinking Groups will develop projects that reflect (in diverse ways) on the nature of schoolwork itself. What or who is it for? How can it engage our desire for wonder? How can our work negotiate the relationships between our own specific selves and the larger communities to which we belong? How are new technologies complicating our understanding of our academic work? How can our work be a practice of freedom and of democracy? Registration for the Thinking Groups opens May 15th. Students who participate in the Thinking Groups will, by the end of the summer, be able to:

• Engage campus supports including librarians, student affairs, and the Center for Writing & Learning  
• Implement an inquiry process in relationship to key academic and broader social questions
• Articulate an understanding of how the process they’ve completed and skills they’ve gained can be relevant to future courses and assignments
• Draw upon specific reading, writing, and learning strategies to address prompts and assignments
• Present for an audience a clear, coherent argument that draws on a variety of sources
• Strategize ways to complete work on time and develop work in response to feedback

Workshops: These workshops are skills-based and will introduce students to specific strategies and techniques that help them approach and breakdown the work they’ll be asked to do across their studies. Students can sign up for individual workshops or participate in all workshop programming. Workshops will be added throughout the summer. Workshops range from 1-2 hours each and engage participating students in active, virtual learning activities with peers and instructors. They involve no additional work outside of meeting times, but students are encouraged to practice skills they’ve studied during a workshop independently.

Students are encouraged to participate in both the Thinking Groups and Workshops, but can pick what works best for their schedules. Space for the Thinking Groups is limited. Be sure to register by June 25th. 

What kind of commitment is it? Students who enroll in the Thinking Groups commit to two hours of scheduled online work with peers and mentors and an additional hour of independent work each week. No grades (or credit) will be issued for the completion of the program so that students can focus on their own development and goals rather than on a grade point average. Students can register for as many or as few Workshops as they like.