7 Association of Research Libraries Research Library Issues 301 2020 Engagement Program (UEP), formally initiated at the UIC Library in the 2019–2020 academic year. Given the nature of our roles, we had the ability to conceptualize a new and innovative way to approach undergraduate engagement through a critical lens. Our goal in this paper is to demonstrate our process in developing our program through centering our unique student population, employing a synthesis of our individual methodological approaches, reimagining definitions of student success in the context of university libraries, conceptualizing tailor-made programming, and recognizing how such an approach fits within the context of contemporary academic libraries. Understanding Our Students’ Needs With approximately 21,921 enrolled undergraduate students,2 UIC’s campus is one in which there is no racial or ethnic majority. Its campus is uniquely designated as both an Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander–Serving Institution (AANAPISI) and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).3 It is home to the first Arab American cultural center on a college campus in the United States.4 Our campus has frequently been voted one of the most LGBTQ-friendly campuses in the country.5 The UIC student body is composed of 38 percent first-generation students with 70 percent of our undergraduates receiving some form of financial aid.6 Many of our students are commuter students who travel across the Chicago area, and within the landscape of higher education in Chicago, we are a campus with continual growth in comparison to other universities in Chicago.7 Like many institutions, the snapshot of our campus community is not that of a monolithic student narrative, but rather a wide range of types of students who challenge the normative narratives of what typically constitutes a traditional college student. Our approach to undergraduate engagement—and by extension student success—is one in which we purposefully and intentionally center our diverse students’ needs. We know that our students are Black and Brown. We know our students are disabled. We know we have undocumented students, LGBTQI students, and students who
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