Bell tower at St Ignatius Church at sundown
ST. IGNATIUS INSTITUTE

Student Experience

Joining SII can help make the transition to college a more friendly, less intimidating experience. As a four-year living/learning community, SII is dedicated to helping you through your entire undergraduate experience.

Fostering a Sense of Community

All first-year SII students enroll in a designated class which helps introduce them to USF, SII, and each other. Also, SII students can live together in an on-campus residential hall. Most SII students report that these experiences make it easy to make new friends, and to feel more comfortable in the new environment of college.

The SII residential hall is staffed by at least two returning SII students who are employed as Residential Advisors (RAs).

Mentors Lead the Way

The SII community also enjoys the support of a dedicated Resident Minister (RM). This is a staff member who lives in the residence halls and provides a pastoral presence for the student community. RMs are graduate students, teachers, and working professionals from a variety of faith traditions, who organize regular spiritual and community programs for students, and are available to lend moral and spiritual support to students of all faith traditions.

Preparing You For Life After USF

As seniors, SII students enroll in a special symposium devoted to the purpose of reflecting on their purpose after graduation. The senior symposium is taught by a variety of instructors, from across the fields in the humanities, but all instructors work to help you discern your next steps out in the world. The symposium involves looking back at your USF experience, and forward to the next phase of your life. Instructors help you develop an outward-facing product – such as a cover letter, statement of purpose, or graduate school application essay – which will help present you to the world after USF.

Student looks at the city from a view on Lone Mountain.