7 Ways to Get Involved as a JWU Student

Author Miranda Hasani '25 is a Sports, Entertainment, Event — Management major and works as a student assistant at JWU, contributing to JWU News.

Once you arrive at Johnson & Wales University, you’ll find there are so many ways to get involved and build a community with the people around you. As a student that transferred here, I did not know exactly how I wanted to get involved, but I knew that I wanted to. So, I started using my resources and found jwuLink to be extremely helpful in connecting me to different ways that I could get involved. Through getting involved on campus I have been able to make friends, get great work opportunities and do things that I enjoy. It’s easier than you think! Here are seven ways to get involved as a JWU student. 

1. Join Student-Run Clubs and Orgs  

JWU has over 100 clubs and organizations across the Providence and Charlotte campuses. You can celebrate Latin culture with Culinaria Latina while showing off your culinary excellence or get involved with helping local animal shelters with JWUPaws. There is so much variety in what you can choose to be a part of. Students can learn more about the variety of clubs and organizations and how to sign up through the Involvement Network, which you can search for on JWULink.  

Between both campuses, JWU also has a variety of Greek Life including Panhellenic Council recognized chapters, United Cultural Council recognized chapters, Interfraternity Council recognized chapters and National Pan-Hellenic Council recognized chapters. These organizations engage with the community, non-profit and charity organizations to make an impact. 

Clubs are also invited to have a table at an annual Involvement Fest in Providence and an Involvement Fair in Charlotte that is hosted in the spring and fall semesters; at these events you can find out more information about clubs and sign up directly. 

2. Get Involved with Residential Life  

While living in a residential hall, you can attend programs set up by your Residential Assistant (RA) and get to know your neighbors. You can also take your involvement in residential life a step further and become an RA yourself.  

Being an RA means you get to oversee and add to the day-to-day operations of Residential Life and support students in a residence hall. You’ll develop professional and leadership skills while interacting with people from all grades and majors. RAs also receive full coverage of their housing costs, complimentary campus parking and a micro-fridge for their room. To be eligible to become an RA, you have to have a minimum 2.75 GPA and be enrolled as a full-time student. Applications open for both Providence and Charlotte campuses in the spring semester.

Kelsey Williston ’25, an RA in Snowden Hall at the Providence Campus, has been able to get involved on campus through her role in Residential Life. “Being an RA has given me the opportunity to meet other people on campus that I wouldn’t have necessarily otherwise, plan fun programs and be a support system for students on campus.” 

3. Join the JWU Collegiate Ambassador Team (CAT)  

CAT is a team of students who welcome in new Wildcats, work Open House events, provide tours for interested students and their families, inform incoming students about all they need to know during their orientation and serve the JWU community as the heart of the student body. CAT works closely with the Admissions team and you are given the opportunity to volunteer to see if you like it. You can then work your way up to becoming an ambassador, which is a paid position. 

If you are interested in being a CAT you can email: catdowncity@jwu.edu if you are in Providence or lisa.davis@jwu.edu or jarod.clemente@jwu.edu if you are in Charlotte to express your interest. You can find out more information about this team by looking them up on jwuLink and following @jwucatpvd and @jwucltcat. 

4. Take Part in Student Engagement  

JWU’s Student Engagement is comprised of full-time staff members and students that plan events throughout the fall and spring semesters on and off campus. Students can take advantage of annual opportunities to become a Production Assistant (PA) and help serve Student Engagement by producing events in different campus spaces.  

For the Providence Campus, the University Involvement Board (UIB) is a board of students that works closely with Student Engagement on planning and executing programming, annual university events and interactive activities for students. You can find information about what UIB is up to by following @uibjwuri and by searching up UIB in the search bar of JWULink to see events coming up.

For the Charlotte Campus, the Campus Activities Board (CAB) mirrors UIB and plans programming and activities for students to be a part of throughout the year. You can follow @jwucltcab to find out more information about this. 

5. Work on Campus  

For on-campus jobs, JWU uses the platform Handshake, which current students can find at JWULink through the search bar. Every department posts their jobs here, so you can find and apply for student assistant positions, work-study opportunities (if eligible) and on-campus internships, too. There are typically jobs needed to be filled in campus dining, administration, student engagement, JWU Marketing and more. This is how I was able to find my current Student Assistant position as a blog writer for JWU Marketing. Using Handshake was seamless and now I get to do something I enjoy doing while being more involved on campus. 

6. Team Up for Varsity Athletics or Intramural Sports 

The Providence Campus is home to NCAA DIII varsity teams in 12 sports and the Charlotte Campus offers USCAA varsity teams in eight sports.  

To qualify to become a student athlete, one must attain a 1.85 GPA after their first semester of full-time enrollment and a 2.00 cumulative GPA every semester thereafter. Graduate students must maintain a 3.00 cumulative GPA. You can find out more about each sport and how to get involved on our athletics page. Students also must be enrolled in at least 12 credit hours each semester.  

Both Providence and Charlotte campuses also have intramural programs that allow you to get involved with club sports and stay active, while meeting people who want to do the same. You can sign up for intramural programs and club sports through the link in the bio of @jwupvdintramurals. IMLeagues allows you to enter your information and join whatever sports you are interested in and can be accessed in both Providence and Charlotte. 

7. Attend Events on Campus 

There’s always a variety of programs to attend at Johnson & Wales. You can access a calendar of events happening through the Involvement Network, which you can find on JWULink. You can also find events posted directly on JWULink under the Events & Calendars tab. Through these resources, you’ll see specifics about events that clubs, organizations, each college and the university at large are hosting on and off campus.  

For Providence students, you can also follow @jwuprovidence and pay attention to a weekly story every Monday to see some upcoming events happening at JWU and follow @jwupvdinvolved for continuous postings of events going on. You can follow @jwubridge to see programming and events happening at JWU’s Bridge for Diversity, Equity & Social Justice at the Providence Campus.  For Charlotte students, follow @jwucharlotte for updates on events and @jwucltinvolved for event postings. Also keep an eye out for Week-at-a-Glance posters that are posted around campus with events that are open to students.

Take these steps to get involved, make new friends and enjoy your college experience to the fullest. 

Visit JWU 

Apply to JWU

Transfer to JWU