Discover Your Pathway to Excellence

During welcome day for first-generation students a woman gives booth thumbs up. Image by Henry Marte
A new first generation student gives two thumbs up for the RHSA Welcome Day activities.

LEAP empowers you to actively shape your academic journey, unlock your leadership potential and launch into meaningful career opportunities—all while advancing toward your degree at UMass Lowell (UML).

Your LEAP community will support you every step of the way—from your first moments on campus to graduation and beyond. All students are welcome to participate.

Explore, engage and excel at UML with the following LEAP program links.

How You Will Benefit from LEAP

Academic Excellence: Improve your grades while enhancing study skills, time management and academic resilience.⁠

Community and Belonging: Create meaningful connections and lifelong friendships in support of a greater sense of belonging within a diverse, supportive campus environment.

Personal Growth: Increase confidence, self-awareness and leadership skills while strengthening communication and interpersonal abilities.

Health and Well-being: Improve your physical, emotional and mental wellness through tailored coaching and tools for managing stress and maintaining a balanced lifestyle.

Career Readiness: Gain practical experience, develop professional skills and increase your employability through internships, research opportunities and other career-connected pathways.

Graduate School: Effectively prepare for future academic opportunities.

A student wears a black t-shirt that says "UMass Lowell Rising 30". Image by Henry Marte
Participate in one of LEAP's programs, like OMA's Rising 360° to familiarize yourself with campus and college life.

Before You Arrive

Begin your UMass Lowell journey with engaging onboarding activities, early peer networking and a community to help you start strong and build a solid foundation for success.

High School Students - Select from one of our signature summer programs designed specifically for rising high school juniors and seniors.

Admitted Students - Each college has designed a program experience for incoming admitted UMass Lowell students. Choose from a plan in your college or select one of our special programs.

Campus Visit: See UMass Lowell for yourself!

College Access Partnerships: UMass Lowell works in collaboration with community-based organizations (CBOs) to advance accessible education for all students in areas of college preparedness, affordability, student success and empowering students to achieve their goals and aspirations.

LAUNCH! Summer Programs

Get to know your new UML community!

LAUNCH! Summer Programs: Each college has a designed a program experience for incoming admitted students, choose a plan in your college, or select one of our special programs.

LEAP Pathway Summer and New Student Welcomes: Look for us at your Summer Orientation or at our summer get-to-know-you activities. We offer a range of in-person outings as well as virtual meet-and-greets throughout summer and the academic year.

AACEE

  • Ice Cream Socials

  • Welcome Day - August and September

OMA

  • Summer activities (in-person and virtual): Get to know the OMA staff and peer mentors.
  • Rising 360° onboarding and welcome

RHSA

  • Welcome Day: Late August



Five women pose on campus at night during Afropalooza.
Through LEAP you will find many ways to engage with other students and activities. Here students are seen enjoying Afropalooza.

While You Are Here

LEAP is here to support you at many levels with a comprehensive support system from entry to graduation.

  • Personalized Student Success Coaching: Accelerate your academic performance, build transferable skills, access campus resources, gain financial knowledge or create a leadership plan.
  • Student Employment: Opportunities are tied to your leadership or career-connected experiences.
  • Scholarship, research-immersion and mentoring opportunities tailored to you.
  • Clubs, campus engagement, student wellbeing and community building activities for the outside-the-classroom you.

1. Study Hours

2. Academic Success Skills and Coaching: Sign up for a cohort (new and continuing students)

UML is home to over 280 organizations that bring creativity, vibrancy and action to your campus life. For a full list of events and groups visit the Campus Groups website.

LEAP Clubs and Student Organizations

LEAP Community Spaces

All are welcome to visit, participate in a workshop or study hours, or meet with a peer leader in any of the community spaces. Connect with engagement opportunities and people to support your pathway.

Office Locations

  • AACEE: Cumnock Hall 200, (North Campus)
  • OMA: University Crossing 370 and 380 (East Campus)
  • RHSA: O’Leary Library 100 (South Campus)

AACEE

  • The Asian American Leadership Conference (AALC) is a collaboration initiative between UMass Lowell’s Asian American Center (AACEE) and UMass Boston’s Asian American Resource Office (AARO) that provides you with the opportunity to build leadership skills, develop understanding of social and professional identity and to learn ways to promote community and self-advocacy.
  • The Students Trained in Asian American Resource Support (STAARS) is a mentoring program and a product of AACEE's initiative to build a stronger sense of community and belonging by connecting you (first-years and transfers) to a peer mentor that has experience and knowledge of the university.

OMA

RHSA

  • RHSA Elevate Mentoring Program: RHSA offers the Elevate Mentoring Program to connect you (second-year students and above) with UMass Lowell’s faculty and staff for individual mentoring. Professional mentors will provide you with guidance throughout the year on topics ranging from career readiness skills and building confidence in academic and career pursuits, to expanding their professional network.
  • RHSA-UKG Peer and Team Leader Programs: RHSA students who have completed their first year at UMass Lowell and have gone through leadership training in the spring semester will be eligible to apply to be peer leaders for fall of that academic year.
  • RHSA Teradyne SAIL (Spring Active Immersion in Leadership) Program: The SAIL Leadership Program is designed to:
  • Introduce you to core leadership concepts and skills.
  • Improve your ability to collaborate with peers from diverse backgrounds.
  • Increase your familiarity with campus resources and their benefits.
  • Connect you with the overall mission of the Academy and with the current RHSA community.
  • Foster your personal growth and reflective practices for future leadership roles.
  • Reflect on and apply what you have learned to future leadership opportunities.
Seven student pose at the night market.
Make friends and connections that will help you prepare for the future. Here students enjoy the AACEE Night Market.

Before You Leave

Each Learning Excellence and Achievement Pathway offers an array of opportunities to prepare you for your next steps after UMass Lowell.

Contact any of the departments - AACEE, OMA or RHSA - with questions about how to get involved. 

We can help with:

  • Portfolio Building (for career or graduate school)
  • Research
  • Practicum/Honors/Capstones

  • Develop or fine tune your transferable skills such as public speaking and communication, personal and professional branding
  • Identify and articulate your leadership and technical skills
  • Prepare for career fairs
  • Make alumni connections
  • Participate in graduate school panels, make connections to current graduate students and receive 1:1 support in reviewing graduate school admissions criteria and application materials

  • OMA: The STEM Training and Excellence Program is an undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) program that is committed to increasing your success
  • RHSA: Roads to Research introduces you to research. Scholarships for sophomores, juniors or seniors allow you to conduct research with UML faculty. These research opportunities offer you the chance to develop professional skills, gain practical work experience and build valuable networks.

Each department (AACEE, OMA, RHSA) serves as a host site for your practicum/honors/capstone projects; contact the office for more information.

Hear from LEAP Participants

Twin sisters with glasses and dark hair work on their laptops together
Angelina Kam '25
Business Administration

One of the first things identical twin sisters Angelina and Alexandra Kam did during their summer co-op jobs with the Office of Multicultural Affairs (OMA) was complete Diversity Peer Educators training. Their goal was to evaluate the training to see how it could be improved.

OMA is here for everyone. There are so many ways the office can help students.
Jessica Tran is sitting in a classroom
Jessica Tran ’24
Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Through the River Hawk Scholars Academy (RHSA), a supportive community for first-generation college students, Tran was able to get through a “pretty tough” first year of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

It’s probably the No. 1 thing that made me feel welcome and love the school so much.
Ben Jeter and others stand around a table a meeting
Ben Jeter '21
Sociology

Jeter says Rising 360 shaped his UMass Lowell career. Rising 360 is a supportive program for students from diverse backgrounds run by the Office of Multicultural Affairs.

In River Hawk Rising, they talked a lot about getting more involved in our communities and how to take action. The connections I made really empowered me to be a student leader.

LEAP programs are brought to you by the: